![Sun and shadows, Santa Catalina Monastery and Convent, Arequipa, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/arequipa-peru-santa-catalina-monastery-window-shadows-200x200.jpg)
Jarred hearts, dead nuns, and a spring bride: Arequipa’s Santa Catalina Convent
I’d been led to believe that a visit to Monasterio de Santa Catalina (Santa Catalina Monastery) in Arequipa, Peru would be a serene, beautiful experience. Sure, sure. Except for the presence of death everywhere. Other than that, yeah, total bliss.
![La Iglesia y Complejo de la Compañía, Arequipa, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/ephemerratic-arequipa-la-compania-prayer-200x148.jpg)
Jesuits and Catholics have their day
There are two things to do on a Sunday in Arequipa, Peru. One is to soothe your hangover with a bowl of adobo arequipeño, a spicy pork stew. The other is to go to church. So I do as the…
![Cápac Colla dancers, Saint Joseph's Day, Cusco, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/cusco-peru-festival-capac-colla-dancers-112x200.jpg)
The cult of saints, live and in person
Back in a college class about early religion, I read The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity by Peter Brown. Stay with me here…
![Beseecher at Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Cusco, Peru photo](http://ephemerratic.com/wp-content/uploads/cusco-peru-jesuit-church-beseech-150x200.jpg)
Sacred and profane: Put a cross on it
Neither Todd or I are religious. Ask us if we believe in god, and we’ll tell you stories instead. About how, when we first moved to San Francisco, we hosted a combined Passover Easter party and a Hindu guest knew…