August 10, 2008 Day 5

Hey, Today is Sunday, August 10, 2008.

THis morning we woke up at about 7:30 again, and we got ready for one of the most interesting things we have done to date.

WE went and atended the LDS Sacrament meeting for the Urubamba branch at 9:00. It was very cool because the whole thing was in Español, and most of the orphans from the Sunflower Orphanage were there. They were very reverent, which was impressive for 38 orphans!!! The talks were about tithing, Missionary work, and searching for the talents God has given you. I actually understood bits and pieces of what was being said. I try to speak spanish whenever i can, it is fun to try and learn how to say different phrases. Anyway, two of the speakers were youth speakers, and one was my new friend, Naftalia. He is way cool, he speaks a little english, and is about 15. For the prelude music, they had a CD Player. For the hymns, we just sang with whatever pitch the choruster person started on. There were hardly any hymnals, but most people had small, personal ones. After, we went back to the hotel and changed.

After Sacrament, we split into two groups. One group went to Cuzco to see the catherdral and some of the places in the Plaza Del´Armes. They also went to visit some families from their time in the mission field. BUt we went to the ruins called Ollantaytambo (Oh-Yawn-Tay-Tom-Bow). It was massive, and looked like a giant set of stairs because of the terraces that had been built by the Incas. The Incas had to carve out huge granite blocks from mountains, drag them 18 Kilometers, then drag them up huge ramps to reach the top of the mountain where Ollantaytambo was located. Then they would chisel them into smaller blocks to make the walls. The Walls were made with no cement of any kind. The blocks had knobs sticking out and holes in them, and the pieces would fit together like a giant puzzle, it was pretty cool. They were made to be ultra earthquake resistant. They had massive earthquakes every 300 years or so, and tons of cities and villages were destroyed during one, so they learned to stop it.

Anyway, the original building had been built to resemble a llama, with each part of the body representing something different. The "head" was the section used for religious ceremonies and such. the tail was mainly used for astronomy. In this section, they used the position of the sun and certain stones to "forecast" th season and its prosperity. I guess it was prett accurate!!!

After touring Ollantaytambo, We drove to the Pisac Marketplace. I didnt get to go to the actual marketplace ( which is supposed to be amazing) because Grandpa, Dad and I (and Elena, Jodies neighbor) decided to go and see the Pisac Ruins instead. I think they were totally worth it, i could have spent hours there. IT was way cool, it was built on steep cliffs, way crazy to hike on. :) At the top, in the religious section, there was a series of small shelves that were used during the winter. The Cultural belief was that during the winter, the sun would move away from the earth. They were very afraid it would keep going and leave them in total darkness with the animals, so they would "bind" the sun to huge golden images of the sun which were placed on the shelves. This would Draw the sun back to earth. Apparently it worked, because last i checked, the sun was still shining during the day. ;)

well, we returned, ate dinner, and just played around.

OH!!! Ok, so i was playing chess with grandpa lythgoe to see who could use the computer first, and I ACTUALLY WON!!!! I actually had him beat, he said it is the first time anyone has beat him in years!! The last time he lost was when he played againt the computer on his cell phone!!

Well, I bought a hat yesterday made of Alpaca, it is so soft, i love it!!!

goodnight, feel free to comment:)

Love you!!
Jake Lythgoe

PS, right now, it is actually the 11th. It is 12:11 and i m going to bed.