Last week in Cusco

This last week in Peru has been one of my busiest so far, but also one of the most exciting! My friend Hannah (from Austria) and I traveled to Puno for the weekend to go on a tour of Lake Titicaca. We left on Friday evening at 10pm to take an overnight bus to Puno from Cusco, which is about a 7 hour trip. Unfortunately, neither of us were able to sleep very well, and only got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep. We arrived at the bus terminal around 5am, where we were able to book a 2 day, 1 night tour leaving that morning. At 8am, our tour group got on a boat, and took off to see the man-made Uros Islands, Amantaní Island, and Taquile Island. After an hour on the boat, we reached the Uros Islands. These islands are made out of reeds from the lake, and are incredibly strange to walk on. Your feet sink down a few inches with every step as the reeds compress below you. Our guide explained in detail how the islands are constructed, and also how this construction is never finished. As reeds rot and decompose, more need to be secured into place to keep the islands in good condition. I was amazed to hear that over 2,000 people live on these islands, with about 5 families per island (most of the islands are very small, and take about 30 seconds to walk across). To get to school, the kids have to take 'taxi' boats to the larger floating islands. Also, the survival of these people entirely depends on tourism. The community practices "equal opportunity", and so tour groups rotate which islands they go to see so that those living on the islands have the same chance to make money.

The islands are made from these reeds

View of the Uros Islands

Explaining how the base of the island is created

Inside of a house

After spending a few hours on the Uros Islands, we headed over to Amantaní Island, one of the four largest islands in Lake Titicaca. We arrived around 1pm, where we were assigned "host families" that would feed and house us until the next day. Hannah and I were in a family with a mom, dad, and two daughters. The youngest daughter, Pilar, was four years old and quite a spunky, adorable girl!

Amantaní Island

Our host family

Pilar

Lunch of boiled potatoes, oka, and grilled cheese

That evening, our group hiked up to the top of the island. We watched the sunset from there, and also got some incredible views of the lake. 

A stone wall near the top of the island

When we got back, our host families dressed us up in traditional Peruvian clothes, and took us to a building on the central plaza to dance. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had gotten more than 2 hours of sleep the night before....

The following day began bright and early at 6am, since we had a 3 hour journey by boat to get to Taquile Island. Once we arrived, we walked for about an hour to the central plaza, and then another 45 minutes or so to the top of the island. Here, we were given another talk about the culture and lives of those living on these islands. 

From here, we walked back down into town, ate lunch at a local restaurant, and then began the boat ride back to Puno. After the tour was over (around 4pm), Hannah and I walked around town for a while before eating a delicious dinner of alpaca steak and lomo saltado (a traditional Peruvian dish).

I then had to say goodbye to Hannah, since she was staying the night in Puno, traveling to Arrequipa the following morning, and then making her way to Lima to fly home. I took another overnight bus back to Cusco, and was fortunately able to sleep much better this time. I arrived a little before 5am, took a taxi back to my apartment, and slept a little while longer before getting up to work at Occopata that morning. Needless to say, I was fairly exhausted. 

On Tuesday, Michael and I went up to Occopata to do some health campaigns in the schools. We first visited the Jardín, where we had originally treated the kids for scabies a few months ago. It was really great to see how so many of the children who were previously infected are now healthy! We also brought up wart treatment, and administered it to those who needed it. Afterwards, we all played jump rope with the kids, and then had tea and cookies in the classroom. The kids also gave Michael and I presents - egg cartons with a picture of a chicken on it :)

We then headed back to the clinic to enjoy some chocolate cake that Michael and I had brought up since it was one of my last days at Occopata. 

That afternoon, we went to the elementary/high school to give a presentation on alcohol and alcoholism, a huge problem in Occopata. Many of the fathers in Occopata are alcoholics and abuse their wives and children, which is really sad. After I leave, Michael will continue to give this presentation in different classes.

A few of the kids also had warts, and so we treated them as well.

Getting my hair braided by three girls who were fascinated with its color/texture.

The next day, we all got up very early to do house visits in the community of Mayrasco, which is below Occopata. I really enjoyed this, because we got to hike around in the mountains far above Cusco. The people who live far up in the mountains rarely come down to Cusco or go up to the health clinic in Occopata, and so the doctor and nurses have to walk to their houses. On Wednesday, the main purpose of our visits were to inform those who don't have health insurance that they need to go down to Cusco and fill out the necessary paperwork in order to obtain insurance. The insurance only costs about 10 dollars, but this is still a substantial amount of money for most of these people. 

Wednesday was my last day of volunteering, since I needed a few days to get ready to travel to Ecuador. I leave early tomorrow morning, and will be in Quito by 4 pm to meet the rest of the students in my study abroad program! I currently have very conflicting feelings about leaving Cusco - I have absolutely loved my three months spent here, and consider them some of the most eye-opening and rewarding months of my life. But at the same time, I can't wait to move on to Ecuador, live with a host family and study in Quito with other students. 

