Helllllllllo family and friends!!!!
Since I wrote last, I've been doing A LOT of moving. This post and the following are probably going to be all over the place, but I hope you'll find them enjoyable!
The Trip North from Southern Chile
------------------------------------
Ever heard of the Atacama Desert? Well, it's very large, very hot, and VERY unchanging. We're talking days here folks... I rode 3 overnight buses in a row to get from Valdivia, Chile, to Arequipa, Peru. Not kidding you, that trip through the dessert made the idea of driving west on I-80 through Nebraska seem like a scenic dream. There was nothing but grey dust for about 28 hours. Luckily, one of the bus attendants broke up the monotony when he found out that I spoke both English and Spanish and asked me to translate the song 'White Flag' by Dido. He was thrilled. I was amused. Win-Win.
On the trip north, I met a couple nice French girls my age who had been volunteering in Arequipa (the city to which I was headed) who offered to share a hostel. I spent the next couple days with them waiting for my brother Brice to arrive and wishing I spoke French! (I also got my coca leaves --which grow in abundance in Peru-- read by a fortune teller.... no worries, she says I'm all good ;)
Brice Arrives to Peru!
-------------------------
Once Brice got into town, I wanted him to do as much cultural stuff as possible! So, on day one we went to eat at a traditional Peruvian restaurant and ordered cuy chactado.... which is guinea pig... never have I (or has Brice, I'm assuming) regretted eating anything so much in my life! It came out with all its parts... eyes, teeth, legs, hair... not my thing. While in Arequipa, we also went to the city market where we saw a man hacking away at a full cow head and a woman selling alpaca fetuses to be burried under one's house for good luck amongst other interesting things. We also went for a day hike to a lookout point and on the way saw a man plowing a field with a single blade pulled by an ox of sorts. We were amazed!
In order to get as much out of our days as possible, we decided to take an overnight bus from Arequipa to Puno and then start our tour of Lake Titicaca the next day. This may have been a less than awesome choice as we got the VERY back two seats of the bus and probably slept for a total of 45 minutes. It made for a pretty long following day. Once on the lake, however, we got to see some pretty amazing sights! The first stop was at the floating island of Uros. This island and all other structures on the island are made of reeds. The people of this island use the reeds to build the ground on which they stand, the houses in which they live, and the boats from which they fish. They also eat the squishy inside part of the reed which we got to try while learning about their way of life. It was pretty darn interesting. The women of the island are very skilled at cross-stitching and hand make beautiful tapestries that show the story of their people. The men are fishermen. One man said that he works on the island during the day and fishes at night. I wonder when he sleeps. He looked pretty tired.
After leaving Uros, we had a two hour-ish boat ride to the island of Amantani where we met our host family and made our way to our home for the evening. Daniel and Eugenia, our host parents, are the actual parents of six sons, three of which still live at home. Our bedroom, although simple, was by far the nicest room in the house. Before eating lunch with the family, we kicked around a semi-flat soccer ball in the dirt courtyard with the two youngest boys. They were so sweet and smiley. Lunch was comprised of fresh (and absolutely delicious) trout from the lake and rice and potatoes. They're serious about their starches in Peru - at least two varieties with every plate! After lunch we met up with the rest of the tour group and started up the island's small mountain. At the top was a roofless, stone temple used only once a year for a worshiping service. From the top, a person can see for miles and miles across the lake in all directions. Although it was foggy and a bit cold, the air was SOOO fresh and the view was amazing! We saw our host father, Daniel, at the top as he is one of the leaders of the community and was there with his whip protecting the temple. Luckily, no one was doing anything out of line!
Once back at the house we were supposed to have dinner and get ready for the dance of traditional music and dress, but it started pouring cats and dogs (or possibly llamas and alpacas) and didn't stop all night. Instead of braving the rain, we stayed in and played cards by candlelight with the two youngest boys. We discussed teaching them how to play gin rummy, but decided it might be too difficult. So, we asked the boys to teach us a game they knew, and they taught us something very similar to gin rummy. We could hardly contain our laughter. We also played Guerra... WAR! The boys ended up winning as they'd keep their aces on top and play them every hand! We laughed and laughed... who needs rules?!
Regarding the idea of tipping our host families, the guides suggested that instead of giving them money we should buy them some simple groceries. So, before heading home for dinner on the first night, we stopped at the store and bought some oil, rice, jam, sugar, salt, and some other goods I cannot recall for about 7 USD. When we gave Daniel and Eugenia the groceries, they looked so happy and told us that they felt blessed to have us as their guests for the night. Little did they know, that we felt just the same. I bet if you ask Brice, he'd tell you the same, but in my opinion, staying with them that one night was the best part of the trip. They were so genuine and funny and the food was wonderful! We felt so lucky!
So, that's the start... coming next is the description of the adventure of the Inca Trail!
abrazos
wendy
