This past weekend and into the week have been really great. I had an awesome day at the clinic on Friday. I was working in the reception and triage area until a man came in and said he needed stitches. I wanted to get in on that action, so into the Topico room I went. There is a med student from U. of Minnesota here named John. He did the stitches. This man, I learned as I chatted to him while everyone was getting the sutures and stuff prepared, was cutting alfalfa in his fields and sliced a huge flap of his pinkie finger off. He then proceeded to RUN down to Ollanta from his field. It took him 3 hours!!! Can you imagine??? And he still was in a really talkative and good mood.
So stitching up his finger was a bit of a mess as he really had done a doozy on it. You could see tendon and bone. John did a great job. I had to maneuver myself around the man to hold a flashlight on the wound as the lighting in the Topico room is really bad. However, we got him all stitched up and made a splint for his finger. He was great. Immediately after we finished with him, a man (who was mute) came in with a nasty dog bite that had occurred on Wednesday but this was the first that he sought out medical care. We cleaned his wounds. Here, they use the white of an egg as a sealant for wounds. it actually works really well. However, we cleaned him up and his leg was really swollen due to infection. We got him some new bandages and antibiotics and sent him on his way.
The rest of the morning passed quickly as I was running the reception and triage by myself. I am proud at how good I have gotten with taking blood pressures here. The stethoscope sucks so that makes it hard and the people here have extremely low blood pressure so you will be listening for the first heartbeat sound and as it gets lower and lower, you think you have screwed it up, but lo and behold, you get your first *thump* around 80. Crazy!
Anyway, we took it easy on Friday knowing that Saturday was the beginning of the festival. Saturday was a bit low-key. We started drinking with lunch and then went out to the plaza to watch the procession of Senor de Choquekillka. All of the dance troupes were out there and everyone did a short dance. The costumes and music and dances are amazing. I took some pictures until it got too dark. We stayed out on the plaza all night just drinking and dancing and watching the dances.
I think I was still drunk on Sunday morning when I got up! I retrieved the Jello shots I had made and refrigerated at Ana and Celestino's. Then we started our mimosa power hour. That power hour was my downfall. We spent the rest of the morning wandering around town, watching the dances. Sunday was one of the biggest days of the fiesta. At lunch, we went to the cargo of the Copaq Negro dancers. A cargo is a private party.
Each dance group (remember, there are about 16) has a family that puts on the cargo for the year. Hosting a cargo is a massive feat. You pretty much feed all of the dancers and their friends and families all three meals for the 4 days as well as provide all of the beer. Here, a good cargo will set a family back $5000!!! For people who average a monthly income of $300 to $500, this is huge. But they all happily do this when it is their turn. So, we brought two crates of beer as our cargo-warming present and enjoyed lunch and the festivities with the Copaq Negros. The President of Awamaki Peru, Miguel, was the leader of this dance group. Also, our friends Raul and Porfi were dancers so it made sense for us to hang with them the whole time.
Hallie and I also got invited to the cargo of my host dad Celestino. So off we went to another party. Celestino was in "Los Majenos" dance group. They are really funny and are the drunks of the dances. They dress like cowboys (Peruvian cowboys) and carry bottles of beer around. At one point during the dance, they shake up the beer and open it onto the crowd. They are big crowd pleasers. The Copaq Negros tell the story of the slaves who worked for the Incans. All of the dances have masks so it is a bit unnerving to be walking around town with people talking to you and making comments but not knowing who they are due to the masks.
We danced from the Majenos cargo into the plaza with them. One of my friends got it on video. We were asked to dance with that group next year. They have 2 or 3 women who dance with them so that will be fun. Also, I will be living with Ana and Celestino again when I return next year and they are hosting the cargo so it will be a 4 day party at our house. I might as well be as much in the middle of it as I can.
Monday was a day of rest for me. I stayed out way too late on Sunday and never really stopped drinking or dancing so I needed a break. Hallie and I just took it easy. We watched some dances and ate a big salad then I was in bed early. Tuesday was the biggest day of the festival. It started with the dedication of the recently rebuilt chapel down by the river. There was a huge mass. Everyone went home for lunch and then back to the river for dancing and fireworks. There is this tradition where they hang a corn cob on a rope and all these people ride their horses under it and try to grab it. If you get it, you win some booze.
