RELIGIOUS POP ART AND LLAMAS
Trip Start
Jul 12, 2009
1
168
255
Trip End
Aug 18, 2010
Where I stayed
Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Nearly every catholic, wealthy family in the 16th century had a child in the church. For the daughters the first daughter went in the church and the last was to be at home to look after the parents. The females came to the convent with their servants. Not sure how serious these girls were but their parents paid a great deal of money for them to be there (a sort of Swiss Finishing School). Their rooms were sparse but what I enjoyed was that each nun had a baby Jesus in a glass box and around it was little memories, dolls or any little religious article which were given to the collection by relatives. They were very elaborate, bright and tacky that they resembled something from a 'pop art' exhibition but these were hundreds of year's old. Another interesting relic was the whips that the nuns used to use to flog themselves. Also chains with nails that they used to put in their shoes. It resembled what I would consider to be a tools from an S&M chamber and not a convent! Finally the alter pieces and how beautiful they were too. So fantastically embellished in gold and gems that a Colombian gang stole one a couple of year's ago and melted it down. Thankfully they found the people responsible and apparently they were shot! Don't ask its all a mess and you never find out who took the law into their own hands. After viewing the exhibition the kids dashed off to the gardens to look at the peacocks. Ian followed but soon realised that this was a sacred garden with the nuns working. The Mother Superior came out but instead of telling us off she was really sweet and invited us all in to see their garden. The other nuns hid.
This interesting tour was followed by a visit to a Llama center, a community project which was working on the re-introduction of the Llama to the area and how important this beast with long eyelashes is to the community. It was quite comical as we were taken into a small room and a lovely and uber-enthusiastic member of the community told us every minutia about Llamas, from the medicinal qualities of drinking their blood, the luck in burying their fetus before building your house and the year long maintenance of a Llama. We were Llame'd out!
A short stop at Guamote an Indian town to see an Educational Center but then found out it was a Teachers’ holiday so no one was about so we ambled around the village and then took off to the Inca ruins of Ingapirca. This was the place I was excited about but just before we arrived the rain came down and as we started the tour it pelted and we had to run back to the bus. We sat for a few moments in hope that it was disappear but it was set so our tour was abandoned and the guide gave us an update as we drove to Cuenca.
We arrived at dusk at Cuenca and the roads were busy with traffic. The city was neat with Spanish architecture, red-tiled roofs, cobblestone streets and flowery plazas. You felt like you were entering a city in Europe. It was clean and well kept and you could not help feeling a sense of warmth about the place but as it was getting dark we would have to find out what Cuenca is really like tomorrow.
