Whirlwind Weekend

Well, the last three days have been jam packed. I will start with Friday and work my way forward. The hike was ridiculous. I definitely learned that unfortunately, I am not one of the lucky people that is not affected by high altitudes. It really doesn´t matter how great of shape you are in b/c if you can´t breathe, you aren´t going to do well. I could breathe, just not well. My legs felt like they were going to stop working b/c there just wasn´t enough oxygen in my blood. However, the group and the guide were really great and everyone was going at a slow pace anyway. So although I was definitely the one who was feeling the altitude the worst, we still actually made great time. Plus, I owe my private sherpa/porter, Keri Baker, a coffee a day for the next week b/c she helped carry my pack for awhile when I was really having a rough time.

We started around 9:30am in the town of Patacancha. Patacancha is at about 12,800 feet. The first two and a half hours of the hike was pretty much straight up. By 12pm, we had reached the two little lakes that we were aiming for. So we ended up at about 14,500 feet. The weather at 12,800 feet is much better than at 14,000 feet! As we went up, it got colder and wetter. Luckily, we found a sheltered area from the wind right next to the lake to eat our lunch. We took a half hour lunch break and then started down. As we made it further down, the weather turned beautiful. The sun was shining on the green mountain sides and the locals who live in little houses all over the mountains came out to greet us as we walked by. It took about 2 hours to get down to this small town that I can´t even begin to spell correctly. We got really lucky and a "collectivo" came by us after we had only been walking down the road for about 10 minutes. Had the collectivo -- which is a small bus/van that taxis people all over the valley for cheap -- had not come by, we would have probably had to walk for about 2 hours to get back to Ollanta.

It is just crazy to be hiking around at 14,000 feet in the Andes mountains. The views are breathtaking. Our guide was great and everyone (there were 6 of us) had a really great time - especially once we stopped the uphill climbing part!

By the time we got home to our house (around 3:30pm), I had a horrible headache from the altitude. A warm shower and 4 ibuprofens worked wonders and I was ready to rally. Both Michelle and Hallie also had bad headaches from the altitude too. Keri and I met the girls at a local cafe/restaurant for dinner and then met the rest of the volunteers at a local bar we have taken over to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We didn´t last long so we went home to bed after the main ceremonies.

Saturday dawned early and bright. It was a beautiful morning. The community was all gathering at the river to assist the families who lost their homes in the rain and floods. Celestino, Keri and I grabbed two shovels and a pick and off we went to rip what was left of their house down. Keri and I started by taking the still good roof shingles off and stacking them to the side. Then we used the shovels to clear the mud and straw that is packed over the wooden roof beams. That was hard work. The mud and straw weighed a ton. Then, the men would pry the roof beams off and we would carry them over to different piles. Literally, within one hour, the whole house was completely gone and into piles of materials. We then went to work on the house next door. We mostly just carried the lumber away from the house and into piles. We made lots of friends that morning with all the men who were working. They were really funny and quite impressed with our work ethic. Looking around, we were the only women actually doing manual labor at the houses!

On our way out, we were doused by water by the young guys so we had to walk home completely sopping wet and it took me hours to get the water out of my ear. The festival this weekend is for carnivale and the boys try to douse the girls while the girls go after the boys. Pretty typical though, the girls really don´t care that much so it seems it is just boys and young men running around getting the girls wet. Keri and I learned quickly to hide amongst older people b/c the boys will not get them wet.

We made our way home to shower and get ready for the wedding. Our family was running late so Keri and I went to the church on our own to watch the cermony. Life if just very different here. There were kids running and screaming all over the place, most people were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. When the couple came out, they were pelted with confetti and rice. You actually felt bad for them! They then went on to perform the civil cermony and then everyone headed to the reception site. We met up with our family and went to the reception together. Now here is where things really got strange. There were probably just under 200 guests. The reception was under a big tent. Lining the two longer sides of the tent were plastic chairs, three rows deep. The wedding party sat at the back of the tent at a long table. You pretty much stayed in your plastic chair the whole time, unless you were dancing. The bride and groom danced their dance and then all of the bridal party and family and then friends came and cut in on them. This went on for about 30 minutes. Then they threw the bouquet and the groom threw his boutineer (sorry about the spelling). Then the catering crew started bringing around trays of appetizers and little tiny glasses (like plastic shot glasses or medicine cups) of wine and pisco sours. Then everyone was given a styrofoam bowl of soup as the first course. So you sit there on the plastic chairs eating your soup. Then they bring out the second course which was a whole slab of ribs, a corn tamale and this potato thing that was not so good. some of the meat was great while other bits were just pure fat. Then, if you don´t finish your meal, they pass out plastic bags for you to take stuff home. Then they passed out one beer to everyone and we danced one song. It was really fun. However, they killed the mood by then having everyone who brought a gift, take it up to the couple and we all waited while they unwrapped it and it was announced to the whole group. If you gave money or a gift, everything was announced. So we all just sat there while this was going on for over an hour. At that point, our host sister was ready to go so we went with her. It was just too boring. Ana and Celestino kept saying how much more fun and better their wedding was. They didn´t have so many stops and starts.

So that ends Saturday. We have to head home for lunch now, but I will write about Sunday later. Sunday was a crazy, crazy day!!!

Hope you all are well!