One of the scariest things about this fiesta is the fireworks. There are definitely no safety standards here as we all are standing within 25 feet of a man-made wooden structure with tons of fireworks set up all over it. You have to see it to realize just how crazy dangerous it is. One of my friends got some good photos of it.
Then we danced with the Copaq Negros up from the river and into town. We were wearing their hats and actually were videotaped by some tourist show in Bolivia. So I am on Bolivian tv somewhere! Then it was just more dancing and drinking into the night. I am sad that the festival is over. It really brings the town together.
I am happy that I will be here next year for it too. So now it is back to the grind. I have some volunteers coming (actually 2 are sisters from Indianapolis) within the next week and a half so I am busy organizing things for them. Hallie leaves one week from today. Crazy how time is flying. If you ever have a chance to visit Peru in May, make sure you enjoy at least a couple days of this festival in Ollantaytambo. It gets crazy but it is so neat to see the culture.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
More Beautiful Days in Ollanta
Wow! I think this is the longest I have been without writing a blog post. Lots of things are happening everyday, but not many that are exciting to write about. My days are blending into one another. I wake up at 6:30am (except on Tuesdays when we get up at 6am to buy fruit from the fruit truck from the jungle). Then Hallie and I head out for our morning semi-hike. We walk the first (and hardest) hill of the Canteras hike. It takes about 40 minutes from our door to the top of the hill. Then we turn around and hike back down for the next 20 or so minutes. On Mondays and Wednesdays we do lunges across the bridge and on Tuesdays and Thursdays we do jump squats. Today we actually had 5 more walkers with us. The last two days we've had the company of Loba (translates to female wolf) on our walks. Loba was Hallie's host dog, she is a husky mix if you didn't figure it out by the name.
We get home and shower and eat breakfast and then begin our work days. I have been escorting new volunteers to the different clinics and introducing them around. I just organized the start of our "intercambio" with the clinic staff. We have paired up 15 of the Posta staff with our volunteers to start language intercambios. We will teach them English and they will help with our Spanish or Quechua. Everyone seems really excited about it and it will be a great relationship builder with the Posta staff.
Hallie and I make lunch and then get back to work. I generally spend my afternoons working on the computer or running meetings of some sort. It really is a lot of work trying to get this up and going. I know Keri, Ben and Annie don't feel very involved from the States, but I try to keep them updated by writing up minutes and emailing out summaries of the week. Hopefully the website and donation page will be up and running in full power soon.
Hallie and I joke about little slogans to use when asking for donations. We can get 7 bananas for 1 sol, which is about 33 cents. So we were saying that for the price of one Value Meal at a fast food restaurant, you could feed one child a banana a day for 3 straight months! Intense when you think about it. 90 bananas for $4.50.
We still enjoy our pub quiz nights and movie nights. The Public Health classes continue to be a big hit at the telecentro's after-school program. This week Audra and Kelsey will be teaching about the dangers of smoking.
I am actually excited about just hanging in Ollanta for the next month and a half before I leave. I have no plans to travel anymore. When Betsy and Mare come, we are just going to stay local with our adventures. There is plenty to do and see around Cusco, Ollanta, Urubamba and Pisaq. I am taking on 3 of the intercambios myself so hopefully I will also gain some good new words in Quechua and Spanish. I need to be here for the weekends to meet with the people.
So I am just rambling now, but I think you get the point. Life is good. Steady and routine. Today was absolutely breathtaking on our walk. We got to the top of the hill and for the first time in 3 and a half months, we saw the mountain named Veronica (the patron mountain of the Sacred Valley) in her full glory. There were no clouds, you could see the snow/glacier on the top in detail. It really was beautiful. I wish I had my camera.
Okay, hope all is well wherever you are. We have started the party planning for this weekend. As if there isn't going to be enough to see, do and drink without the extra games and events we are planning. The Fiesta starts on Saturday afternoon. We have to buy our crates of beer now because they run out in town. Nick's host dad said that the town will go through 3000 crates (12 1.5 liter bottles per crate) over the four days!!!! Ridiculous! They say that per capita, the adults drink 4 crates each. I am going to make some jello-shots and Hallie has some games planned along with a mimosa power hour on Sunday morning. We'll see how that goes. It may get ugly! Wish me luck!
