Easter 2025

Singing in the Churches 

A few weeks before Easter, groups of singers gather to make up new songs and practice for the nights and a day of singing in the churches. Taquile is organized into six suyos, or sectors or neighborhoods. Each has its own chorus and musicians. They each created at least a dozen new songs.

Giant pots of soup feed the singers before practices and performances. 

Most of the women sit on mats snd blankets on the floor.

The authorities keep everyone awake with coca leaves. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, they sing until 1:00am

Easter Day

After Easter mass in the big church in the plaza, the authorities leave the singers and lead a procession to two ceremonial sites. We joined the one to the mountaintop, Mulcina. 

 

Life and Death

 On Taquile Island, the custom when someone dies is to refrain from productive work until the body is buried. So that means no weaving knitting; no work in the fields. It’s OK to play volleyball and of course to cook food since we all have to eat.  

A complete life 

The Matriarch of our family Mercedes Cruz Huatta died in the wee hours of Friday, April 11. Her age is estimated at 109 years. She is survived by one daughter, 5 sons, and numerous grand- and great-grandchildren. Two daughters died before her. She didn’t have a birth certificate, so her age is estimated based on that of a girlfriend who did have a birth certificate. She was able to participate in household activities until about a month before her death, when she spent much of her time in bed. 

Picture from 2019

Years ago, we participated in a burial and the body was sewn up in fabric. However, Mercedes was honored with a wooden casket.  Silvano had gone to the house in the predawn hours, and we came later. I sat with the widower, Sebastian, who shared how “triste” he was feeling. I showed him pictures of his wife on my camera from 2019. They had been married for 30 years. After eating soup, the top of the casket was opened to view her face. Coca k’intus were made and shared. 

Then the procession

The casket was carried to the burial site in a procession of about 40 people who witnessed and men dug the grave. The soil was clay and sand with, luckily and surprisingly, no rocks.  We all shared coca and beer or sodas over the two and a half hours of digging. 

They carefully measured the casket and at the moment of lowering it into the grave, a chorus of women broke out in harmonic songs.  

We cover the casket in flowers before mounding up the dirt and sod. It was a rich and moving ceremony, followed by a procession in the dark, by a different route, to the house and a cleansing smoky smudge. Close family stayed late and Sam and I returned home. 

The next day we/they wash everything. 

Clothes worn to the burial, blankets from the sick room, more. We did our own here at the house, whereas others (close family) worked nearer the grieving household at the lakeshore. I’m told they will take a different route from the lake back home.

My understanding is that the spirits of the dead need to be acknowledged, redirected and maybe even confused. Hence, not walking back through the same path, so any lingering spirit can’t latch back on. And all the washing, the cleansing. 

Church service and family day

The following Wednesday was to be the church funeral service and mass for our beloved Mercedes. We cooked and served sheep meat, both as soup and as barbecue for the participants. Sebastián offered two of his remaining 3 sheep to be served up in a family feast. 

Tuesday I helped butcher two sheep by holding the legs, or fetching basins, while Silvano and Alipio did the hard work. We gave the sheep our gratitude, and they were killed and bled quickly.

On Wednesday, we got up at dawn to walk to Huyllano for the service. Saturn, Venus , and Mercury were still visible in the eastern sky (though you might barely see a pinpoint of light in this photo).

It was a mass in the Catholic Church.

 Then back to the house for a breakfast soup, lots of coca, offerings, and stories. 

One of my favorite stories about Mercedes was when we traded a very small solar electric system with her, her first light besides candles. She was about 80 years old. It was when white LED’s had just been invented. The system was a 10w panel, a little solid-state battery and three small LED lights. When we visited her a week later, she clapped her hands together and said, ”I feel so young now that I have lights!“ That panel and the lights are still functioning; the battery has been replaced.

See the little panel on the thatched roof?

Patcha Manca

The cooking event was a Patcha Manca, earth oven, wherein flat rocks are built into an arched structure, heated for several hours by burning eucalyptus branches, and small logs. 

When the rocks are hot enough, the arch is disassembled and reassembled with food. Foil has become the wrap of choice for the marinated meat, keeping the juices intact and everything clean. Meat first, then potatoes and oca (sometimes fava beans). Once all the layers are built up, a generous pile of muña (a perennial bush in the mint family) covers the rocks, then tarps , then soil, insulating the whole pile for another 1/2 hour. Waiting. Then the disassembly, serve and eat. 

Delicious !

The extended family spent the entire day together.

We told stories, shared coca and food and drink. Samuel and I felt very honored to be so deeply included in this moving and important time in the life of our extended family.  

Coca Chuspa Fabric Bags

Chuspa, Quechua word for Coca Purse, 

the fabric bag traditionally carried by Taquile men for the sacred and medicinal coca leaf. 

Coca is very special in the Andean culture. The leaves are used as a medium for prayer, as a divination tool, as a means for blessing. In its most simple usage, coca leaves are given and exchanged as a gift and a greeting, almost like a handshake. With the exception of certain festival dress, Chuspas are only worn by married men. They tie the bags around their waists for convenient quick-release use. 

