Week 2 and a Half

We spent over a week in Cuzco. We stayed for wuite some time because we had arranged before we left to do a project with a prgram called Aldea Yanape. We weren{t sure at the outset what the project would entail but when we got there Yuri (the director) remembered our images we had sent and asked us if we wanted to do a mural. I think that Sarah is going into much greater detail than I am on this point but it turned out to be both a rewarding and frustrating experience. We happened into the program when there was a lot going on and the initial idea to do a piece that was essentially our own and leave it for the school turned out to be much more like us doing a piece that was in line with what they envisioned they wanted. The beauty of this is that we got to work with a number of other people on a mural and that in the end when we had to leave due to time constraints, it was much easier letting the group carry on without our help.

The program itself was really great. Essentially an all volunteer after school program for disadvantaged kids, they are doing a lot of good. Helping children who have been involved in street crime and witness to violence etc. they provide a healthy and loving atmosphere where the kids learn social skills, have time for art and homework and learn a bit about the rest of the world. The whole thing is funded by a restaurant and donations. We met a number of great people from all over the world who volunteer there and I hope we left them with something of value.

Cuzco as a city otherwise is quite beautiful. There is a wealth of a strange marriage of Inca stonework and Colonial building that makes the whole place look quite magical (at 5am). The real problem for me was that the entire palce felt a bit like Peru, Las Vegas. Everything was specifically geared in the central part of the town for the tourist rade and as such I got sick of being hassled to go into a restaurant or get a massage every thirty steps. There was something really wonderful about the experiences we had in all of the less tourist filled cities. I also got sick in Cuzco which made it a bit of a drag. Sarah thought I had typhoid or mylaria but I got b etter in a couple of days and I have come to believe that I just got a bug that all of the vulunteers at the school were passing around.

We went to Maccu Piccu on Friday. Its true that Aguas Calientes is a place that you would have no reason to go to other than to get to Maccu Piccu. The entire little town was awash with vendors and restaurants. We hiked up the mountain to the site. A hike that we had no idea would be as hard as it was. We walked 8km in an hour and a half about two of which were straight up the mountain. It was literally a stone staircase that gained about 2000 feet in 2km. The site itself was really amazing. I was surprised how little I felt the presence of the hundreds of other people who were there. Not sure what else to say. Im sure most of you have at least seen pictures and other than describe the way it lo0ks Im afraid anthing else would in one way or another fall short.

We left for Puno and Lake Titicaca on Saturday Morning and went out onto the lake Sunday. We visited the floating islands whish was a place like nothing I have ever seen. Essentially they are giant rafts made of reeds with houses built on them that are anchored in the middle of a sea of reeds. As this is a kind of standard pitstop on the lake, there is a sense here too that there is an unfortunate overabundance of commercialization. There is esentially a talk and them the rest of the time there someone is trying to get you to buy something. At least here you can see them making most of the things they are selling. It was really a strange place to see. literally surroundsed by reeds, it felt like walking on a mattress, with these strange reed boats lazily floating about. We also visited Taquile Island. Aside from the look of the people there was something about the scenery that Sarah and I both felt was somehow what we thought the mediterranean should be like. The men there make these really nice hats. They apparently learn from a young age to knit them themselves. They are like a very long stocking cap that flops over in the back so that they get some protection from the sun. The length also provides a storage area for their coca.

Today we left Puno for La Paz. We pulled in tonight and it already feels like a real city. There are stores everywhere that arent necessariy for people from out of town, Hardware stores, tire shops and everthing. I like it already.

Camf