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Published: April 27th 2010
Maureen and Maruja
Our Quechua hostess on Isla AmantaniBIG LAKE
LAGO TITICACA...or in gringo-speak, Lake Titicaca...the butt of jokes, the perfect combination of childish potty-mouth humour...could it be more interesting than visiting
Intercourse, Pennsylvania? And now, here we were, off to the highest altitude freshwater navigable lake in the world...a lifelong aspiration along the lines of visiting the Eiffel Tower or Victoria Falls come true. We had two choices for the trip - sign on with the school and take an overnight low brow bus, or see our local travel agent Rina and take a day trip in a luxury touristy bus with stops along the way to view the gold leaf Cathedral at Andahuayillas, more Inca ruins at Raqchi, and an ancient ceramic centre at Pucara ... go figure, we chose the latter!
The first class bus with drinks, an attendant, a tour guide and a driver bumped and weaved through the Altiplano, Peru's high altitude plateau region of arid grasslands, winding up to the summit of 4338 metres, about 900 metres higher than Cusco. We gazed out the windows as herds of grazing llamas and alpacas (how to tell the difference? llamas-tails up...alpacas-tails down) quietly went about their business. Cattle and tidy terraces of grains and
Cathedral south of Cusco
The cathedral is undergoing restoration and is famous for it's gold leaf paint and elaborate alters dating back to 1572 and the Jesuits. vegetables accompanied each little settlement. Apparently in the dry cold season (July and August) this area is quite inhospitable, darn cold and windy. One town we could have slept through nicely was Juliaca, a rapidly growing but dusty, dirty and unfinished town of 300,000.
When we arrived late in the afternoon, Puno presented itself as a bit like San Francisco, a city of 250,000 running in a semi-circle arch and at a downhill slope towards the lake itself. The principle attraction of Puno lies in its location on the shores of Lake Titicaca, a magnificent lake shared by both Peru and Bolivia. It occurred to us that we had seen very few lakes of any size in Peru, other than flooded fields. All the water from the rainy season seemed to be in a rush to the Pacific or Atlantic oceans via medium sized but ferocious rivers - no time for lakes. Lake Titicaca jolted us back to our own gem, Lake Okanagan ... a tich homesick?
After a night in the Puno Terra Hotel (with a real hot water shower!), we were collected as arranged by a tourist van and headed down to the lake front where
Inca ruins south of Cusco - Raqchi
This was an agricultural area abandoned by the Incas before the Spanish arrived and therefore not demolished by the Spanish a large flock of mid-sized watercraft bobbed, waiting to whisk us off into the beautiful blue yonder. The boats were moored such that we had to scurry over the first two bobbing boats before settling into ours, the third. Our first stop was about 5 km out on the lake after chugging slowly through channels of reed beds. Welcome to the
ISLAS FLOTANTES, a fascinating but over-commercialized set of floating islands built on the buoyant roots of "tortora" or reeds. The islands were originally built as a safe refuge from marauding Incas etc, but today they are on the crass side with families living on these tiny, soft, reedy islands and displaying their lives for a few soles. The five brightly dressed ladies lined up to sing goodbye in a multitude of languages with a Hawaiian sway was just a bit too much.
On leaving the floating islands, our tour guide Tito, gave us a primer on the Incan language of Quechua so that we would be able to speak with the various islanders in their first language. Quechua, a challenging language with lots of double consonants, is proudly spoken by many many people in Peru, and for some
Terra Puerta in Puno
Our bus released us into the heart of Peruvian culture. The bags on the ground moved as we walked by - live chickens in transport! is their only language... learning a bit was a nice idea but we were still struggling with Spanish vocabulary and verb tenses... as it turned out our evening hostess was comfortable speaking Spanish and just chuckled when we tried out our sub-rudimentary Quechua.
We had a three hour passage on the big lake under grey skies in a rocking boat - Maureen had heard stories from other Amauta students about rough waters and emptied stomaches, so she took a gravol proactively and snuggled into her seat with her winter coat drawn close, sleeping off and on in total cozy comfort. Larry survived the trip without any worries and we came into port at Kolquecachi on the "non-floating" Isla Amantani around 1 p.m..
We hiked up a small cliff (gasp, gasp, is anything flat in this country?) and were doled out for the night to a host family... a middle-aged island lady Maruja was there to greet us in full traditional dress. You would think that three months of acclimatization to 3400 metres altitude in Cusco would be a good prep for the rigours of moving up to the more lofty heights of Lake Titicaca at 3800 metres. Yet,
Isla Flotantes
Floating island resident demonstrates how island is constructed. occasionally in Cusco, we would wake up in the middle of the night feeling short of breath and consciously needing to take a couple of deep breaths to reestablish equilibrium. As we hiked up from the harbour past many, many, many potato, bean, and quinoa fields in harvest mode to our assigned home, our hostess Maruja thoughtfully paused every so often to allow us to breathe - okay, for Maureen to gasp for air.
