La Misa
Tuesday night I had an interesting experience. After walking around Cusco all day I had decided that I would hang out in the Plaza de Armas for a while before it got dark. I wanted to observe and write, and the duena of my hostel had told me that there was something special happening at the cathedral at 6:00, so I figured I'd be around during that time and see what it was all about.
So around 4:00 I found an empty bench and settled in. After people watching for a while and a brief conversation with a kid (which I wished had been longer because he was neither selling nor asking for anything), I started writing in my notebook. Ironically I was writing about finding the "real" Cusco and not being harassed, as I was sitting in the tourist center. After a while this guy asks if the rest of the bench is free and sits down. A little while later I start to wonder if he's including me a little too much in his plaza-gazing, but I ignore it. Around 5:30 I'm done writing and just want to people-watch some more, but I wonder if the guy will try to talk to me as soon as I put my pen down. In fact he does ("es una escritora?"), so I keep writing/doodling until the cathedral bells starting ringing and the main doors open. So I decide to check it out. I say "chao" to the guy out of politeness, and then walk around the square and head toward the cathedral. As I'm about to cross the street, I hear "amiga, amiga", and the guy has come up beside me. Great, now he definitely following me.
So I go into the cathedral and walk around inside. He is talking to me about how nice the cathedral is, and I reply with a few words because I'm not sure what else to do. I decide I have to sit down because otherwise he's going to follow me right out, and perhaps he's not interested in attending mass. I sit next to some gringos so that I can talk to them if he sits next to me, but he doesn't. I think he's gone, but now that I'm sitting in church I'm not sure what I should do. I'm interested in seeing what the mass is like anyway (it was the mass for el Senor de los Temblores, the Lord of the Earthquakes, the patron saint of Cusco, and I guess it's the first day of Holy Week in Cusco), and I figure he's waiting outside so I don't want to leave too quickly. If this guy hadn't followed me in I would have been standing in the back to observe, but now I'm sitting, kind of front-and-center. So I felt uncomfortable just standing up and leaving (especially without doing the appropriate sign of the cross in front of the alter), so I quickly realized I would be attending the entire mass.
Eventually the gringos to my right leave and a woman sits down on my left. Eventually she ask me if I am Catholic, and I say no but I say that I'm interested in different religions. We keep talking, and I tell her about how I'm familiar with some of the mass from my volunteer work in Chile. Which is true! The best part of the mass was knowing how to say a Hail Mary in Spanish. Mass goes on. Lots of repeating stuff, and then the priest (I guess--it was confusing because there were 3 different guys up at the front) starts talking about how godly people shouldn't cohabitate and godly men shouldn't leave their wives. Being there was interesting, and part of me wants to attend mass in the States so I can better understand what's going on but also see how it compares. There's definitely something magical about being in one of those dark, ornate cathedrals.
Finally we get to the part where you wish everyone peace and shake hands. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and the creepy guy is behind me wishing me "la paz"! Ack! So I keep talking to the woman next to me, and after communion we walk out together. Meanwhile, she has told me about her 6 kids, how her husband left her 2 years ago, and how her parents died from terrorism. She also tells me that it is hard to make a living because she does not have a professional job--she is a painter. I figure she'll probably ask me to buy something at some point. As we are walking out she does ask me if I want to see her work, and seeing that she is a nice woman and is protecting me from creepy man of course I say yes. I also tell her this guy is following me and she says she has noticed. We walk around the corner to look at her stuff, and I pick one I like. I accept her first offer of s/30 without bargaining--I figure either she really is a single mom with 6 kids and of course I want to support her, or she just went through an awful lot of effort--mass and an elaborate story--to sell me painting so she deserves it anyway. She also offers to walk me to the cafe I was planning on going to, for which I am grateful. We find the cafe, she gives me her address so I can send extra clothes to her kids, I thank her for helping me avoid the creepy guy, and we part. I was worried about how I was going to get the last 5 blocks to my hostel after dinner, but then when I walk inside the cafe, who do I see but Steve and Annette, my bus-to-Cusco buddies! What luck, seriously. So I told them the whole story, we talked about our days visiting Cusco, and they walked me home. I didn't see the guy when we left the cafe, but I wasn't taking any chances.
So, everything worked out in the end but it was quite an evening. It was surreal sitting through a 1+ hour mass in Spanish, but I'm glad I did. It pisses me off that I couldn't sit quietly in the central square for 2 hours without a creepy guy harassing me, but I guess that's life. The conversation with the woman was really interesting, and I really hope she wasn't ripping me off. It's kind of sad that I'm suspicious. If I have any clothes that I don't want to bring back to the States I think I will send them to her.
