Field Trip

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Today as part of Care Corps, we were invited to visit two communities in the highlands. The first one, named Paraccay is a wonderful community. As soon as we got off the van, a woman greeted us all and gave everyone flowers(Amarillis and Bouganvilla). Then the president of the community got on the loud speaker to announce our arrival. Everyone from the comunity came to greet us. We then went into a room, where the leaders brought out a bulletin board to explain the improvements that they have made since Care Corps has adopted them. It was impressive, however I´m told the people are still a little sad that they do not have running water. I´m told it would take 100 Soles( $33) to complete the project. We toured a guinee pig farm and some houses in the community. Just before we left, the woman that greeted us came over to each of us and showered us with flower petals. It is for good luck. If you could see the pictures I have. I can´t wait to sort through them at home.

We then boarded the van and drove to a picnic area. I should tell you about the roads we traversed. They were made of dirt and were bumpy and windy, with questionable bridges. At one point, our driver had to exit the van to place rocks over a stream to pass. (quite interesting) The picnic area was nice. We had sandwiches and I shared my trail mix with everyone. It is quite funny to watch a Peruvian eat wasabi peas!

After lunch we visited another community called Colpa. The people here farm barley. They also have running water there. We exited the van to participate in the harvesting of the barely. Well some of us carried the barley, but I parked myself by a barley pile and just shot picture after picture of the hands dropping the barley into the pile. It was beautiful. After that, we drove to a waterfall. It was great.

We returned to the community of Colpa where they were having lunch. They insisted that we eat soup with them. (chicken noodle) We were told on our first day not to eat anything from the locals so we were a little trepedatious. It was cooked outside on a large pot and some of us just couldn´t resist. It was delicious. I figured it would kill of the little cold I started with last night and what do you know, I feel great. Sometime you just have to take the opportunities placed before you even if it involves a little risk. I was happy to accept this gift from them.
We then went into a room where they also shared their improvements due to Care Corps and the children of the community sang to us. It was the best day I have had so far.

I can´t wait to share my photos! Thanks for reading. Adios, sue

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