Google Earth

Tonight I was using Google Earth to preview my trip to Peru from New Jersey. It was such a wonderful experience that I wanted to share it with everyone.

Su Invitación

If I were to think back in time, I believe I fell in love with the art and culture of the Inca in 2002. There is an art history professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design who made the history of art more than just another history class. Her lectures, slides, personal background, expertise, exams, and assignments made the history of art an exciting journey. Her specialty is in pre-Columbian and colonial Latin American art. In addition to the standard European based history classes, she also teaches two elective classes, Pre-Columbian Art and Latin American Art, which I attended in 2002. However, the culture first presented itself to me through literature. One of my favorite genres is Magical Realism. I have read the works of Isabel Allende and studied her life extensively. Her writing lead me to discover the writings of Esquivel, Bombal, Marquez, Neruda, and many others. In 2002, I also attended a class titled Latin American Literature where I learned South American authors' stories are filled with a culture heavily influenced by pre-Columbian mythology and the Christianity of the Spanish Conquest. In studying Latin American writing and early American Literature it was not long before I started exploring the writing of Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro. I grew an interest in learning the truths and falsities behind their words. They describe a ruthless, savage group of natives in their letters to Spain from all the Americas. After 500 years, we now see that they were quite the opposite. Pre-columbian art reflects an amazingly advanced culture. The simple depiction of the human form, the personality invoked in a feline sculpture, and the complex mathematical patterns within the textiles mesmerize me. There was a time I felt the culture was overlooked. Often we look at the complex societies built in Rome and Egypt and forget that there were similar, perhaps even more developed societies in Latin America. Recently, I embarked on a 240 page journey with Johan Reinhard to learn about the Inca. In his book, Ice Maiden, the reader is taken on a personal journey through high-altitude archaeology to learn more about the Inca through the discovery of mummified sacrifices to the mountain deities. It has awakened in me an even deeper passion to learn through a hands on experience in Peru... to walk where they walked, to see what they saw, and to experience what they experienced. When Kean University advertised their trip and it fit into my class requirements, I saw this as a sign that it was my time to travel and share this experience. I invite you all to take this journey with me.

Cuy

In preparation of my trip, I have started researching local Peruvian cuisine. I have even contemplated attempting to create a dish at home… until I discovered the following: Peruvians love cuy. That's right, I said cuy. That cute little furry animal your parents may have bought you as a child to teach you one of two things:

1. Responsibility
2. We’re all going to die someday and so is your guinea pig.

Did somebody say guinea pig? If you search for cuy recipes you are going to find ingredients like “4 guinea pigs (whole but cleaned)”. I was all about attempting that cook at home thing until I realized the only place I’m going to find a main ingredient like that is PetSmart. I’m pretty sure PetSmart makes you sign a waiver promising not to eat your newly purchased cuy.

I too have been summoned.

"There are places where spirits live trapped among stones. Those places, constructed by ancient man and today abandoned, were so sacred that their energy continues to vibrate through the centuries. It is impossible to walk on those stones and not sense the clamor of the past and the enormous force concentrated there. Even the most hurried tourist can feel that powerful presence. There are, however, persons with a special sensitivity who hear the call of those sites across thousands of miles of distance. They are the chosen, summoned by the spirits to give witness to their enduring existence." -Isabel Allende