I will be continuing my blog in Ecuador, but as I will be a full time student, my blogs might become shorter and less frequent. I hope that this doesn't happen, but I know I will be gone for weeks at a time on ecological excursions and I may not have internet in my host family's home. I would like to thank everyone who has been reading my blog and supporting me during my time in Cusco - I love hearing your thoughts and insights through emails and comments in response to my blog posts.

When I get to Ecuador, our orientation begins immediately, and lasts about a week. Following this, we are going on a week-long excursion to the Intag cloud forest, so I won't be in contact much for the next two weeks. I hope you've been enjoying my blog for this first half of my journey, and I look forward to what the next four months bring!

This past Sunday, Dr. Rafael, Claudia (an obstetrician at the clinic), Michael and I did a medical campaign in Mayrasco, a community below Occopata. This community is smaller than Occopata but also nicer. The campaign focused around wart treatment, a major problem in the surrounding villages of Cusco. We began the campaign in Occopata, and then drove down to Mayrasco to work there for the majority of the morning. Michael and I had bought lapices de nitrata de plata, or silver nitrate pencils to treat the warts. These pencils effectively treat the warts and are also simple for people to use, since one just has to 'color' the warts with the pencil. 

Beginning at El Puesto de Salud in Occopata

One of the main roads in Occopata

Dr. Rafael explaining our medical campaign to a local family

 Michael treating the warts on a young boy's foot

We then headed to Mayrasco, where we found a large part of the community watching a soccer game in the field.

 We began going house to house, asking the locals if they were infected with warts or had any other sickness that needed treatment.

 View of Mayrasco

Baby lambs on the soccer field :)

 Kids watching the game while eating lunch

After the medical campaign, the four of us headed into town for lunch. The restaurant we went to had the best Peruvian food I've tasted my entire time here! A 'hole-in-the-wall' locale, this place served a four-course authentic Peruvian meal for 15 soles (a little less than $6). We had Rocotto Relleno (stuffed peppers) for the appetizer, chicken and kiwicha soup, a choice of either Papa Rellena con Arroz Chaufa  (stuffed potatoes with a Peruvian kind of fried rice) or Bistec de Pollo con Papas Fritas (grilled chicken and french fries) for the secondary, and a variety of different options for dessert. The Papa Rellena that I ate was incredible, and by far the best one I've ever had. Along with the meal, we were served the classic Peruvian drink Chicha Morada, a sweet drink made from blue corn. 

In case I haven't explained before, the typical Peruvian "Menu" meal consists of three parts - a soup, your choice of secondary (there are usually 2-3 main courses from which to choose), and the drink (generally tea or chicha morada). This "Menu" can range anywhere from 3.50 soles to upwards of 20 or 25, depending on the quality and type of restaurant. A dessert or appetizer might also be included at a nicer restaurant. There are over 20 different Menu places within a few blocks of where I live in the neighborhood of Los Nogales, and they all cost 3.50 soles, or about $1.30. Needless to say, I'm very careful of which ones I eat at, since it's very easy to develop gastrointestinal problems from the food at cheaper restaurants.

Lately, I've been really enjoying cooking. Last week, my friend Claudia from the clinic came over and we cooked together. She taught me how to make Tallarín Rojo con Pollo, a Peruvian dish that consists of spaghetti served with chicken and tomato sauce. It was very easy to make and tasted wonderful! 

For dessert, I made a chocolate fondue, and we dipped fresh bananas in both the chocolate sauce and some peanut butter I had made the day before. Peanut butter being one of my staple foods at home, I was shocked to find out that this was Claudia's first time ever trying it!

One of the Jardín volunteers, Hannah, is from Austria and we enjoy cooking together as well. We took advantage of the plentiful fruit in Cusco, and made a stack of coconut oatmeal pancakes topped with passionfruit and bananas! Definitely a breakfast to remember. 

Work at the Jardín is also going very well. The kids have been on vacation for the past two and a half weeks, which gave us the opportunity to get a lot of manual labor done. Recently, we build a greenhouse out of plastic bottles filled with dirt, a wall/bench for the kids to sit on, and painted murals on the side of the school.

 Side view of the greenhouse

 Inside the greenhouse

This coming weekend, Hannah and I are traveling to Puno and Lake Titicaca (the highest lake in the world)! We're going to spend the night on an island in the lake with a local family, and also see the Uros islands which are man-made from reeds. 

I can't believe that my time in Cusco has nearly come to an end. In less than two weeks, I will be leaving for Ecuador to start my study abroad program. I'm really excited for the next chapter in my travels to begin, but at the same time will greatly miss Cusco, the volunteer work, and all the amazing friends I have made here.