How to tie your fabric bag around your waist 

So much of women's clothing is without a pocket, these soft bags become an instant pocket. You can carry it as a crossbody bag, or if the strap is long enough, you can tie it around your waist as a real pocket. I personally have a wardrobe of various colored chuspas and love that  I can DANCE IN MY PURSE! You can see some of these fabric bags for sale on our Etsy site: Taquile Friends The following video shows how you can tie it on for quick-release.

How Coca and Chuspas are traditionally used on Taquile

Exchanging coca

If two men meet on the trail and stop for a brief chat, they will open their chuspas, take a few leaves and place it in the other man's bag, usually simultaneously with their companion. In this everyday ceremony, leaves are not received directly in the hands, but always on cloth (or plastic bags): the top point of a hat, a pocket, a shirt tail, a woman's headcovering. Often they will observe if a well-shaped leaf lands right side up, an indication bringing good luck. They then may take leaves into their mouths, often combining them with a small amount of leupta, an alkaline ash substance that activates the medicinal qualities and makes the mucous membranes of the mouth slightly numb. 

In English, we commonly say we "chew" the leaves, but really, chewing is minimized. The leaves are tucked between cheek and gum, worked gently, and moved around in the mouth. The Quechua word we use on Taquile is something like pictchar, not masticar. Medicinally, coca lends energy, suppresses appetite and thirst, helps somehow with high altitude blood/oxygen and also with digestion and glycemic response. 

A simple coca leaf ceremony is for an individual to select three leaves from their own stash, be it their chuspa or plastic bag, choose three well-shaped leaves and imbue them with their prayers and intentions, then bury or burn them as an offering. These three leaves are called a k'intu. We always do this offer them to the water, "pay the lake," when commencing the sometimes perilous trip across Lake Titicaca.

Estalia Ceremony

A deeper coca leaf ceremony uses a specially woven cloth called an estalia. On Taquile it is traditionally white and red. Coca leaves are unwrapped from the cloth and each person selects his or her own k'intu. These are at least three leaves, and often multiples of three, especially nine leaves. These prayer-filled leaves are then taken by the designated shaman to be offered. Sometimes they will be placed on a paper with various elements, such as sugar for sweetness, flower petals for beauty, wine and alcohol for medicine, and even money or small drawings of desires and intentions. This wrapped paper is called a despachio; you might think of it as a dispatch or message to the spirit world. The markets in the cities often have sections with offerings of all sorts of items intended for inclusion in sacred despachios. 

On very special occasions, such as Easter, many more k'intus are made and offered, and complex despachios are given. On Easter, on Taquile Island, the Patchamama is "paid for the entire year." 

I tell about these ceremonies from my own experience over our many visits since 1986. Other parts of Peru certainly have their own versions of these sacred ceremonies. You can see more of my stories if you delve back into past posts. Please follow if you enjoy what you see. I don't post frequently unless we are actually in Peru, though our 2020 visit might deserve non-consecutive stories, since I was unable to post for the latter part of that visit.

Excursion to Sicuani

Sicuani: hotsprings up the pass and ruins toward Cusco, plus healing waters

Silvano and Ruperta were totally busy last year as autoridades, and had no time to play, so we invited them, their two sons, Ivan and Clever, and Silvano's mother, Eufrasia, to join us for our annual excursion. Sicuani is ideally located just off the Altiplano and over the pass toward Cusco, in Cusco Province. In one direction are delicious hot springs, and in the other is the archeological site of Raqchi. A museum to honor and tell the story of the last Inca, Tupac Amaru, is nearby in the town of Tinta, and the purifying waters of San Pedro are also available.

Hot Springs were our primary goal:
A line of taxis are always ready to take patrons to the Aguas Calientes about 20 minutes south of Sicuani, where outdoor pools of many temperatures are available.

That's Samuel in the blue hat

I spoke up to some splashing boys with some swimming lesson tricks, such as "Take a breath IN when your face is out of water. Blow your breath OUT when underwater." Pretty basic stuff, but children don't often have swimming lessons and many are fearful in the water. Later, a young girl, maybe age 12, who had seen me with the boys, actually came up to me and asked me to teach her to swim! We worked on breathing, and kicking and some standard strokes. She got a LOT more relaxed and later I saw her teaching her little sister about blowing bubbles. So much fun!

The other hot springs in the area are higher up the pass, and we had to contract the taxi to take the group there and pick us up. We had a lovely woman taxi driver who took a lunch break as we soaked and it all worked out. 

The mineral deposits above the springs were a beautiful golden yellow:

Clever in front of the mineral deposits

Water seemed to boil at the source, with Silvano.

The pools were inside, which gave us paleskins a sunburn saving grace. The water was hot enough to need to get in and out to thermal regulate. The whole family fit in the private pool.

Ahhhhhhhh

The Raqchi archeological site is an important one:

It is an important stop along the long Inca highway between Cusco and Puno and includes the most skilled Incan rockwork. 

