A Failed Sunrise

So, last weekend, being the impulsive traveler that I am, I decided to check out this amazing sunrise that you apparently only witness in two places in the world. One is in Japan and the other is in Peru. It is near the town of Paucartambo and the site is located in Parque Manu at a place called "Tres Cruces." 

Now, I have been on many a bad road in my lifetime, but the trajectory here by far exceeds them all. It was a dirt road, which my lungs are still recovering from, with hang gliding cliffs, bad drivers DUI of chicha and beer.

I wish I could say I really enjoyed my time here, but the whole weekend was somewhat traumatic. I definitely think it was an experience, but I am not so sure I would want to have it again. Let my pictures tell the story.

After 7 hours on a dirt road that I am still recovering from, we arrived at Tres Cruces at about 3am. There was ice on the ground at over 3,800msnm. It was freezing and despite wearing two pairs of pants, underarmour, two long sleeve shirts, a hoodie, and jacket, I was freezing. We placed one sleeping bag on the ground to not sit on the frozen ground and tried to bury ourselves under the other. After waiting with a crowd of tourist for 2 hours in the freezing cold for this sunset, we began to see light.

 

Looking beautiful...

Where is the sun?

Blinded by the clouds. A failed Sun Rise :(

We traveled 7 hours and almost got hypothermia! I guess it's life. Sometimes, the sun just doesn't come out.

To be completely honest, what drew my attention the most to this place was the festivity happening at Paucartambo that weekend. I heard that the dances and parades being held in honor of Virgen del Carmen were quite the experience. These are some of the masks used.

The local "iglesia".

Everyone was at mass. I am not sure if you can see Virgen del Carmen in the back but there are hundreds of flowers all around her from her devited followers.

The parade begins! These are the Maq'tas. They are the jesters of the festivities. They are the ones that are suppose to make the people laugh and liven the party. To be completely honest, I found them somewhat frightening. I love the colors and originality of the costumes, but they really do look like something from a clown horror movie to me. Maybe I am too sensitive to a lot of things. I was really distraught when I saw them come in. I saw these little kids dressed in these costumes carrying around machine guns.

They are all revering to Virgen del Carmen.

Paucartambo was packed. I couldn't believe how many people were there.

I believe this dance is called "Majeno." It remembers past times, where aguardiente (drink of choice) was brought to Paucartambo from an area close to Arequipa. These people represent the "Arrieros" which were the one's in charge of delivering the aguardiente.

These are the protagonists. The "Majeno" is the man who dances with this elegant lady.

These are the Quapaq Ch'uncho. It is a warrior dance dedicated to the Incas. The dance represents the constant battles with the people groups in the jungle and how the bartering that occurred between them. Their hats have feathers form Guacamayos (Large Parrots) and a mask made of thin wire.

Still smiling after pulling an all nighter!

Like I said before. The place was packed!

There are so many people here and we started trying to find lunch around 12:30pm and finally ate three hours later. Here we are hungry!

Lechon is the local dish of choice. Actually, the typical dish of Paucartambo is a plate called "Merienda." It is a mix of really random things together. It includes pasta, potato, lechon...etc.

Colors everywhere!

This dance is the Misti Qanchi. It represents the province of Canchis that was founded in 1947 for the festivities of Virgen del Carmen. The dance represents the cult offered by the natives to mother corn. It is an "ambassador dance" rendering cult to Mama Carmen from a visiting people group.

These are the Chunchachas. This dance originates in the Valley of Q'osnipata and symbolizes the day these natives arrived to Paucartambo to pay tribute to the Virgen del Carmen. All of the dancers are women and it is one of the most modern dances.

These are the Negrillos. They are from Dominican origin. They have recently become part of the festivities for Virgen del Carmen.

These are the K'Champa. It is a dance representing the Inca warrior and his conquests before the Spanish arrived.

Each dance had its own band. They were very talented. I do think a lot of the dances carry the same baseline rythm.

Remember the parade I was in? This is my dance. The Mestiza Qoyacha. This is danced by single "Qoyachas" (the women) and by "Huaynas" which are the single men. It is a very happy dance where supposedly new marriages are formed... Isn't ironic that I would dance this?

These are the Qhapaq Quolla. Legend has it... that a Paucartambina (a girl form Paucartambo) on her way to Puno found the head of the Virgen Carmen in the room she was staying at. She brought it back to Paucartambo where she had a body made for the head to complete her and donated it to the church.

I can't believe how much drinking was going on in Paucartambo. It was slightly overwhelming. The night I got there there were so many people that were wondering the streets incredibly drunk.

That was my crazy trip to Paucartambo. I am still not sure what to think about it. All I can say was that it was an experience.

Lake Titicaca

"We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Dear friends and family,

I write this blog with some sadness in my heart because my time here in Peru is running short. Part of me can't wait to be back in my everyday life routine, but my heart aches to leave a people that have become so dear to my heart. I really have loved and treasured my time in Peru. I feel I have grown and come to understand the world, community development, and poverty in a much different way. I feel so humbled and blessed to have work alongside World Vision Peru staff. I truly admire their devotion and conviction that they feel in their heart for the children of Peru and for their well-being, growth, and development.

