The things one gets used to... (by Lawrence)

Isabel and I have been taking Spanish classes in a new part of town this week.  New to us anyway.  By the look of things, the neighborhoods we walk through on the way to the  language school have been around for a long, long time.  We were in such a rush to get to the school on the first day that we somehow missed the scads of Inca walls all around us.

The Inca masons had many styles of building with stone.  By some estimates Machu Picchu alone (the one-time private vacation estate of the Inca King Pachacuti) has over 100 different stone-working styles distributed among its structures.  So as we walked back to our house after classes today, Isabel and I meandered slowly and stopped to see what was around us.  We were amazed.  These builders had no saws or tools made of steel, yet some of their blocks are so uniform that it's hard to make sense of.  Other blocks are like puzzle pieces that fit together just so.

And then there is the more free-form style that resembles collage.  My hunch is that if I had been a stone mason during the time of the Inca Empire, this would have been my area of expertise.  It looks pretty improvisational, no?

Then, as we climb the narrow streets toward our house, there are the equivalent of Charlie Parker compositions made of stone.  You can tell that these artists had complete and total control of their medium.  Check out the shapes made to fit together.  Also remember that the Inca did not use any mortar in these types of constructions.  All the blocks had to fit together perfectly.

One of the more striking styles of stone building has been dubbed the "Cyclopean Style."  Look at the size of these stones compared to Isabel and remember that the Inca did not use the wheel.  They did however use logs to convey their stones from the quarry to the construction site.  Still, can you imagine the coordination and skill it took to build this wall?

After two months in Cusco I feel a bit like the New Yorker who spends his life in the city, but doesn't bat an eye when some new, enormous skyscraper goes up.  Such is the lure of the local.  None of us wants to be that camera wielding, gawking outsider.  But today I am glad we took the risk of appearing to be tourists, although it did have its drawbacks.  An elderly lady thought she had us pegged and began pulling a variety of wares from her plastic bag for us to buy.  After some conversation that wasn't getting us any further from her sad eyes and chants of "comprame casero" I just gave her some money for nothing in return.  She told me she wished I would have good luck and success in my life.

So far, so good.