Newton's Laws of Motion

Elegant  Damsel

Photo Hawkers

School's Out for The  Summer!

Nemesio again

The  Meat Market

Tamales

Beggar

Not all dogs are Curs, Her name is Sally

Julie Climbing the Amargura Steps

Our friend Yeny Yauli came to see us this week. She, her mom and sisters were some of the very early members of the church in Espinar. We’ve known her since we first came to Peru and she truly is like a daughter to us. She graduated from college a couple of years ago with her elementary teaching degree, but wasn’t real enthused to begin teaching.  Finally, she took the teachers exam, similar to the Praxis exams in the USA for all you teacher types, and received a great grade. She chose to work in an area about one hour east of Cusco in a town called Urcos. A teacher has little say in what school they would like to teach, the powers that be in the district of the teacher’s choosing decide that.  Yeny was assigned to a little village three hours walking from Urcos! There are no vehicles that go out there; everything is taken in by llama, donkey or foot. She was going to check it out and decide if she really wants to live that far from everything. The public schools are very poor, so basic necessities like desks, chairs, books, paper etc. are hard to come by and are usually very used.  It is amazing that there are still places like this in the world, but of course there are and Peru is full of them.  It will be interesting to hear of her adventure.

February is “Carnaval” time in Peru. It’s nothing like Carnaval in Rio de Janiero or New Orleans; here it is much tamer, includes clothing! Peru, however, does have its fair share of parades, feasting and fantastical floats. An interesting tradition involves dancing around the yunsa tree (known as the umisha in the jungle and cortamonte on the coast), a symbolic tree laden with gifts. In the Altiplano they bring in a eucalyptus tree that they stand up in the square with the presents hung in the branches. The yunsa activity involves a very large amount of beer or chicha (homemade beer). While dancing around the tree to monotonous music and between drinks, local couples take turns whacking the tree with a dull axe, chopping at it until the final blow sends it crashing to the ground, releasing the gifts to the eagerly waiting crowd who charge in piñata fashion to grab their gifts. Then, of course, there are the water fights. Throughout February, Peruvians love to throw water at each other – buckets, squirt bottles made from pop bottles, and balloons.  They also love to throw colored powder at anyone and everyone. In Lima they smear you with shoe polish if they get the chance. Though we have only seen one case  of young kids water  fighting so far, we still need to keep our guard up for sure!

We traveled in what felt like a rocket sled to and from Curahuasi toady. It had rained all night and we had crystal clear skies and the air smelled of everything green. We caught our taxi to Arcopata and there, somehow wound up taking a bus/van. In all, the bus carried fourteen people and a dog. We wound up in the back seat again and thought we had really gained a new appreciation for Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. However, what awaited us on our return trip, usually a two and a half hour trip, made under something less than two hours, was a revelation in physics. The driver seemed to think he was channeling Al Unser.

When faced with certain situations, we have developed several phrases that reflect that one never fully accepts the surreal effects of culture shock. These phrases include but are not limited to, “Wouldn’t you think...?” “Wouldn’t you try to…?” During today’s white-knuckle adventure these phrases came up most often on blind curves or hurtling into population centers with obvious pedestrians attempting to cross in front of the shock wave generated by this Toyota moving up to ninety miles/hour. We used them equally with reference to the driver himself and to the people attempting to cross.

 

When we first moved to Peru, we had chauffeurs to begin with and then the company allowed us to begin to drive/fend-for ourselves. That required us to obtain driver’s licenses. On Rich’s first pass through the exam he found himself conflicted over expectations of the Touring Club (Peruvian Department of Motor Vehicles) who administers these exams. The exams seemed to be translations of similar exams from the United States. The questions to be answered could have used any of the following: 1) what do I think the answer should be based upon my experience as a driver for thirty years? 2) What do I think the Touring Club expects? 3) What would I guess the answer to be based upon what I have witnessed to date in Peru? To our total surprise, the answers were all based upon U.S. rules of transit, yet these, in no way, reflect the reality of traffic in Peru.

We actually had a great set  of  meetings in Curahuasi and we  took over 6000 images this week. We felt good about all of that.

 

Random Tourists

Herbal Tea Street Vendor