Third Sunday reflection; Pisac and its hippies

Pisac is situated within one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. Being from a mountainous region (as a good portion of us are), it’s quite fun to compare the mountains of home to the Andes. As much as it pains me to say it, these staggering peaks may take the cake. At least when it comes to the mountains near Vancouver. Mount Rainier and the view I get of it will always be my number one. They are so striking, surging up seemingly out of nowhere and filling the sky with shrubbery. I love their greenness; it feels more gentle than the snowy, rocky faces I’m used to looking at. It also helps that the sun has been out the entire time we’ve been here, which I could totally use more of back home. I’m very charmed by Pisac itself as well. The people that I’m assuming represent Pisac’s townfolk are so kind and chatty; they also love sharing potatoes. The town feels sleepy, especially the square, and I love it (especially after the Cusco street noise. Soooo brutal). My favorite part is the beautiful carvings and sculptures adorning the sidewalks. Adam and I saw this incredibly cool sculpture of a snake’s head rearing out of the sidewalk, its mouth serving as the opening to a rainwater/storm drain. The food is also so so sooooo good, and let this serve as a recommendation to the few that read this: the smoothies in the market are nuts. Like, the best I’ve ever had. And I really love smoothies so take that with no grains of salt. The only stain on this beautiful place is the one lots of us have been shitting upon already: the hippies. Walking around here feels like an international Burning Man festival. The amount of bare feet and gnarly dreadlocks on white guys is really getting to me, and we’ve got quite a bit of time left. I especially cannot stand the coworking spaces where the Santa Cruz hippies can migrate to and meet on Zoom with their coworkers back in the States to discuss a new start-up idea that appropriates even more culture than we can imagine. It could very well be that the locals do not mind the hippies that much and, in fact, find me far more annoying. While I’d be very sad if that were true, it may not be that far-fetched. I’m just as white as these hippies are! This was more of a personal piece rather than a ‘voice for the people’ kind of thing. Does anyone else detest their presence like I do?