Gringo y esposa.

Bouldering!
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Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianandkim/collections/72157602558013016/

Cusco is a town about the size of Sacramento, nestled in a valley between Andean Peaks.  It is crawling with restaurants, 'artisan' shops, and ladies offering 'massage mister' on every corner.  We hunkered down for a few days to aclimitize, and gorge on carbohydrates before our adventure to Machu Pichu.  We managed to see some of the ruins around Cusco, by 12kg worth of junk that would prove to be quite expensive to ship home, and  even managed to be counted in the national census.  Some people are lucky and stumble upon parades, festivals, and the like as they travel.  We seem to be lucky in another way.  For us it is governmental affairs.  In Ecuador,  we experienced the election where voting is mandatory, and the sale of alcohol is prohibited 24 hours before, and the day of the election.  In Peru, it was the national census.

Yup, the ladies lost their names for the entire day, becoming 'wife.'

AFSD
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We planned to spend Sunday visiting some ruins, a market, and purchasing last minute items for the trial (raincoat, snacks, etc).  Saturday night at 1030 when we stopped for some dinner, the waitress asked us if we were "ready for tomorrow?"  The blank looks on our faces must've given away that we had no clue what was happening tomorrow, so she explained.  Sunday was to be the national census.  All businesses would be closed, including restaurants,  and nobody was allowed out until they were counted.  Needless to say, we booked out of the restauarant without ordering, and ran around Cusco like mad people tracking down rain ponchos, and food for the following day--an easy task at 11pm.  mmmm tuna, peanut butter, and oranges from the convenience store!   We're pretty sure the census went off without a hitch, and accurately at that!  Census counters counted not only people living in houses and apartments, but those in hostals as well--but only those awake, and on the first floor.   Once counted, each person, or couple,  were given a  'hall pass' so that they could leave the house.

IMG_0296
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This is certainly a male oriented culture, as passes were granted to the male half of the couple, bearing his name, and 'esposa,' (for example Brian y esposa) Yup, the ladies lost their names for the entire day, becoming 'wife.'  They didn't care if you were married or not, or even if you were dating or not.  If a girl was sitting next to a boy, she became his esposa. Like I mentioned before,  accuracy was the goal.  By 6pm everything was back to normal, and Brian even found a bar to watch futbol americano!  Those poor Steelers.  Sorry Ed.  Tomorrow the Camino Inca!!