Devil in the White City

Arequipa is called the White City because most of its colonial buildings were made out of sillar, a white volcanic stone from the three nearby volcanos (check out these names): Chachani,


Pichu Pichu, and


El Misti.

It´s beautiful, sunny, sophisticated, and reasonably-priced. So, basically the opposite of Lima.






One of the main attractions is the Convent of Santa Catalina, which is like a city within a city. I spent a good hour and a half on the tour there, it was so relaxing and peaceful.




These are Dominican nuns, not Franciscan, so while they do take a vow of silence, there was no vow of poverty. They had servants and slaves, tea sets and dishes imported from Holland, English silverware, and priceless art collections.

I know, I know, I should quit bashing the Catholics, but it´s just so fun. One more. Here is a statuary of the Last Supper:


You probably can´t tell from this picture but only one of the apostles is not painted white, but in fact painted dark-skinned, with no facial hair, like the native people of the region. Any guesses? You got it! Judas, the Betrayer!

A famous resident of the Convent is the 16th-Century nun Sor Ana, who was beatified by John Paul II because her grave-dirt cured a woman´s cancer blah blah blah, I just wanted to give a shout-out to my hometown!


WHUDDUP!!!


Oh, they´re so cute!


And delicious!



How could I? Well, when in Rome...If it makes you vegetarians feel any better, I embarrassed myself pretty good at that restaurant. See, a common Arequipeño treat here (basically just hand-made ice cream) is called Queso Helado. But me, trying to be all cool and order in Spanish, I asked for a Hueso Helado. Which I´m pretty sure means "Frozen Bone."

Speaking of which, after lunch I visited another famous attraction in Arequipa, the Ice Princess of Ampato. She´s the remains of an Incan maiden, sacrificed at the top of a nearby mountain (Ampato) five or six hundred years ago, and discovered perfectly preserved frozen in the ice fifteen years ago when a neighboring volcano erupted and the hot ash melted the snow cap. It´s a pretty major discovery, giving archaeologists all kinds of insights into the culture, because she´s all intact and stuff. But they wouldn´t let me take any pictures, so if you´re interested, check out the June 1996 issue of National Geographic.

That´s about it for now. This is a lovely hostal, and is called La Casa de mi Abuela, which means, "my grandmother´s house." Can you imagine me asking the taxi driver at midnight last night to take me to my grandmother´s house?

I leave you now with a picture of what I intend to look like upon my return to America. Remember, it´s for the children.