God has been so good and faithful. I can't believe I was blessed with the opportunity to be here. There were so many other places that were in my plans this summer, but I most certainly am glad I had a chance to come and serve here this summer. God still has so much to work in my life. I still have so much to grow and learn. My prayer and hope is that the small things I did will hopefully lead to greater things.

This is my safe ride... For some reason I can't move this picture in the right spot. It'll make sense later on.

I've been at work in the communities. The teachers are on strike, but I still have hope that I will be able to gather the data I need before I leave. World Vision Peru has been so helpful and supportive. It really is humbling to see how much they have invested in me. They truly are a blessing!

These are some pictures from my latest adventures. I hope you enjoy them. :)

I spent a weekend at Lake Titicaca. It is the largest lake in South America and referred to as the "highest navigable" lake in the world at about 4,000msnm. There are apparently other lakes that are higher altitudes, but they are a lot smaller and "big boats" can't navigate in them. Either way it was a very cold and beautiful experience.

It is pretty shallow in some parts. What you see growing is called "Totora" and they use it to build and eat!

I thought the cocaine leaves had finally kicked in. Pigs in the middle of the lake!

Isla Uros. Actually it is a community of floating islands. Legend has it that the Uros were trying to flee the Inca's and got an a boat and found some material in the middle of the lake that floated. They build floating islands and still live on them. I had mixed feelings about visiting this island. I just really don't like when culture is put on stage, and part of me felt really convicted about paying to go see people live in these conditions. Everything seemed so staged for us, and they truly looked unhappy. It must be hard to live here. Imagine trying to get drinking water where you have to get rid of your wastes and medical assistance when you are sick. The kids have to go to mainland to go to high school. There also isn't much place to run and jump and play. I would have rather seen this tourism promoting better living conditions for these people.

This kid was so cute. Apparently they had a Japanese teacher who taught them a song. His friend, friend's sister, and him sang us a song in Quechua, Aymara, and Japanese. Who would have thought? I gotta hand it to them. They were pretty creative when it came to making some money.

This was the "Mercedes Benz" I was not able to afford to ride on. Yes, I was being cheap and took the ride for half the price. It was still as fun, and in my opinion, the other ride looked safer.

Washington, you can't diss what these people eat. Immerse in the culture. Plus, they said it tastes just like broccoli.

Mother, I really wanted to bring you back one of these. I thought you might really like them. They were too overpriced. Sorry! I got you some really cute Cholitos though!

Amantani! Island #2

This was our host home. I finally got "zorocha" in Lake Titicaca. That means the altitude hit me. We hadn't eaten all day and we got the house that was furthest away from the shore! I almost fainted on my way there!

It was well worth the trip thought. Look at the view from our host home.

Our host mom. She was a widow and lived only with her son. She was so fabulous! I greeted her in Quechua, and then I think she assumed I was fluent the entire time I was there because she would only speak to me in Quechua and not Spanish. I just smiled!

Just pose and smile guys. Pretend we aren't hungry, tired, and about to pass out if we have to take one more picture. Alirio, did you get this 100th picture right?

Heaven! Nothing like some good soup with Quinoa. The herbs you see on the table are coca leaves and muna. They saved my life on the island. Actually, after my trip to Lake Titicaca and dosing on tea with coca and muna, my stomach problems have been much better.

Bonding moment with our house pet.

I asked them to pose like men, and this is what I got.

I gotta hand it to Washington. He truly knows how to make faces for pics!

Amantani stadium.

I have Zorocha. Do we really have to climb PachaTata.

Alright, it was worth the climb.

I've always got energy to dance! Breaking it down at Amantani!

Yeah! Looking great!

So, our host mom was Adventist. The morning we left she grabbed my hand our entire walk down. She started singing a song to me that they sang in her church. She asked me if we sang songs. I sang "Lord, You Have My Heart" for her. She cried and I cried. She was such a blessing and its great to know God was there too.

Gilda acquired some musical skills on the trip.

I am not even going to comment on this. I think the picture is very self-explanatory. Washington is making friends.

It was a great stay in Amantani.

Making friends with the french!

So the community in Isla Taquile has its own ways of showing relationship status in the community. There are different hats if you are married and single. You also wear your hats in different ways if you are single depending on what type of relationship you are looking for. Mother the single girls wave these "pompoms" around when they are looking for someone. I tried it out, but I don't think I mastered the move well enough! LOL I give up. I did it just for you mother.

This is the equivalent of a wedding ring in Isla Taquile. The man makes the belt with all the symbols and the women braids the other with her hair woven in it. Pretty interesting.

Trucha!

The view form Isla Taquile.

I thought he was devoted and praying. He was sleeping!

In Puno. Drinking some Api and eating some empanada! I am hungry Gilda, let me have my empanada!

Cheers!