The island of 4,000 residents has
NO electricity, NO indoor plumbing, NO hot water, and NO vehicles so we were surprised to find a solar panel at our home and a light in our guest room! The kitchen was in a tiny, separate building containing a wood (corn stalk) burning stove and, with tourist income, the family was able to upgrade and add a two burner propane stove (who carries the propane tanks up to the house?!). While Maruja made us a lunch an elderly gentleman, her father it turned out, appeared out of nowhere to chat us up in Spanish. We enjoyed talking with him and chuckled a little when he asked us if we grew oranges and bananas in our garden in Canada.
One of the floating islands
They can have fish farms on this small space and even potato plants. Not much room for exercising the old body though. He joined us for lunch which was a typical soup with a few veggies and a little quinoa but nice and hot, followed by an omelet with riced carrots in it served over two plain boiled potatoes and a hearty scoop of plain boiled rice. Maruja also gave us munja (mint-like) tea with our meals, for altitude sickness. After several cups of this very pleasant tea, our theory is that it contains a strong diuretic, perhaps similar to the diuretic acetazolamide prescribed for altitude sickness - we both peed way beyond intake. Fortunately we had tylenol to treat the headaches typical of high altitude (or dehydration).
Afterwards, the afternoon excursion on the island was a climb to the ancient temple on one hilltop at 4200 metres, requiring some serious thought to breathing. Our tour guide admonished us to be respectful and thoughtful in the temple but didn't warn us about the little girls hard selling their hand-made wrist bands in the temple. Supper at 7pm was more soup and a potato stew served with white rice. After supper Maruja dressed US in traditional colourful Peruvian garb and escorted us to the local hall via flashlight for a dance. All
Isla Amantani
Three plus hours out of Puno and frozen in time. Beautiful and mostly self sufficient, time will change this haven as the youth venture out for further schooling. of us tourists arrived a little foolishly in our finery but soon the local ladies (not many local men in evidence) had us dancing and enjoying the evening. On the way home, the still, inky darkness of the island was breathtaking and Maureen will swear forever that she saw the Southern Cross constellation in a sky jammed full of stunning, brilliant stars.
Our early breakfast was typical Peruvian crepes with the (we now know) ubiquitous strawberry mermelada - served just in time for us to gulp and run down to the dock for 0715h ... our tour guide ran a tight time schedule. Our boat pulled out under glorious blue skies and ploughed through beautiful blue sparkling waters on our way to Isla Taquile, one hour away. A UNESCO site, Isla Taquile comes with unique, and strange-to-us traditions including marrying only within the island population, a three year trial of living together before marriage because divorce doesn't exist, hats worn that uniquely signify marital status and government roles, pompoms that signify happy or sad, and a belt that each bride makes from her own hair collected from her hairbrush starting in childhood - Larry claims to have made a
Our guest room
A very comfortable space and much more than we had anticipated. similar belt which is the real reason his hair is thinning! The island has a communist-style government and although we arrived there at 0800h we had to wait for the head man to assign our group to one of the 30 restaurants on the island - all with the exact same menu of trout or chicken. The island has lovely wide walkways winding from side to side and down the length of the island, which on our sunny visit, exuded the feel of the Mediterranean. We ran into fellow Amauta school students Brenna (Canada) and Jillian (Germany/Canada) as we walked counterflow to our respective lunches. Delicious lake trout was served in a lovely little restaurant high above the sparkling water and after lunch we hurried along the island and down, down, down to a different dock to where our boat had moved, so that the swimmers among us could have a go at Lake Titicaca. Larry threw on his swim suit and managed to not only get totally immersed but to experience severe shrinkage in the shockingly cold lake. A few other fellows put different body parts in the water. Maureen was happily only able to shed her shoes before
Pacha Tata - 4200m
We sit at the peak of Isla Amatani with Bolivia behind us. the tour guide thankfully summonsed everyone back to the boat lickety split. Whew! We chugged back to Puno in full, sunny, sunburning splendour!
