September 25, 2007

From SATA-Peru-2007

A 6am alarm for a 6am breakfast. Now that’s what I call, “rolling out of bed”. Finally, something other than bread and butter and jam. Delicious yogurt, puffed quinoa (the closest we’ve come to granola) and fresh fruit. Amazing! We packed up our stuff, and hoped on the bus from our hotel in Puno to Lake Titicaca. The harbor near Puno smells like “pee and poop mixed together” according to Manuel, and it was covered with a thick layer of green slime – not exactly how I pictured this pristine lake at 12,600 ft. Once we got a little ways outside of the harbor, though, it was a really beautiful place.

Our first stop brought us to the Uros Islands, a series of man-made islands that float off the coast of Puno. We learned how to say hello in Aymaira, “_____________” and took a tour of the small floating island made of reeds. It felt very toursity and we all felt a little uncomfortable when they staged a mock market scene. Is this what most tourists want? It got a little better when we split into smaller groups and were able to talk to the men and women of the island. My tour brought me into her house and let me try on some traditional clothing. She showed me the boat they were constructing out of used plastic bottles (looks like we could learn some things).

From there, we went to another island called Takile. But before reaching the island, we had to stop to check the engine. Leave it to Miguel to take advantage of this opportunity to jump into the 9 degree Celsius (48.2 degree F) water! Soon, Shana and Hayley were following suit, shivering and smiling from the thrill of it.

On Takile, we had a delicious lunch of Quinoa soup and bread followed by an entrée of either fish or omelette. We ate in the company of some lovely British women. After lunch, we watched as our tour guide, Cesar, demonstrated how to make a frothy soapy water from a plant he’d just picked. We washed some sheep’s wool and watched as an islander spun the wool. Very cool!

After lunch we began the journey to Amantani, the island where we would be spending the night with host families. But, once again, before arriving, we had some swimmers. Manuel leaped to his element and played it off well that it was not cold.

We were all pretty nervous and anxious to arrive on Amantani to meet our host families. Mine was extremely nice and I feel very lucky to have met them. The father, Armando, picked Emily and I up from the dock and we hiked (with our heavy packs) up to his house mid-way up the island’s mountain. We met his wife and his two daughters, 8 and 3. His 9-month old son was sleeping, but we got to meet him later that night. He was an adorable little boy who they called, “chico loco” which means “crazy boy”. See him and holding him made me really miss my niece back home.

The town gathered at the school for a school game: Gringos vs. Islanders. It was a fun and energetic match where Erich stood out like star. They were all pretty impressed that a mere gringo could do so well on the field.

After the game we all went back to our families for dinner. Emily and I enjoyed a delicious maize soup followed by a fried egg on top of some potatoes. It was a lot of food (a lot of potatoes, specifically) and we did our best to swallow it all down. We were a little confused and disheartened by the fact that they gave us the table to sit at (alone) with silverware, plates, glasses, etc. and they sat on the floor and ate after us. It felt pretty awkward, but we tried to keep the conversation going and engage with them. After dinner, our host mom dressed us up in traditional Amantani clothes which included two skirts and a beautifully woven shirt, topped with a belt that cut off the supply of oxygen to my heart, and a long unwieldy shawl. All dressed up, we went back to the school for a fiesta full of traditional live music and dancing. We learned a few new dances (which we plan to use in the discotecas in Cusco) and enjoyed the live cultural music. After the fiesta we each returned to our families houses and slept well after a long and engaging day.

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September 24, 2007September 26, 2007