Good Decision

What an experience the last four days have been. I was thinking today of the things that fell into place that led me to study abroad, and how close I was to not committing to a month in Peru. What a shame it would have been if I would have missed out on this opportunity. I can honestly say that study abroad was the best decision I could have made for my summer.

The photo above was taken at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. As others have mentioned different symmetries are found in this piece. Interpreting a painting like this one is a daunting task, but it appears that the top row of workers are farming potatoes. As we saw on Saturday during the National Day of the Potato, the potato is a pretty big deal. I also noted that there seems to be seven people in the top portion of the frame followed by seven symmetrical boxes filled with designs in the middle portion. I can’t help but wonder if there is significance in the number seven.The bottom row leaves much to question. My best guess is these again are potato’s, and this may be a representation of potatoes taking seed and growing to something that can be harvested.

The Cathedral of Lima was a breathtaking experience. I don’t know that I have ever been in a Cathedral, mosque, church, or temple to that magnitude. I was of course fascinated by the crypts, and taken away by the art. One thing about the art that stood out was the pictures of people mourning after Jesus’s death. In modern day church bad things like punishment, sadness, and pain are often brushed under the rug. While the crucifixion of Jesus has not been forgotten by Christians, it seems that unlike the artists of these paintings people have forgotten the pain and suffering that went into that scene. I also noted and wish I had a picture of the main columns running down the Cathedral. The columns were not parallel. I was taken back after seeing the detail that went into the architecture of that building that the columns were not lined up correctly. After staring for a few minutes I noticed that one of the tour guides was knocking on the columns to indicate that they sounded hollow. I believe she was trying to point out that what we see was not the original column but after multiple renovations we arrived at the present columns. 

I also thought it was interesting when Dr. Brown asked Michael and I what we thought about a particular piece of art. The piece consisted of what looked like Jesus sitting on a  golden chair holding a cross in his hand. Michael suggested that it must represent jesus before crucifixion and at the same time I explained how it must be after crucifixion. We both had solid reasons but it was neat to experience totally different interpretations of the same piece of art right next to one another.