I know it has been a long time since I've posted on this blogsite, and I hope you all will forgive me. I was overwhelmed with final exams, papers, and committments to projects and Rotary.
But I hope you'll enjoy reading this reflection from my most recent trip to spend a week with a family in the Andes of Peru. I unfortunately lost my camera, but I'll post photos as soon as my friends pass me their copies!

An Unforgettable Experience

On Thursday morning, I arrived by bus to Lima at 5:30am weak in the knees from a long trip, covered in dust head to toe from the difficult road, and hungry because we had barely eaten in 19 hours, but somehow refreshed after an unforgettable experience living with a family in the Andes.

One of my closest friends from the University invited me to go with her and her cousin, Clery, to visit his family during the National Holiday, Independence Day. He had not visited his family in 2 years because it is such a difficult trip and even more so to take time off from work. I had no clue what the trip would be like or where we were headed. I thought we would be on the bus for at most 10 hours, because that’s about the time it to takes to get to Huaraz, one of the biggest tourist spots in the area. We were on a bus with no bathroom and the trip ended up being 17 hours! Almost half of the route was a thin dirt road that winded through the mountains at times with a steep drop off and nothing to break the fall!

The scenery was incredible. At night I could see the majestic, but dark faces of the mountains lit up by the starry night sky. In the morning, I woke just in time to see the snowcapped peaks of the Cordierra Blanca we had passed. We climbed higher and higher into the mountains towards the clear blue sky passing little villages, and every 15 minutes my friend would ask her cousin what everyone wants to know when they’re traveling…are we there yet?

We arrived just before noon, and were greeted by his dad, three year old sister Verenice and 5 year old cousin Alex. Alex even helped carry our luggage and it was almost bigger than him! Most of Clery's other brothers and sisters were in school; he is the oldest of eight. His mother had just given birth to a baby girl in February, and the most incredible part is that she did it on her own! There are no clinics nearby for medical help, and they are also somewhat superstitious, believing that if there is anyone in the room the baby will not be born.

The family still speaks quechua, the indigenous language from Incan times. Their home has dirt floors with straw and lamina roofs. They have no sewage, but do receive a little electricity (that doesn’t always work) for lighting at night in the kitchen and the rooms.

It was freezing cold! We were about 3500 km in altitude, and Clery had said it was warm during the afternoons, so I didn't pack heavy clothes. I slept with five heavy blankets and every morning huddled near the fire burning in the kitchen.

Far from usual comforts, you don’t recognize the difference when you’re opening your heart to new experiences and people.

I came to know and love the family very well. They invited me to help in certain chores, because I wanted to learn. I know my family and friends would find it REALLY hard to believe (being almost a vegetarian), but I caught and helped cleaned the animals I ate! I also helped collect water from a nearby pond to use for cooking and bathing and harvest lima beans for the Pachamanca.

On our last day we hiked down to an open field nearby where cows were grazing with all of the cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles and had their version of a family picnic, the Pachamanca. Pachamanca is a meal cooked below the earth on a bed of hot coals. It starts with a layer of coals, then you add a layer of meat, potatoes, lima beans, squash and cover it with earth, letting it sit for at least an hour to cook. We also added a certain kind of tamale with flour made from potatoes and sugar (Chuño)....delicious!

It was a big event and a lot of the family was over at our house the evening before, crowded in the small kitchen preparing the food. We milled the potatoes and wrapped the tamales while the grandmother and cousins were on the floor removing shells from some nuts. The whole family shared in stories, laughing and talking the night away. Usually the family goes to sleep around 8 or 9 at night, but we didn’t get to bed until 12am! The actual day of the Pachamanca was incredible, with the entire family sharing in the meal, the kids running and shouting, everyone laughing, and traditional huanyo music playing from a small radio with a gorgeous view of the valley from where we sat.