We get home and shower and eat breakfast and then begin our work days. I have been escorting new volunteers to the different clinics and introducing them around. I just organized the start of our "intercambio" with the clinic staff. We have paired up 15 of the Posta staff with our volunteers to start language intercambios. We will teach them English and they will help with our Spanish or Quechua. Everyone seems really excited about it and it will be a great relationship builder with the Posta staff.
Hallie and I make lunch and then get back to work. I generally spend my afternoons working on the computer or running meetings of some sort. It really is a lot of work trying to get this up and going. I know Keri, Ben and Annie don't feel very involved from the States, but I try to keep them updated by writing up minutes and emailing out summaries of the week. Hopefully the website and donation page will be up and running in full power soon.
Hallie and I joke about little slogans to use when asking for donations. We can get 7 bananas for 1 sol, which is about 33 cents. So we were saying that for the price of one Value Meal at a fast food restaurant, you could feed one child a banana a day for 3 straight months! Intense when you think about it. 90 bananas for $4.50.
We still enjoy our pub quiz nights and movie nights. The Public Health classes continue to be a big hit at the telecentro's after-school program. This week Audra and Kelsey will be teaching about the dangers of smoking.
I am actually excited about just hanging in Ollanta for the next month and a half before I leave. I have no plans to travel anymore. When Betsy and Mare come, we are just going to stay local with our adventures. There is plenty to do and see around Cusco, Ollanta, Urubamba and Pisaq. I am taking on 3 of the intercambios myself so hopefully I will also gain some good new words in Quechua and Spanish. I need to be here for the weekends to meet with the people.
So I am just rambling now, but I think you get the point. Life is good. Steady and routine. Today was absolutely breathtaking on our walk. We got to the top of the hill and for the first time in 3 and a half months, we saw the mountain named Veronica (the patron mountain of the Sacred Valley) in her full glory. There were no clouds, you could see the snow/glacier on the top in detail. It really was beautiful. I wish I had my camera.
Okay, hope all is well wherever you are. We have started the party planning for this weekend. As if there isn't going to be enough to see, do and drink without the extra games and events we are planning. The Fiesta starts on Saturday afternoon. We have to buy our crates of beer now because they run out in town. Nick's host dad said that the town will go through 3000 crates (12 1.5 liter bottles per crate) over the four days!!!! Ridiculous! They say that per capita, the adults drink 4 crates each. I am going to make some jello-shots and Hallie has some games planned along with a mimosa power hour on Sunday morning. We'll see how that goes. It may get ugly! Wish me luck!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Time is flying
Now that I am stepping into the full-time health coordinator role, time is flying by. I have 7 volunteers here that I am trying to keep organized and busy. I have 8 more coming in within the next six weeks. I had three and half hours of meetings today! I felt like I was back at the VA, bouncing from meeting to meeting!
Life isn't overly exciting, it is just busy. We had a bit of a rough end to our week last week. The Cinco de Mayo party went amazingly. Everyone enjoyed the taco bar and we played some Peruvian drinking games before going over to Porfi's bar and drinking margaritas. I spent more time behind the bar making margaritas than I actually spent drinking. Which was a good thing for both my wallet and my head!
My trip to Cusco went well on Thursday. I ran around like a crazy woman for 5 hours trying to get everything on my list and meet with the woman named Ariana who runs another NGO down here. The problem with going to Cusco is that everyone asks you to buy them things that we cannot get (or are outrageously expensive) in Ollanta. I had to buy a cutting board for Annie, marshmallows for Marjo, pain killers for Nick, saline solution for Ben, etc.
My meeting with Ariana was great. She is coming into Ollanta on Wednesday to sit down with myself and Kennedy to try to determine how Awamaki can get involved in her nutrition project in some really, really remote communities. Her communities make our Patacancha look like a metropolis. And believe me, I couldn't handle more than a week in Patacancha at the most. I can only imagine what these communities are like. So we will see how involved I get with her work.
However, on Thursday evening, after I got home from Cusco, I found out that our friends' kittens were dying. The mother cat had rejected the kittens about a week and a half ago but they were taking milk and some food. I guess they just started going downhill fast and by Thursday night, three of the 4 kittens (only 4 weeks old) had died. We set up a rotation of holding and syringe feeding but it did not do any good. They were just too little and weak. One kitten held on until about 4am on Saturday morning, but he too just couldn't make it. They were covered in fleas, had worms and were just so emaciated. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever had to see. It was a relief in many ways when the final kitten died. We were all exhausted, both tired from caring for them as well as emotionally drained.