A small detail that we appreciated was how protruding rocks in a rock terrace served as a ladder:

See how one terrace leads to the next.

Natually, the ladder made a nice family portrait.

The most prominent structure is the Temple of Wiracocha, an enormous rectangular two-story roofed structure that measures 92 metres (302 ft) by 25.5 metres (84 ft). 

In front of the Temple of Wiracocha

This long "hallway" is oriented exactly to the summer solstice of December 21.

A hike to the viewpoint high above shows the whole layout, including the Temple and the hallway.

Naturally, Samuel couldn't pass up a good wind to fly his rainbow kite, with Eufrasia's rainbow manta in the background

The Museum of Tupac Amaru 

In the village of Tinta, just a few kilometers beyond Raqchi, is a tribute to the last Inca, tortured and killed by the Spanish Conquistadores. 

We enjoyed fresh Chicha (fermented quinoa drink) when we first arrived in Tinta.

Tina is also famous for this stone arched bridge from Inca times.

stone arch bridge; one arch eroded

 Early in his life Jose Gabriel Tupac Amaru traveled the vast Incan Empire, trading goods. During these travels, he also saw the cruelty of the Spanish Conquerers.

Eventually, the Spanish famously tied his legs and arms to horses to pull him apart in the central plaza in Cusco. This failed to kill him and they cut off his head.

It's a gruesome tale, but an important one for Peruvian History.

Healing waters of San Pedro

A fountain of deep spring water contains purging minerals. The Taquileños place lots of confidence in the power of this process and Eufrasia wanted to do it. None of the rest of the family was interested, so I joined her. It's a lovely park and people sit around drinking and then running to the squat toilets. Everything is very clean, with buckets of water flushing everything away.You can pay a little extra for sitdown toilets.

fountain

chemical analysis

Gardens and sculptures

Our vacation in Sicuani was full of laughter and education and relaxation. What a pleasure to share this with our Taquileño family!

Excursion: Cutimbo

Family excursion to hot springs and more ruins
Carnaval ended with a blowout on Sunday night. Fredy's boat had come with cargo and was poised to return to Puno empty on Monday, so we decided to fill it up with passengers and begin a family excursion in spite of hangovers and exhaustion after a week of parties. We especially wanted to include the family of Francisco and Juana with their daughter and granddaughter, Olga and Rosie. School will not start for a week, so this was our last chance to include the kids.

First thing in the morning, we hiked up to Olga's family to talk them into coming.

Tara, Rossi, Juana and Francisco in their kitchen

 Olga's brother had sprained his ankle during Carnaval, and needed to return to Tacna for his work, so the offer of a free boat ride convinced them to come. Olga deferred, but we filled the boat and started the journey:

Rossi with Tara, Amantani and Taquile in the background

Sam with Lisbet

Kusi and Edith, girlfriend cousins on the boat

Esteban's son-in-law, Demian, lives in Puno and runs a bakery with a brick bread oven plus owns cars to distribute the bread. One of his vehicles is a big van (combi) that legally carries 15 passengers. We hired the combi, filled it with 18 passengers, including Demian's extended family and went first to the Loripongo hot springs about a hour drive from Puno. Simple place, where they empty and clean the tubs after each use and fill them with fresh and very hot water. It doesn't take too long to cool down enough for a luxurious healing soak.

Ruperta and Eufrasia got up early to roast chicken with sweet potatoes and potatoes in the bread oven to add to our lunch.  Good thing, because Sam and I only brought boiled eggs, cheese and bread for 12 people. Turned out we had a feast of a lunch after the hot springs.

Our driver waves; Eufrasia dishes out the chicken

Rossi and Juana enjoy their meal

Cutimbo
Driving back toward Puno, we stopped at Cutimbo, Inca and Pre-Inca ruins about a 1/2 hour drive from Puno, but with no regular transportation, thus seldom visited. Rain had started, so part of our group waited in the bus while the rest of us wrapped ourselves in plastic and hiked to the top.

 With both round and square chulpas, this archeological site is of high quality rockwork, comparable to Sillustani and the Sacred Valley.

 The perfectly-fitted rounded rocks contain low-relief carvings of puma, monkeys:

bas-relief carvings on the rocks

puma

We took shelter in front of this restored cave, buriel place with pictographs (behind a proctective fence and with a full time guard), to do our coca leaf ceremony. The guard (watchiman) did not join our ceremony but was extremely friendly and forthcoming with information. He said this was Pre-Inca, about 1100 a.d. and that there are many more such sites. This one has been fence-protected for 17 years and is reconstructed as far as the bones and pottery placement.

note pottery (far left) and bones

see the stick llamas?

Even in the rain, the site is beautiful, rich with vegetation, including this native tree that reminds me of manzanita.

native tree

We finish the day with everybody's favorite: pollo a la braza.

Most of the family stayed on the mainland and helped Esteban work in his potato field between Puno and Juliaca. We stayed to write the previous blog and print pictures of the excursion to give away. We all rode the boat back to Taquile together on Wednesday.