Isla de Sol, the facts continued...

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We were sold a Cruz Andina each - a piece of jewellery shaped in the form of a cross representing a sacred part of indigenous' people's history. The Andean Cross pre-Inca represented 13 months of the calendar year, and represented three important seasons. 21^st March was the summer solstice, 21^st June when the energy would enter the earth through the sun and 21^stSeptember when the women would come and plant seeds in the ground and look after the earth. The 3 seasons were represented by the sky, the earth and the undergrowth? and these elements were represented by a condor (the sky), a puma (the earth) and a snake (the undergrowth)

The Incas living on the Isla del Sol, every 6 months would sacrifice virgin women to the Madre Pachimana (God of the Earth) in order to keep the Gods happy and in return be rewarded with good weather conditions for their agriculture on which their livelihoods depended. Almost all Bolivians still worship Madre Pachimana to some extent (even Ronald), alongside following animism and Catholism. For them, all the religions are one. They go to church but continue to carry out rituals to the earth God. The inhabitants of Isla del Sol spoke and still speak Iymara mainly, and Quechua. These are the two main indigenous languages still spoken in La Paz? Whilst Lake Titicaca belongs to Bolivia, only 70%!o(MISSING)f Isla del Sol ? belongs to Bolivia and 30%!b(MISSING)elongs to Peru as Lake Titicaca borders the two countries. On Isla del Sol they grow three main crops : la haba?, quinoa and wheat el trigo. I saw the purple flower, famous in the region with potatoes growing underneath it. From the viewpoint at Cerro Caluche on Isla del Sol we could see the lake as at that very point we were 4,000 metres above sea level.

A THOUGHT - PROGRESS IN LEARNING SPANISH

I think on this trip to South America I have made more progress in Spanish than in any other time in my life because I speak it, read it and listen to it every single day. The only time I use English is for my blog or to help other travellers. However I nearly always think and I often dream in Spanish. I never imagined how enriching this trip would be in terms of listening to Spanish being spoken in different Latin American countries and learning more and more vocabulary. I feel now the same excitement I felt when studying at university, the excitement about getting up to go to lectures and learn something new about art, culture, languages, food, cinema, theatre or any topic. On this trip I feel the same way before going to museums, meeting locals, going on tours, eating food or just watching the local news or listening in to other people’s conversations. I feel elated and always curious. I could really have stayed in Latin America for longer.

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