I could not go to Patacancha for the tour on Saturday as I had a horrible lactose intolerance episode due to the immense about of milk and butter that we used to cook our chicken pot pies on Friday night. I should have known better. I have avoided the milk here for 3 months and now I know that I need to keep avoiding it! So I had a lazy morning and then we started the preparations for Ben's potluck dinner. The dinner was awesome. Pretty much everyone brought a dish of some sort. I was really impressed. We had a relatively quiet night though.
Ben, Hallie and I went to a town called Pisaq, about and hour and a half from Ollanta, on Sunday to go to these huge craft markets. Ben wanted to buy some gifts for his family before he left. They have these hysterical looking hats that are perfect for gardening. I am definitely going back to get one for myself. Hallie took a couple of photos. I will have to post it. When we came back, Hallie and I baked about 7 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to give as gifts to our old host moms for mother's day. Of course, we had to give some to the volunteers who were hanging around the kitchen, some to Ben for his flights home, and to Will and Jess for their anniversary.
I then went to visit Ana and give her the cookies. She and Celestino chastised me for not visiting last week. I promised to go over for lunch on Friday of this week. The baby is just getting bigger and bigger each week. He has doubled in size since he was born (only a month ago). Such a little cutie. He just stares right up at you. He has the silkiest black hair.
So now I am just trying to get ahead of myself with all of these new volunteers. It is nice to be busy and feel like I am doing good. Exciting!
Life isn't overly exciting, it is just busy. We had a bit of a rough end to our week last week. The Cinco de Mayo party went amazingly. Everyone enjoyed the taco bar and we played some Peruvian drinking games before going over to Porfi's bar and drinking margaritas. I spent more time behind the bar making margaritas than I actually spent drinking. Which was a good thing for both my wallet and my head!
My trip to Cusco went well on Thursday. I ran around like a crazy woman for 5 hours trying to get everything on my list and meet with the woman named Ariana who runs another NGO down here. The problem with going to Cusco is that everyone asks you to buy them things that we cannot get (or are outrageously expensive) in Ollanta. I had to buy a cutting board for Annie, marshmallows for Marjo, pain killers for Nick, saline solution for Ben, etc.
My meeting with Ariana was great. She is coming into Ollanta on Wednesday to sit down with myself and Kennedy to try to determine how Awamaki can get involved in her nutrition project in some really, really remote communities. Her communities make our Patacancha look like a metropolis. And believe me, I couldn't handle more than a week in Patacancha at the most. I can only imagine what these communities are like. So we will see how involved I get with her work.
However, on Thursday evening, after I got home from Cusco, I found out that our friends' kittens were dying. The mother cat had rejected the kittens about a week and a half ago but they were taking milk and some food. I guess they just started going downhill fast and by Thursday night, three of the 4 kittens (only 4 weeks old) had died. We set up a rotation of holding and syringe feeding but it did not do any good. They were just too little and weak. One kitten held on until about 4am on Saturday morning, but he too just couldn't make it. They were covered in fleas, had worms and were just so emaciated. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever had to see. It was a relief in many ways when the final kitten died. We were all exhausted, both tired from caring for them as well as emotionally drained.
I could not go to Patacancha for the tour on Saturday as I had a horrible lactose intolerance episode due to the immense about of milk and butter that we used to cook our chicken pot pies on Friday night. I should have known better. I have avoided the milk here for 3 months and now I know that I need to keep avoiding it! So I had a lazy morning and then we started the preparations for Ben's potluck dinner. The dinner was awesome. Pretty much everyone brought a dish of some sort. I was really impressed. We had a relatively quiet night though.
Ben, Hallie and I went to a town called Pisaq, about and hour and a half from Ollanta, on Sunday to go to these huge craft markets. Ben wanted to buy some gifts for his family before he left. They have these hysterical looking hats that are perfect for gardening. I am definitely going back to get one for myself. Hallie took a couple of photos. I will have to post it. When we came back, Hallie and I baked about 7 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to give as gifts to our old host moms for mother's day. Of course, we had to give some to the volunteers who were hanging around the kitchen, some to Ben for his flights home, and to Will and Jess for their anniversary.
I then went to visit Ana and give her the cookies. She and Celestino chastised me for not visiting last week. I promised to go over for lunch on Friday of this week. The baby is just getting bigger and bigger each week. He has doubled in size since he was born (only a month ago). Such a little cutie. He just stares right up at you. He has the silkiest black hair.
