Ok so after the small tranquil, but rainy town of Puno, we were ready for a change. We had heard of a beautiful city between Puno and Cusco (where we were headed) called the Andalucia of Peru. We had to go and see for ourselves. Arequipa. Located in a vally, in the south of Peru, we had high hopes. Unfortunatly, not all hopes were met. But still a great town. The obvious spanish influence on the city made me nostalgic for Cordoba Spain, where i did my junior year abroad. However, the cold rainy days, did nothing to brighten my spirits. But we made the best of our trip, did some laundry, and took in the sights.
The main tourist attraction in Arequipa is the Convent of Santa Catalina. Called a city within a city. Located in the heart of Arequipa, this convent was fully hooked up. Young girls from all over were sent here to live in seculsion and devote themselves to god. They were fully cloistered, meaning no contact with anyone from the outside, at all. Big walls separted the nuns from the rest of the city. But who needs all that noise anyways! They had it all, gardens, fountains, a main plaza, streets, a communal bath/pool, a big kitchen, laundry facilities, their own rooms with kitchens, bathrooms, and servents quarters, a big chapel, and their own art gallary. At one point the nuns ran into problems with the archbishop of arequipa and the dudes in the vatican, because they thought they were living it up in the cloister a bit too richly. But it was worked out eventually. In hopes of preservation, the convent has been opened up the the public. Though nuns still live there (in a separate area you cant visit) they are only partially cloistered, meaning they can leave the convent with permission. sweet. Anyways, pretty amazing place. Pics are 1. one of the plazas, brightly painted and wall to wall oil paintings. Pic 2, on Calle Cordoba (!) looks just like the hanging flowers from my favorite town in spain (sigh). Pic 3. the laundry room, or patio i guess. These big urns were broken in half, and a irrigation canal was put down the center so the nuns could wash their stuff. Pic 4. From the room of one of the nuns. Not huge rooms, but always well decorated. very pretty.
Super cool place, if thats what convents are like, sign me up... minus the cloistered part....
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