We returned to Cusco in a luxury overnight bus. This time we had "camas" or bed seats ... still recliners, not full out flat, but a notch up from the semi-camas that we endured to Arequipa and back. We arrived back at the anointed hour of 0400h AM after a half decent sleep and there to meet us was our travel agent, Rina. Rina had come to feel like family to us and she took getting us safely and seamlessly from A to B very seriously. She had a cab ready, took us to our residence, and released us to our next keeper, Juanita. Three hours of additional sleep and it was over to Amauta school for breakfast and then back to our volunteer work with the little people of Madre Teresa.
LITTLE PEOPLE
Ah, the little people of Cusco - no we're not talking about leprechauns although if you visited the Pre-Columbian museum in Cusco you might think that leprechauns as well as potatoes started out in Peru. Some of the exhibits in that
Doorway to Daycare
The outer wooden door is followed by a large iron gate that is always locked. The facility is one street behind on our school on Calle Resbaloso - literally "slippery street". museum make one wonder if the north-south flow between the Americas was once more fluid. We saw ceramics that suggest Dilbert was alive and well long before the cartoon, that Madonna copied breast plates from the pre-Inca cultures, and that Bill Reid had an ancestor sculpting long before he created his magnificent Jade Canoe displayed at the Vancouver Airport.
But back to the little people of Cusco. We chose our volunteer project largely because it was one of the few morning projects, secondly because it had a food theme, and also because Peruvian children were adorable, quietly wrapped on Momma's back or sitting quietly as instructed. Our project site, Madre Teresa de Calcutta, was a city-run nutritional rehabilitation centre for children 3-5 years of age ... IN THEORY! Here is the nutrition part. The city provides a fortified cereal with evaporated milk that is given as a beverage at breakfast with a piece of typical Peruvian bread (round, flat and white). The scheduled morning snack may or may not happen, and might be slices of banana, apple (chunks of core included) or orange with pear occasionally ... or a milkshake made with bananas. One Friday, fried sweet potato slices
The view from here.
We always chose the big room with the lovely windows overlooking the Plaza des Armas to play in - space, light, and a wonderful view. were offered and were gobbled up by the children. Another day, each child was just given a candy. Another day, nothing.
Lunch comes in two sizes, large and very large, and must be consumed totally in order to qualify for a hard candy (caramelo). Typical lunch choices are white rice and a "stew" of less than one ounce of chicken or beef with potatoes in some form and perhaps 1 tsp of veggies per child. Quinoa was served once, in addition to the rice, but it is considered a treat because although it is grown in Peru, there is a strong international demand shorting the locals and forcing the price up. Protein is served bone-in for all ages whether small chicken bones or fine fish bones - Yikes! The lunch beverage, if you qualify for it, is similar to "Kool-Aid". A two hour siesta follows lunch and then the children are given another cereal/milk beverage. Vitamins (donated by various aid groups) were given out once in our five weeks . The only Food Guide Maureen was able to sniff out in Peru was the American Pyramid in Spanish and a poster in one of the daycare bedrooms from the
Mealtime in the Toddler Room
Lined up on a bed, these little guys were fed from one bowl with one spoon. Another day they might be at a proper table. Cusco health region that includes sugar as a "grow" food.
We won't comment on bribing children to eat, forcing heaping tablespoons (rather than the age appropriate teaspoons for self feeding) to speed the eating process, yelling "hurry up" (pudete, pudete!!) while the kids eat, one size fits all meals, no hand washing by the children before or after eating, or ignoring the international body language of "I'm done!". Maureen used her best diplomatic Spanish to make subtle suggestions but she was a volunteer worker not a dietitian called in for a consult. Understanding the lay of the land would take many more months ... what does licensing look like in Cusco/Peru, is there a public health program, is there community nutrition? You could donate more towels for washing hands but the towels are work, hand washed by staff in cold water and dried in the courtyard. You could donate a washing machine but given that the centre didn't have light at all for a few days, we doubt the city would pay for electricity to run an appliance. So, more towels does not equal better hygiene or towels used solely to dry hands and not to mop the floor
Lunchtime for the littlest people
Somedays lunch was served in the big dining hall. between cleaning ten darling faces. Ugh! Paper towels would be an idea but paper is scarce (serviettes are one layer, one square) and we are willing to bet after the first donation was used up, the idea would join the graveyard of good intentions.
We have a wee insiders' joke that the little people under our care were the ones who DIDN'T sit quietly on their Momma's backs or stay out of traffic as needed - behavioural rehabilitation.
