Andean Aymara

Congratulations to Daniel Montesinos (a botany student at U. Wageningen), Mr Alvarez, and of course, Edwin Banegas Flores (the Chief Linguistic Consultant on the Aymara documentation project) in their big news — the rare Aristeguietia ballii (of the Asteraceae family) has now been officially registered in Ubinas (Moquegua) at 3500m thanks to their fieldwork.

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Below is a slideshow of some artefacts shown to me by denizens of some small villages in the Moqueguan altiplano. I have a handful more, but these are the ones which Charles Stanish, an expert in Andean archaeology, has kindly identified (see captions).
The ominpresence of history in these remote locations is something fascinating and unique. [...]

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Greetings from Tacna. I just thought I’d take this opportunity to make a quick update about plans here in Peru. About three days ago I left Muylaque for Moquegua. Yesterday I arrived in Tacna to do a quick visa run into Chile, and spent the night here. Today returning to Moquegua before heading off to [...]

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As look would have it, my first night in back in Moquegua after nearly two months in Muylaque proved to be an especially difficult one to sleep through. Last night, first at around 9pm and then, much stronger, at 3am the tremor of a 6.3 earthquake in northern Chile arrived in Moquegua and traveled as [...]

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Here is the annual procession of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles, AKA Black Christ) in Moquegua, in which the devout, clad in purple robes, carry an icon of a crucified Christ around the streets of the city, stopping often to sing psalms, chant Hail Marys, and pray with a priest, blessing the city [...]

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Hace varios lustros que las palomas de Castilla han invadido la ciudad. Paulatinamente se han apoderado de nuestras plazas, techos, mojinetes y han convertido en su refugio las viviendas que por lo arruinadas permanecen abandonadas desde el último terremoto. No faltan voces que ahora las consideran como uno de los atractivos turísticos que podemos ofrecer, [...]

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Gustavo Valcárcel Salas is a physicist, historian, and regional expert on a variety of local topics. Gustavo is a tremendous help in the Aymara research project and will be making occassional posts on this website on issues relating to life in the city of Moquegua.
His first contribution, Las Palomas will be posted shortly. It regards [...]

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In this second look at the book mentioned in this series, we can explore some of the cultural and traditional observations that the author makes.  One of the most interesting aspects are the author’s notes about the various festivals held in the region. 
The PALOMITA dance is part of the festival of the Crosses. It is [...]

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La ultima vez que estaba en Moquegua, mi amigo Gustavo Valcárcel Salas mi dió un libro hecho-de-mano con paginas fotocopiadas, descoloradas. El trabajo tiene el titulo Moquegua, La tierra del sol - Concerte es quererte: Folklore y turismo zona Ticsani Region Moquegua. No está claro quien escribió y organizó el documento, pero en la segunda [...]

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While I was last in Moquegua my good friend Gustavo Valcarcel Salas gave me a faded xeroxed handmade book comprised of a series of poorly photocopied sheets folded in half. The work is entitled, Moquegua, La tierra del sol - Concerte es quererte: Folklore y turismo zona Ticsani Region Moquegua. It is unclear who wrote [...]

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