October 4, 2009

This morning Pat and I transferred hotels. We are staying in Cusco at in the San Blas area. This area is known as being the art district. It looks similar to the rest of Cusco with the only difference being there are more small art gallery shops along the street. Once we got settled in our new place Pat and I headed out to the wander. We stopped at this little shop called Magic Hands. We went to open the door but it was locked. Just as we were able to leave a man named opened the door. He said we were welcome to come in but he only allows two people in the store at one time. The store is quite small, however Jesus says he only opens the door when he senses positive energy on the other side. As it turns out he is a shaman, or a traditional healer in a small village near Cusco. This skill is passed from generation to generation within families. He lives and does natural healing in his village for part of each month using natural herbs, roots and other ancient methods and practices. For the rest of the month he works in his small shop creating one of a kind jewelry with Inca symbols and stories to match. Jesus asked my permission to scan my hand with his. What amazed me what the warmth and energy that I could feel from him. He told me that I was struggling with conflict and that I was “crazy analytical woman” that tends to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Ok, I was thinking this guy was a total scam artist but there was something about his aura that just made me feel so comfortable. He told me my aura was orange and green but should be yellow. He brought out a piece of jewelry, a necklace, that he said would help me to block the negative energy and convert any negative energy to positive energy. Regardless of whether or not the necklace was beautiful. It has a Fire Opal on the front side with silver and white gold surrounding it. On the back side are 5 stones that are in the shape of a cross or a fish, depending on how you look at them. One stone is from Wayna Picchu, one is Peruvian Opal Moonstone, the next Bull Horn followed by Lapis Blue and Serpentina from Machu Picchu. Jesus may be a scam artist, some people claim he is but everyone comments on his energy.

After that we wandered down the street stopping at stores here and there and ended up back in the central market. There are many street vendors here in Cusco that approach you to sell you anything from water, belts, paintings, jewelry to photos with native people and alpaca or baby sheep. I got sucked into a photo with a native person and her baby sheep. It cost me $0.30 and I got to hold the the baby sheep. I am such a sucker for baby animals!

We enjoyed a nice lunch at a restaurant on the second story where we could watch the people in the Central Square.

After that we walked, all uphill back to the hotel. We have been relaxing and I was able to get caught back up on my blog posts.

We are heading out to find dinner shortly. We are going to a restaurant just up the street that was recommended by our guide service.