Rumors and rides to Huanta

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Slow weeks continue here in Ayacucho. There have been strong rumors circulating through the clinics that the stikes will be over by next week. We all know better than to hope but its hard not to. There were talks in lima this past weekend and things are looking good so maybe these rumors might come true. Last week ended slowly. We went to a campaign in a neighborhood further down in the valley, unfortunatly for us there was no general doctor so there was nothing for us to do. We helped translate a poster from english to spanish for the veteranarian about zoonic diseases but that was it.

The weekend was slow and quiet and the four of us who stayed in the house enjoyed the quiet. Sometimes you forget how loud living in a house with 20 other people can be until most of them are gone. It was also very nice to take a long hot shower instead of a fast cool one. On sunday morning Pooja, Bianca and I took a taxi to Huanta to go to a market we heard about. We decided to pay for a taxi instead of taking the crowded bus thinking we were being smart. We negotiated the price of 8 NS each and loaded into the back seat of the white station wagon taxi. There were two men infront, one of them the driver, so we figured we were leaving. Well, the men started yelling Huanta, Huanta trying to get more people for the trip. We had no idea where they would put these people though. Our hour car ride commenced with two passangers in the front seat, the three of us in the back seat and two more people sitting on bags in the trunk. It was the same for the ride home. It began as us three but we continued to pick up more passangers as we drove. I guess it wasn´t any different than the bus afterall.

The market was very cool. We expected Huanta to be similar to Quinua, small and quiet. In reality it was more of a small Ayacucho. The market stretched on for blocks and blocks. One section was more like a flea market than anything else, just a bunch of useless junk. Another section was clothes and woven goods. Bar far the best section was the produce. There were piles and piles of vegetables, fruit and grains. There was also a street full of meat where you could purchase a cows head or snout, a goats head and just about everything else you could imagine. I didin´t take a picture of that steet though because it smelled so bad. Pooja and Bianca both bought beautiful mantas. A manta is the colored cloth that the mend and women in the highlands use to carry things around in, mainly children. They are beautifully woven and embroidered strong cloths.

After our journey home we hung around the city some more. This week has been the same as the last. The clinics are slow and only seeing emergencies. Bryce and I spent the day in the lab again yesterday counting white blood cells and looking for parasites. Today we folded gause and left early because the nurses and doctors were going to march. There is a campaign tomorrow possibly with licenciados so hopefully there will be something to do there. We also have a guest speaker coming to talk to us today about sexual education in peru. Bianca organized english lessons for the children of the people who work in our house so that has been keeping people busy as well. We try to find as much to do as we can.

This week is independence day week, the 28th is the real independence day, so the city is decorated and fireworks are being shot off at all hours of the day and night. We watched a candlelight procession last night in the main plaza after we missed the fireworks. Its been fun witnessing different holidays and celebrating our holidays at the same time. pictures to come.

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