So now I am just trying to get ahead of myself with all of these new volunteers. It is nice to be busy and feel like I am doing good. Exciting!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Day 3 of the Juice Diet and still going strong
So Hallie and I have been doing a strict fruit juice and fruit diet for the past 3 days. We have been dealing with the usual stomach issues lately, nothing I will write about here, but thought that a proper flushing of the system and starting anew would do us good. We go to the juice ladies for breakfast and lunch and then have snacked on bananas or apples or whatever we have during the afternoon. For dinner, we have made homemade applesauce. Our juices in the morning and for lunch consist of combinations of pineapple, orange, apple, papaya, banana, carrot and cucumber. So actually, as my friend Will says, we need to say we are on a fruit and carrot and cucumber diet to be totally truthful!
It seems to be doing the trick. We were torturing ourselves last night as we were searching out recipes we could cook here for our cinco de mayo party tomorrow night. I was staring at a picture of bean dip and wished it was in front of me right at that moment. However, only one more meal to go of fruit and we are back on to regular foods tomorrow! We will be easing back into food so we don't hurt our stomachs worse, but we are looking forward to the tacos and stuff we will be making for the party.
It is ridiculous how beautiful the mountains are right now. I thought the mountains were gorgeous during the rainy season, however, now that it is clear and sunny every day, it is amazing. I just walk around town with a big grin on my face as I look around me. It is getting really cold in the morning and night though. Winter is definitely coming. The other day I was out on the patio, reading in my bikini top and sweating but by 5pm, I had on 3 layers and was shivering! Talk about temperature swings!
All is good in the clinic. We have so many volunteers right now that I am creating a rotation schedule to get 2 volunteers out to each of the satellite clinics beginning next week. We are also trying to prep and start laying the groundwork for more community health projects. We need help with physical education at the middle/high school so if anyone wants to come and volunteer, we would love to have you. The PE teacher got injured playing soccer and if we don't cover the classes, then the kids will just have 90 minutes free at that time. Unfortunately, the Director of the school wants all or nothing and so he would prefer us to be there the 6 hours a day teaching or not there at all. It is going to be hard for us to cover this with our manpower as the classes are 40-45 kids and I don't feel comfortable putting one volunteer in charge of them all. We will see what we can do. The difficult thing is that they just don't have the equipment that we do so you are a little limited. Creativity is key!!
Everyone is starting to get really excited about the upcoming festival at the end of May. This is the biggest festival of the year...4 days of dancing and drinking!! The town shuts down and people come from all over the country to celebrate. There are 16 traditional dances that continuously run throughout the 4 days. Some days they go from 8pm to 5am, others are through the day. It is going to be so much fun. We know lots of men and women who are dancing. The main plaza is being redone so the workers are racing against the clock to get it all finished by Pentacostas (the festival).
So, my social calendar is filling up this week: tonight is pub quiz night, tomorrow is cinco de mayo party at Porfi's bar (he is putting tequila and corona on special), Friday a group of us are going up to Patacancha for the day to meet all of the weavers and see how they make their beautiful items and then we will have a lunch cooked in an underground earth oven. Saturday night is Ben's potluck dinner/going away party. It will consist of volunteers and health clinic staff. On Thursday I have to go to Cusco to meet with a woman who runs a different textile non-profit to see what help I can be with her nutrition program they are trying to start. Life is good but very busy!!
Hope all is well with everyone reading this! I am down to less than two months left -- sadness! So much to do and so little time.
It seems to be doing the trick. We were torturing ourselves last night as we were searching out recipes we could cook here for our cinco de mayo party tomorrow night. I was staring at a picture of bean dip and wished it was in front of me right at that moment. However, only one more meal to go of fruit and we are back on to regular foods tomorrow! We will be easing back into food so we don't hurt our stomachs worse, but we are looking forward to the tacos and stuff we will be making for the party.
It is ridiculous how beautiful the mountains are right now. I thought the mountains were gorgeous during the rainy season, however, now that it is clear and sunny every day, it is amazing. I just walk around town with a big grin on my face as I look around me. It is getting really cold in the morning and night though. Winter is definitely coming. The other day I was out on the patio, reading in my bikini top and sweating but by 5pm, I had on 3 layers and was shivering! Talk about temperature swings!
