Finish my Spanish class at 12:30pm. This is the 2nd day, I still have a great deal of difficulty with the listening and speaking part (the first half of the class), but do much better with the grammar and stuffs (2nd half). That might be the eternal fate for Asian (?), particularly for Chinese, to learn a foreign language, because we have a different way to learn, that does not incorporate any phonic system, and we rely too much on memorization. When the teacher speak without writing, I might be able to repeat it in the classroom, but would have a hard time memorizing it without seeing how the words are spelled, don't even dream about reusing it in situations. That's why I do better with grammar, and learning new words in the 2nd half of the class, cause I can see the words and it is easier for me to internalize in my head. Anyway, I still feel good about learning Spanish here, and it will definitely help me a lot for the next month and a half.
After lunch and some emailing, around 4pm, I start to walk around the center areas of Cuzco for a solid 2 hours, actually I wander more than just around the center areas really, passing by some pretty local areas, where I don't see many tourists, just shops and markets for the locals. People sitting chatting on benches, kids after school hurrying home, people selling flowers in a local market which roof is made by tin, its style reminds of me of the old food market in Hong Kong. In fact, now I think about it, it is kind of like Yau Ma Tei. The truth is, there is really nothing special about this local area, just locals doing things like all locals do everywhere in the world. It has a very homey feeling, I guess, that's what draws me in. Back to the tourist spots, pass by the Church of Santo Domingo, what significant about this church is that it is built on the ruins of an Inka temple. You will see in the picture, the bottom part of the church is some Inka stones, and the church just stands above it. Some history of the church is pretty ugly, don't you think? Walk uphill to the arty area called San Bras. I really like that neighborhood, there are lot of cute little restaurants, bistros, and cafes. It would be a nice place to hang out and enjoy some nice dinners with friends. But most of the students I know here are quite young or the others are backpackers, I don't think I can really ask any of them out for a nice meal in that area. Besides, I really should not be a big spender on food myself. Dinner at a Bistro Would be nice though.
Again, I have taken a ton of pictures, but a lot of them are taken at the protesters in the protests occurring in the main plaza today. I am not sure what they are protesting about, but there are more polices arriving to guard the churches, they line up like a chain, the protesters too, their crowds stretch longer and longer as it gets later. The policias haven't blocked away the tourists though, and there are kids in the protesting crowds, so I believe it is a peaceful protest, it lasts for the whole afternoon. At 6:45pm, when I meet up with Amanda to go home, they are still there. Check out the pictures.
I think this would be my plan: see the in town attractions in the afternoons when I am not in class. And in the weekends, I will visit some small villages or Inka sites in the Sacred Valley area. If there are other students wanted to go together, probably we will go by ourselves. If just me, I would join some city tour from the Spanish school. I really only gonna stay here for 3 weeks, time goes fast, while there are so many things to see in this area of Peru. Talking to the Brit (one of my classmates), there might be a chance that we would join up to go to the next destination together, depending on his schedule. Mine is pretty much fixed, I will leave Cuzco to Puno (nearby Lake Titicaca) on the 26th. Would be nice if he will join me, so I get a travel companion for a few days, and also some convenience in term of accommodation. After that though, he is heading up to Ecuador while I am heading down to Chile.
Photos here: Day 8
