An Infective Dose of Andean Culture
An enlightening and memorable experience at the AWANA KANCHA center in Cusco.
Cusco, a beautiful city set in the Andes Mountains in Peru. It is well known for once being the capital of the Incan Empire and has many historical monuments. Since it is such an important place, it holds a lot of cultural value as well. A place I visited in Cusco that really helped me to understand and learn about this culture was the AWANA KANCHA center. The AWANA KANCHA Center set in Cusco — Pisac, is located on the 23rd Highway from Cusco heading towards the Sacred Valley. The center was constructed to preserve and disseminate Andean cultural heritage.
As I walked in, I geared myself, ready to be indulged and submerged in Andean culture. I turned my camera on and started to record what I saw. The place was split into two sections, a section for the tourists to saunter around in and a section where the animals were kept. A thatched roof held up by wooden poles covered the tourist section but the section where the camelids were kept in was uncovered allowing the warmth of the sun to reach the camelids in the cold mornings.
We started off in the Alpaca section. Alpacas are a domesticated camelid found in the Andes. There was one alpaca that everybody seemed attracted to, as if it were a magnet and we were all coins. I made my way through the loose crowd, wanting to get a better look at it. The Alpaca was brown, white and fluffy all over. A few brave souls around me began running their hands up and down through its fur. I wanted to join them too, but I was nervous, scared it would spit on me. It looked like a giant ball of fur. Soft and velvety. I tried to keep away but in the end, my temptation gave way as I walked over and stroked its fur. It was just like I imagined it to be. It was the softest thing I had ever touched. I joined my classmates in their “Ohhh”s and “Ahh”s as they stroked the fur too. Since I had my camera ready, I started clicking pictures and selfies with the Alpaca while I still had the chance. I then resumed my roaming around. I wanted to get a chance to look at the llama section as well.
On my way to the Llamas section, I picked up some of the long, grassy food that had been kept on the side for us to feed the camelids. Llamas are very similar to Alpacas expect for a few differences. Llamas are much bigger than Alpacas and have ears that look like bananas instead of spears. Once I reached, I stuck my hand out in front of me, waiting for the Llamas to approach me. In two seconds there were about five Llamas at where I was standing, ripping and wrestling the food out of my hands. I fed the Llamas with one hand as I recorded with the other. After some time, I bid farewell to the Llamas as well and continued on with the exhibit.
As I got closer towards the end of the center, I saw women sitting in painted, stage-like backdrops, weaving wool and creating textiles in the traditional Andean way. On the backdrops were paintings of Machu Picchu and other well known places in Cusco. When the children are young, they start with the spinning of the wool but once they are older, they begin more “complicated” weaving which they do for the major part of their lives. Once they grow old and are incapable of doing all of the complex handiwork involved in the elaborate weaving, they go back to spinning again. In the exhibit, there were three women who were working on a very difficult pattern and another was spinning wool. As I looked at their work, I marvelled at the intricate work the cloth had. It was astonishingly beautiful.
Around the backdrops, were scattered small glass containers that contained the large variety of grains and tubers people of Andean culture use and grow in the mountains. At the very end there was a shop that sold a large range of merchandise. They sold practically everything ranging, from scarves, to carpets, to souvenirs, all handmade from their own resources. As I walked around checking the prices, I gasped. Everything was so expensive! Was I being penny wise pound foolish? Of course I also had to keep in mind that all of it was handmade but still, I couldn’t buy anything! I walked out of the shop in a huff and looked around, wondering what to do. I saw my friend sitting on the side and I went and sat down with her, waiting for everyone else to finish up and gather. As I sat, I thought about everything I had learned during this short momentary visit. Learning about the culture and the Andean women had been a very enriching experience and one that I had enjoyed entirely. I thoroughly recommend visiting the AWANA KANCHA Center since it does not only show you the camelids of Cusco but of demonstrates and showcases works of Andean people, their art and culture.
It is now many days that I am back in Lima. However, every now and then my mind keeps on travelling to Cusco and the Awana Kancha Center and I am reminded of the Camelids and the happy yet soulful faces of the Andean women weaving the extravagant textiles. I yearn to go back. I look at the many pictures that I took with my camera, but I think the best were recorded in my mind.