So around 4:00 I found an empty bench and settled in. After people watching for a while and a brief conversation with a kid (which I wished had been longer because he was neither selling nor asking for anything), I started writing in my notebook. Ironically I was writing about finding the "real" Cusco and not being harassed, as I was sitting in the tourist center. After a while this guy asks if the rest of the bench is free and sits down. A little while later I start to wonder if he's including me a little too much in his plaza-gazing, but I ignore it. Around 5:30 I'm done writing and just want to people-watch some more, but I wonder if the guy will try to talk to me as soon as I put my pen down. In fact he does ("es una escritora?"), so I keep writing/doodling until the cathedral bells starting ringing and the main doors open. So I decide to check it out. I say "chao" to the guy out of politeness, and then walk around the square and head toward the cathedral. As I'm about to cross the street, I hear "amiga, amiga", and the guy has come up beside me. Great, now he definitely following me.
So I go into the cathedral and walk around inside. He is talking to me about how nice the cathedral is, and I reply with a few words because I'm not sure what else to do. I decide I have to sit down because otherwise he's going to follow me right out, and perhaps he's not interested in attending mass. I sit next to some gringos so that I can talk to them if he sits next to me, but he doesn't. I think he's gone, but now that I'm sitting in church I'm not sure what I should do. I'm interested in seeing what the mass is like anyway (it was the mass for el Senor de los Temblores, the Lord of the Earthquakes, the patron saint of Cusco, and I guess it's the first day of Holy Week in Cusco), and I figure he's waiting outside so I don't want to leave too quickly. If this guy hadn't followed me in I would have been standing in the back to observe, but now I'm sitting, kind of front-and-center. So I felt uncomfortable just standing up and leaving (especially without doing the appropriate sign of the cross in front of the alter), so I quickly realized I would be attending the entire mass.
Eventually the gringos to my right leave and a woman sits down on my left. Eventually she ask me if I am Catholic, and I say no but I say that I'm interested in different religions. We keep talking, and I tell her about how I'm familiar with some of the mass from my volunteer work in Chile. Which is true! The best part of the mass was knowing how to say a Hail Mary in Spanish. Mass goes on. Lots of repeating stuff, and then the priest (I guess--it was confusing because there were 3 different guys up at the front) starts talking about how godly people shouldn't cohabitate and godly men shouldn't leave their wives. Being there was interesting, and part of me wants to attend mass in the States so I can better understand what's going on but also see how it compares. There's definitely something magical about being in one of those dark, ornate cathedrals.
Finally we get to the part where you wish everyone peace and shake hands. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and the creepy guy is behind me wishing me "la paz"! Ack! So I keep talking to the woman next to me, and after communion we walk out together. Meanwhile, she has told me about her 6 kids, how her husband left her 2 years ago, and how her parents died from terrorism. She also tells me that it is hard to make a living because she does not have a professional job--she is a painter. I figure she'll probably ask me to buy something at some point. As we are walking out she does ask me if I want to see her work, and seeing that she is a nice woman and is protecting me from creepy man of course I say yes. I also tell her this guy is following me and she says she has noticed. We walk around the corner to look at her stuff, and I pick one I like. I accept her first offer of s/30 without bargaining--I figure either she really is a single mom with 6 kids and of course I want to support her, or she just went through an awful lot of effort--mass and an elaborate story--to sell me painting so she deserves it anyway. She also offers to walk me to the cafe I was planning on going to, for which I am grateful. We find the cafe, she gives me her address so I can send extra clothes to her kids, I thank her for helping me avoid the creepy guy, and we part. I was worried about how I was going to get the last 5 blocks to my hostel after dinner, but then when I walk inside the cafe, who do I see but Steve and Annette, my bus-to-Cusco buddies! What luck, seriously. So I told them the whole story, we talked about our days visiting Cusco, and they walked me home. I didn't see the guy when we left the cafe, but I wasn't taking any chances.
So, everything worked out in the end but it was quite an evening. It was surreal sitting through a 1+ hour mass in Spanish, but I'm glad I did. It pisses me off that I couldn't sit quietly in the central square for 2 hours without a creepy guy harassing me, but I guess that's life. The conversation with the woman was really interesting, and I really hope she wasn't ripping me off. It's kind of sad that I'm suspicious. If I have any clothes that I don't want to bring back to the States I think I will send them to her.
posted by HelenO at
6:19 PM
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