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A new wing of the archeological museum dedicated to mummies opened the day I visited.
| Even though I had asked the taxi driver to take me to the bus station to check on the schedule to Cusco, I ended up at the archeological museum 14 kms north of Arica (my Spanish leaves a lot to be desired). It was a fortuitous detour. A couple of us in the museum were shoo'd out because a ceremony was taking place to open a new wing of the museum. It was dedicated to Chinchorro peoples' mummifying techniques from 5,000 BC to about 0 AD. Various dignitaries had been invited; I introduced myself as the ambassador from Connecticut. My attire (shorts, T-shirt and dusty sneakers) surely gave away the ruse. Others were in considerably dressier clothes. After being among the first to view this new wing, I graciously accepted cocktails (mango juice), fruit salad, hors d'oeuvres and sweets. We were re-admitted finally to the main museum, and the day progressed more or less as planned. |