All is good in the clinic. We have so many volunteers right now that I am creating a rotation schedule to get 2 volunteers out to each of the satellite clinics beginning next week. We are also trying to prep and start laying the groundwork for more community health projects. We need help with physical education at the middle/high school so if anyone wants to come and volunteer, we would love to have you. The PE teacher got injured playing soccer and if we don't cover the classes, then the kids will just have 90 minutes free at that time. Unfortunately, the Director of the school wants all or nothing and so he would prefer us to be there the 6 hours a day teaching or not there at all. It is going to be hard for us to cover this with our manpower as the classes are 40-45 kids and I don't feel comfortable putting one volunteer in charge of them all. We will see what we can do. The difficult thing is that they just don't have the equipment that we do so you are a little limited. Creativity is key!!
Everyone is starting to get really excited about the upcoming festival at the end of May. This is the biggest festival of the year...4 days of dancing and drinking!! The town shuts down and people come from all over the country to celebrate. There are 16 traditional dances that continuously run throughout the 4 days. Some days they go from 8pm to 5am, others are through the day. It is going to be so much fun. We know lots of men and women who are dancing. The main plaza is being redone so the workers are racing against the clock to get it all finished by Pentacostas (the festival).
So, my social calendar is filling up this week: tonight is pub quiz night, tomorrow is cinco de mayo party at Porfi's bar (he is putting tequila and corona on special), Friday a group of us are going up to Patacancha for the day to meet all of the weavers and see how they make their beautiful items and then we will have a lunch cooked in an underground earth oven. Saturday night is Ben's potluck dinner/going away party. It will consist of volunteers and health clinic staff. On Thursday I have to go to Cusco to meet with a woman who runs a different textile non-profit to see what help I can be with her nutrition program they are trying to start. Life is good but very busy!!
Hope all is well with everyone reading this! I am down to less than two months left -- sadness! So much to do and so little time.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Feliz Dia de los Trabajadores (Labor Day)
So today is labor day as well as the anniversary of the town of San Isidro, a little town just off of Ollanta. There has been a fiesta all day, but Hallie and I decided to go on a hike to some ruins called Pumamarca. We had a going-away party for a volunteer last night so hanging out at a fiesta all day did not sound good to me. We were out quite late last night and alcohol was the last thing on my mind.
So after having a nice sleep-in, I got up and had some breakfast. Then I aired out my sheets and sprayed the crap out of them with flea killer along with my mattress and blankets. I am covered in bites again. I've been back home here for a week and a half and I probably have 50 bites on my legs, stomach and back. I have two on my neck and a few on my arms. However, we are pretty sure that these are not fleas. There are wood mites that live in our beds and in our wood floors and stuff. These are the culprits, we believe. I have some B-complex vitamins that supposedly will make me stinky to bugs. I am going to start back up on those. We'll see. I woke myself up in the middle of the night scratching my bites. They itch like crazy!!
Anyway, Hallie and I began our hike around 2pm. It takes about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the ruins. The scenery was beautiful, of course, and these ruins were really big (as in tall) compared to many of the other ruins around here. We then had to find our way down to the town to meet up with the road that we were to follow back to Ollanta. We successfully navigated through fields and past farm animals to the road. When we started the walk back, we passed a woman and her two small children. The woman got up and asked if they could walk back with us.
She had a 7 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. The kids were adorable. However, the woman immediately started telling Hallie and I how her husband was a drunk and hit her and made the kids cry all the time. That he had sent her up to work on their fields and took all their money. She was heading down to Ollanta to stay with her sister and to get away from her husband. Well, at this point, Hallie and I were just kind of like, what the heck is going on? Was she looking for money? Did she just want someone to talk to? She smelled a bit like alcohol so we think she had been drinking as well.
Anyway, on the road down, we encounter her husband. He has obviously been drinking. It all becomes clear that the woman just wanted to walk with us so that we could keep her husband from doing anything. So he starts trying to hold the kids' hands and she keeps pulling them away and coming over near us. He is trying to get us to walk past them but she speeds up so she is always ahead or with us. At one point, the man starts grabbing her arm and pulling her aside and she starts yelling and the little girl starts crying. Hallie and I start shouting "Senor! Senor! Por favor, no ahorita!". We get him to stop grabbing at her. Then a taxi comes and the mom and kids get in and that leaves us walking down the road with the dad. Then the taxi stops and he gets in too and we heaved a sigh of relief. When they were fighting, we just tried to keep the kids occupied so they would not be so upset.