Our daycare was safe behind a locked gate and no one, not even the volunteers, could sneak out! Our job was to play, entertain, distract, wipe noses, escort to bathroom, and assist at mealtimes. There didn't seem to be any planned activities for the children, just whatever the volunteers happened to bring, set-up, or initiate. There were toys, if one asked about them - Larry asked about books to read to the children and was shown a locked toy room that the other volunteer we worked with didn't know existed during her previous five weeks at the centre. The playroom is a wee bit of a "graveyard" of ideas and donated playthings ... volunteers come and go and their donated puzzles
Yet another dining option
This little room had suitable chairs and a low table but was only used two days out of five weeks. The bribe to finish your meal this day was red jello! with pieces missing are all stacked on one shelf, a complete set of drums and flutes sit high on another shelf, dolls (all white skinned and blonde) huddle together in various states of undress and grime, colouring pages with a name and a few streaks of colour are stashed in a box on another shelf. Most of the toys are partially wrecked and streaked in the bright red slippery paste wax that is applied liberally to floors in Cusco. Small bits and pieces of toys and games are everywhere, attractive to toddlers to pop in their dear little mouths - and we are happy to report we returned home with ten fingers each after fishing in dear little mouths. There were five ride-on cars but two with broken off pieces that made them dangerous by Canadian standards. In the classroom and toddler room there were large wooden toothbrush holders with identical white toothbrushes carefully labelled, but none of the names matched with the current crop of youngsters - how many years ago was this some volunteer's pet project?
Our little people were learning social skills and coping as little people do - a grab, a push, a yell, volumes
Academic activities.
We tried our best to engage these young people in something as simple as colouring but the sessions were short lived and the little pencil sharpener was the main attraction. of tears, and maybe a suspicious hug thrown in. Crowd control was straight out of the '60s and consisted of shouted commands and physical solutions. The manager of the project was very good with the children but one of her staff scared off many a volunteer. For example, crying was not tolerated, so this staff person would take the crying child and whomever they pointed to as the offender and maybe another random child whom was often a problem, take them into the courtyard behind a closed door, and all of them would return silently whisking away tears and rubbing their heads. We responded by enlisting in the free weekly Spanish class provided for volunteers at our school where we drilled on a compendium of words that we could use to intervene and circumnavigate "the jailor" by redirecting activity - don't hit (NO golpe!), don't push (NO empuje!), don't kick (NO pegues!), don't fight (NO luche!), don't bite (NO muerde!), don't spit (NO escupe!), do share (Comparte!), let's play (Juguemos!), let's sing (Cantemos!), pretend tea anyone? ....... Children are children whether in Cusco or Canada.
Our conclusion is that we volunteered at a Peruvian day care with youngsters aged
Chilly mornings
Most buildings in Cusco have neither heating nor cooling so on a chilly morning, our little people were layered for warmth. The lovely Fiorella models a chulu. 1-5. Nutrition rehabilitation? - not so much. None of the children exhibited classical signs of malnutrition. Some were definitely lean (flaco), some were quite stout (gordo), and one child had the worst case of "baby bottle syndrome" that Maureen has seen in 33 years of dietetic practice in Canada - a five year old with teeth blackened and rotted down to the gums ... in a breast feeding country - que pasa ? One chap attended because his mother works and his father is an alcoholic, another set of brothers attended because their mother works and their Italian father went back to Italy, other children have Moms who sell weaving, knitting or jewelry in the Plaza de Armas. One young princess was the daughter of a female lawyer. Clothes weren't tattered and shoes we removed at nap time were generally in pretty good shape.
Bottom line - did our presence make a difference? Perhaps the children had better mornings because the volunteers were there - somedays two volunteers, somedays five, some volunteers show up once and never make it back again, some volunteers try to "fix" things in the few weeks they were there. The children responded very well
Boy toy
Little Aaron was treated to a wild ride by Hector and Juan Franco ... so much more fun than balls or toy trucks. to Larry, especially if they had a chance to swing through the air or jump on his back for a horsey ride or just plain maul him to death. It is no wonder we both caught "colds" around this time with grimy little hands all over us - who can say no to a hug or duck out of a headlock? Maureen's favourite memory of the daycare was two four year olds, Fiorella and Piero, imitating their typical Peruvian parents. They spread a large traditional coloured cloth on the floor, scooped some toys in the centre and then very carefully folded in the sides, with Piero helping Fiorella put the load on her back and tie the cloth in front - practised and ready for life in Cusco.
It was fun to play with the pint sized Cusqueneans but ultimately, would we leave our children there? - not a chance ... besides at 25, 23, and 20 years they might object!
Coming soon! The final installment: Did we make it to Machu Picchu after all? Did we make it home? Were we able to leave the cocoon of residence life and the company of linguistic gymnasts?
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rolande
non-member comment
day care
Wow! wonderful pictures and daycare duties. You have had an amazing adventure!!