Once I decided to come on this trip I set the background on my computer to a picture of a hillside of houses that all were painted with colors similar to the houses on Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC. I didn't know anything about the picture other than I really liked it and that it was in Peru. On our visit to that hillside on Tuesday afternoon I learned a lot more about it than I ever thought I would. Originally our plan was for Matt, Joey, and I to hike the hill and if we thought the others would enjoy it we would bring them back another day. The whole group decided they wanted to come all and things got interesting. We weren't clear on how to get there so we wondered through the city until we got a clear view of the hill on Av. Tacna. From there we then decided to just head straight for the hill, hoping that there would be a micro going to the top. This was a bad idea. After crossing over the Rio Rimac, we were face to face with the worst poverty I had ever seen. The pretty houses on the hillside on my background were actually dilapidated shacks that were littered with graffiti and trash was everywhere. There was no way we were going to cross the street and enter the hillside. We were stuck. After a group meeting, we caught a bus back to the city center where half the group left to go to Miraflores. With at least five more hours of sun light the three of us (Matt, Joey and I) plus Carrie were set on getting to the top of San Cristobal. At the Plaza de Armas, there were ladies selling tickets to a private micro that took a very short tour of that side of Lima and then allowed twenty minutes at the top of San Cristobal. The views from the top were well worth the journey. The winter cloud cover didn't allow us to see all the way to ocean but we could see the neighboring mountains and a lot of the greater Lima area. This is one place that I would say is a must see for anyone visiting Lima but definitely start at the Plaza de Armas.
During the visit to the Museum of Archeology, Anthropology, and History I believe everyone was overwhelmed by the amount of artifacts that were on display. The type of pot that most interested me were the ones that had three or four vessels but they only had one input/output. I had seen a very similar style pot that my grandfather had gotten while he was in Egypt. I am not sure of the significance of these or how they would have used them but they are unique. It is intriguing that both cultures, half the way around the world, would have the same style pot but in today societies we do not have anything close to this in style.
There were a few motifs that continued to appear on the exterior or the rim of the pots; the wave or spiral, the stair-step, and animals. Until the Spanish conquered Peru the indigenous peoples religion was much different. Their view of the world was very similar to the Native Americans. They knew the sky brought the rain and sun which helped the plants grow, the earth was their place to work and live, and the ground and below was were things grew from and returned after death. This is the reason for so many of the artifacts containing animals. There were believed to be certain animals that symbolized the three "worlds". Birds of prey (eagles, owls, condors) were thought to represent the heavens, I believe I noticed them the second most to the serpents. The serpents or spiders were symbolic of the underworld. Snakes were often used to almost outline the different pieces of textiles or they could be seen around the rim or base of most pots containing animal depictions. The ancient societies used a feline, such as a jaguar or puma, to symbolize life on earth.The stair-steps were also symbolic of the three "worlds", each step representing a different world and corresponding to the three types of animals. The wave motif that appeared a lot I believe was to represent the cycle of the seasons and life. One piece had a wave and at the crest of the wave would form a condor. I believe this shows that they were very reliant on the changes of the seasons in order to produce a good harvest and look for help from their .
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