Everyone talks about how bad the domestic violence is here, especially when the men drink, but this is the first time we have seen it in our face. I have seen some women at the clinic who say they fell, but we all knew that was a lie. However, I was fully prepared to have to step in today if it was necessary. Especially since the children were there. Needless to say, Hallie and I were a little shaken up by the scene.
So we got home and took showers and went to our weekly pizza party. The pizza parties are weekly now as there seems to be one or two volunteers arriving each week. The new volunteer will be working in the health clinic as well. We are exhausted from the night before and from the hike, so we are just reading and going to bed early. Hopefully the neighbors next door who sell firewood will be taking the morning off from chopping wood. We wake up at 6am to the sound of "thunk, thunk, thunk" every day as they begin chopping wood. It could be worse! It could be metal clanging or horns or something. One of the volunteers is renting a room from a hostel and the hostel owner has parakeets. The birds wake her up each morning by saying "como te llamas, como te llamas" or "hola, como estas" repeatedly. That definitely is worse!
So after having a nice sleep-in, I got up and had some breakfast. Then I aired out my sheets and sprayed the crap out of them with flea killer along with my mattress and blankets. I am covered in bites again. I've been back home here for a week and a half and I probably have 50 bites on my legs, stomach and back. I have two on my neck and a few on my arms. However, we are pretty sure that these are not fleas. There are wood mites that live in our beds and in our wood floors and stuff. These are the culprits, we believe. I have some B-complex vitamins that supposedly will make me stinky to bugs. I am going to start back up on those. We'll see. I woke myself up in the middle of the night scratching my bites. They itch like crazy!!
Anyway, Hallie and I began our hike around 2pm. It takes about an hour and 45 minutes to get to the ruins. The scenery was beautiful, of course, and these ruins were really big (as in tall) compared to many of the other ruins around here. We then had to find our way down to the town to meet up with the road that we were to follow back to Ollanta. We successfully navigated through fields and past farm animals to the road. When we started the walk back, we passed a woman and her two small children. The woman got up and asked if they could walk back with us.
She had a 7 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. The kids were adorable. However, the woman immediately started telling Hallie and I how her husband was a drunk and hit her and made the kids cry all the time. That he had sent her up to work on their fields and took all their money. She was heading down to Ollanta to stay with her sister and to get away from her husband. Well, at this point, Hallie and I were just kind of like, what the heck is going on? Was she looking for money? Did she just want someone to talk to? She smelled a bit like alcohol so we think she had been drinking as well.
Anyway, on the road down, we encounter her husband. He has obviously been drinking. It all becomes clear that the woman just wanted to walk with us so that we could keep her husband from doing anything. So he starts trying to hold the kids' hands and she keeps pulling them away and coming over near us. He is trying to get us to walk past them but she speeds up so she is always ahead or with us. At one point, the man starts grabbing her arm and pulling her aside and she starts yelling and the little girl starts crying. Hallie and I start shouting "Senor! Senor! Por favor, no ahorita!". We get him to stop grabbing at her. Then a taxi comes and the mom and kids get in and that leaves us walking down the road with the dad. Then the taxi stops and he gets in too and we heaved a sigh of relief. When they were fighting, we just tried to keep the kids occupied so they would not be so upset.
Everyone talks about how bad the domestic violence is here, especially when the men drink, but this is the first time we have seen it in our face. I have seen some women at the clinic who say they fell, but we all knew that was a lie. However, I was fully prepared to have to step in today if it was necessary. Especially since the children were there. Needless to say, Hallie and I were a little shaken up by the scene.
So we got home and took showers and went to our weekly pizza party. The pizza parties are weekly now as there seems to be one or two volunteers arriving each week. The new volunteer will be working in the health clinic as well. We are exhausted from the night before and from the hike, so we are just reading and going to bed early. Hopefully the neighbors next door who sell firewood will be taking the morning off from chopping wood. We wake up at 6am to the sound of "thunk, thunk, thunk" every day as they begin chopping wood. It could be worse! It could be metal clanging or horns or something. One of the volunteers is renting a room from a hostel and the hostel owner has parakeets. The birds wake her up each morning by saying "como te llamas, como te llamas" or "hola, como estas" repeatedly. That definitely is worse!
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