Hello everyone!
I am writing this from my table at the hotel restaurant in Cusco, watching what I can from my angle of the parade below me. Considering today isn’t even technically Inti Raymi, it excites me to see the intensity of the celebration tomorrow. How much more intense and passionate than what’s going on today can one really get?
This past week has not been my favourite, but that’s entirely on me. I got sick on Monday night and did not start feeling normal for good until yesterday at about noon. As a result, my experiences of Ollantaytambo, Aguas Calientes, and Machu Picchu have been impacted through a filter of uncomfort- of enjoying my time exploring things in each of these places, but also anticipating when we’d finally be back at the hotel so I could experience more comfort for my situation. This made me start thinking about how our own positionalities might impact how much we enjoy a particular experience or place.
At the moment we visited Machu Picchu, my positionality was of a person who was unwell and would not have enjoyed or fully appreciated much of anything. How might my experience have differed if I was feeling well? In our small group in class, we compared our experiences of Machu Picchu and Sacsayhuaman. We talked about how Machhu Picchu felt largely curated – you have a tour guide that tells you what you need to know and does not let you think for yourself about the site you are on. Meanwhile, Sacsayhuaman was the opposite – there were few additional tourists, you could go where you pleased, and there was no major restaurant, hotel, or 2 Sol bathroom right outside, reminding you that you were in fact in a tourist destination. I wonder if my health issues at Machu Picchu further took me outside of the “true” Machu Picchu experience and feel. Along with everything touristy that lays outside Machu Picchu’s walls, it too could have taken away from some illusion I was supposed to be immersed in.
Just as being sick is (sort of) a positionality, being a tourist, a person of the 21st century, and a Canadian can all be considered parts of one’s positionality. I guess in this way, our eyes add a filter on to what we’re seeing. Is it even possible to say, therefore, that we’re all seeing the same thing?
2 replies on “Experience Blog 5: Machu Picchu and the Filters of Sickness”
“2 Sol bathroom right outside” this made me chuckle, a sick person would find this of note.
I don’t think we ever see the same thing. Although we share some positionality as Canadian university students, we all come from something before that. I’m sure my upbringing as an American (shh I’m trying to keep it on the DL) gives me a different expectation and/or entitlement when being in these spaces without even thinking about it.
Hey girl! I’m sorry you weren’t feeling great last week. You bring up a very important point on your positionality, and how your illness shaped your experience. I also wonder how one perceives the world differently when sick because your attention and gaze is directed elsewhere. For example, if one is experiencing bowel problems, one is suddenly aware of the lack of washrooms in a certain place that one would’t notice otherwise. I think the different ways in which we all perceive things is one of my favourite parts of these blogs because I get to see Peru through your eyes!