El Villar

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Je suis de retour à Sucre. L'éloignement et l'isolation électronique ont eu raison de ma santé mentale. Il y'a juste les idiots qui ne changent pas d'idée. Alors, me voilà de retour. En plus, le travail de bureau peut se faire depuis Sucre et les achats aussi. 55 matelas quelqu'un?

Je veux quand-même vous faire part de mes impressions du village. 5 heures de route pour y arriver quand les conditions sont bonnes. Quand j'y suis allée l'autobus est tombé en panne pendant plusieurs heures en montagne, à la noirceur, sous une pluie diluvienne. Est-ce que j'ai aimé ça? NON! Une fois sure place, le lendemain revèle un petit petit petit village où il y a quelques petits magasins, une place, une église, et deux écoles. Ouffff! Dûre transition, le silence est acablant et la solitude aussi. À l'auberge il n'y que de jeunes allemands qui parlent en allemand et l'accès à l'Internet est limité et mon téléphone ne fonctionne pas. Je suis coupée du monde.

Le village se visite en quelques minutes et nous sommes entourées des Andes dans une petite vallée ou il fait chaud le matin et il pleut l'après-midi. Les chiens et les cochons se promènent dans les rues et souvent il y a des hommes qui arrivent à dos de cheval des environs, les gauchos. Sous un ciel bleu le silence est accablant. Il faut s'occuper sinon on perd la tête. On se fait rappeler à la réalité par les odeurs que l'on croise dans les rues.

Back in Sucre. The isolation combined with the lack of daily access to internet and phone meant that I was really in the deep end. Only idiots don't change their minds and I am definitely not one of them. So here I am quite happily doing what i can from Sucre and a few purchases too. 55 mattresses any one?

I still want to fill you in on my impressions of the village. 5 hours by bus to get there on a combination of dirt, stone and asphalt roads. When I travelled to El Villar we broke down in the dark for a few hours and were stuck on a road in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain. Did I lime it? Hell no! Once there, the next morning I awoke to the quiet and calm of a small village with a few little stores, a church, a square, 2 schools and not much else. The silence was overwhelming and the young Germans at the hostel who only spoke in German were, apart from one or two, very insular. It was overwhelming and I felt cut off.

The village is in a small valley surrounded by high peaks, at least they look that way to me, of this area of the Andes. It is hot in the morning and rains most afternoon, heavily too. Dogs and pigs roam the streets and the dogs often lie in the shade sleeping away the day. Men often ride through the streets on horseback having arrived from some far off community. Remember, El Villar is the end of the road!!!!! Underneath a blue sky it is overwhelming. You have to stay busy or you'll go mad. The smells serve to awaken you from your slumber.

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Photos

Sopa de many
On prépare la pâte de peanuts pour la soupe à midi.
Peanut paste for the soup.

Méchants microbes
C'est l'enfer si tu es malade ici.
It's hard on the body if you get sick here.

Comments

[anonymous]

Hi Glad to hear from you still looks to be amazing where you are? So have you arranged to go out with anyone for your birthday this year? excluding the Germans? Gareth has just started Beavers last week so now all 3 are in Scouts!! Evidently George and Anne are not having a 25 anniversary party now? Its half term here next week Mark off to fix his trike which has broken again!!!! I'm just home from helping with Sally Army lunch club week 2. Have you started your voluntary work yet there??? If so how is it going? I'm still helping with reading on Tuesday. This week we have a valentines disco on Thursday and the kids can buy roses on Friday so I'm off to help with both. Tried yoga for the first time on Sat completely different from pilates not sure if I'm going back yet. Got my place to run Blaydon 10k so started running again so can't walk at the moment! We have sent you a card hope it arrives love and hugs XXXX

[Tinkabelca]

Quiet birthday!
Not going out this year! Gonna be a quiet birthday and there is no way that I want to celebrate it with the Germans. They are more than a little annoying, loud, in your face. Don't leave room for other people in the hostel. One thing I do,inow from my experience here is that I am way past my sell-by date when it comes to youth hostelling!!!! Glad to see Gareth is following in the footsteps of his big brothers.

[Tinkabelca]

Quiet birthday!
Not going out this year! Gonna be a quiet birthday and there is no way that I want to celebrate it with the Germans. They are more than a little annoying, loud, in your face. Don't leave room for other people in the hostel. One thing I do,inow from my experience here is that I am way past my sell-by date when it comes to youth hostelling!!!! Glad to see Gareth is following in the footsteps of his big brothers.