HUAYNO and Fiesta de Patria

During my stay, I really learned to appreciate the traditional music and dance from the sierra known as Huayno. It is danced with a simple step that looks easy, but was actually difficult! It has a quick beat, but a lamenting tune coming from the harp and singer whose lyrics usually describe broken hearts, cheating, deception and drinking.

All over Peru the people were celebrating Independence Day. In the small village where I stayed, the Fiesta is sponsored by someone or some family that moves to the city, works hard all year and pays for the band, dances, and fireworks displays. It becomes a grand celebration with a lot of people that return from Lima to visit their families in the village and participate in the festivities.

On the first night, the kids marched around the village carrying torches in the shapes of stars, airplanes, boats and more, made by bending branches and covering them with the colors of the Peruvian flag. The next morning, there were more parades and skits put on by the primary and secondary schools, followed by a soccer game in the evening.

The last night we were there, the sponsor had managed to contract a famous Huayno singer for the biggest celebration. While we danced to her songs of cheating lovers, they lit up a tower of fireworks. We dodged the sparks flying towards us and then the whole crowd parted when the “Vaca Loca” (crazy cow) entered. The Vaca Loca shot fireworks and danced in circles; once you thought it had run out of fire and tried to return to the dance floor, it would start up again!

I had an AMAZING time. It was also great to escape from the city where there is a lot of contamination, loud noise and crime, and spend a week under clear, starry night skies, fresh air, and everyone you pass wishes you a good day or greets you with a hug. It was also a difficult trip, one that gives me another personal experience with realities faced by families in developing countries and the issue of migration (At the University in Peru I’m in graduate program focusing on the issue).

The last night we were there, you could see the heavy sorrow the mother was carrying knowing that her son was leaving and taking with him his sister, the next eldest, to study and work in the city…a life very different from what she has known the past 17 years…..She may not see either of them for at least another year or two.

The Ride Home

We planned to leave early in the morning, but could not find transportation. The dad found a truck that was headed to another stop where more busses pass by. My friend and I hopped in the back, and covered ourselves with the luggage and whatever blankets we could find to protect us from the cold. We were bounced around in the back of the dusty truck (usually used for transporting heavy materials like sand or rocks) for an hour and a half until we reached the spot. It was a crazy adventure, and we took that same skinny dirt road I described earlier….I didn’t dare look over the edge!

We caught two more buses and finally made it back to Lima. I’m here, safe and sound, but with a changed outlook on life….and not because of the risky road, but because of the people I met; learning their way of life and about the hardships they face, and also sharing in their laughter and family moments.

I’ll start school again in two weeks…but before then I have two weeks to take advantage of more exploring and new experiences! And to advance in my projects with Rotary and Rotaract.

Lots of Love,

Katie (Gringa, Bishtaca, etc. There is a myth in town that a gringo, known as Bishtaco, lives in the mountains and kills villagers at night, peeling off their skins….so they began calling me Bishtaca! Another funny story was when the three year old, who barely talks, said perfectly when I entered the kitchen “ahi está la gringa” There’s the gringa! J )


QUECHUA LESSON:
This is dedicated to Kim, Meg and Erin:

The 7 little brothers and sisters loved to hear me speak English and giggled every time I spoke the language. They had never really heard someone speak it fluently, because they have little contact with “gringos.” I was the only one in town, besides the Italians working in the Catholic parish….they thought I was Italian at first!

They wanted to learn some English words, and I noticed the colorful blanket the baby sister was wrapped in so I took the advantage to teach them the color song: “Red, yellow, green, red, blue, pink, red, red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red, red” that Kim, Meg, Erin and I sang in the 5th grade at a talent show. They loved it! And they taught me the quechua translation:

Red-Puca
Yellow - Galluash

The rest of the colors they did not know the quechua translation, they knew only the Spanish, I don’t know if it’s because there aren’t any or if it is a result of the transition to Spanish and a loss in the Quechua language.

Other colors: Black – Yana, White - Yuraj

PS Supisiki means farter…just a warning