Indig

Monday, June 14

This morning we went to Patacancha, which is a community way up in the mountains (like we’re not already way up in the mountains already). After breakfast and packing (and discovering a plethora of dead bugs in our bathroom), we walked down to the square to meet the truck that was going to take us up there. Because the roads are a little treacherous, we couldn’t take our normal bus. All 17 of us piled into the back of this vehicle that I think is probably used to transport livestock. It was pretty amusing.

The views going up were surreal. I don’t have any pictures to prove this, however, because it was a toss up between attempting to fetch my camera and holding on for dear life in the truck. I chose life. Along with incredible mountain views, we would spot an indig (indigenous person) working in the field with their cattle, a flock of sheep, some horses, and natural wildlife as well along with a river, and then out of nowhere we would spot some Inca ruins. For not being much of an outdoorsy person (that’s an understatement), nature really won me over this time. But alas, no pictures.

When we arrived, a volunteer for the project named Emma from the UK showed us around and we watched a weaving demonstration. After having it explained thoroughly, I still have no idea how it works. Emma helps out the community with various projects, like getting bathrooms and helping them sell their textiles. I asked her how long she was staying, and she said until mid-2011 granted she could find a replacement. I’m graduating in May 2011. This must be fate. All of the women spoke Quechua, but you better believe they were quick to whip out their Spanish skills when they were trying to sell us their goods. We also looked inside a typical house, which was really spooky. There was only light bulb that is used sparingly (the community only got electricity 3 or 4 years ago) so the house was very dark and cold. I could hear guinea pigs scuttling about underfoot. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw the real prize. A HUGE piece of raw meat hanging from the ceiling, reminiscent of something you would see in a slaughterhouse. It’s not that it was particularly funny, it was just so unexpected. The whole experience was really neat because this was the first time I had seen indigenous people in a setting where they weren't just dressed up for us to take pictures for 2 soles or shoving hats and gloves in my face to buy. They were just living their lives - weaving, scolding children, joking, living.

We ate lunch there and they also brought out some fresh potatoes for us that they had grown, just to be eaten raw. I was skeptical at first, and then even more so when Chinh found a worm in hers. After lunch, we met with the “president” of the community and he explained to us the ideas on which the community functions, like reciprocity. Then we had to take the same truck down the mountain and it was just as life threatening as the first time.

We had about an hour for lunch and then we were taking the bus/train to Machu Picchu. It was only 4:00, otherwise I would have totally ordered this…

Yes Ryan, the restaurant offered doners. This counts as your shout out for this post.

Due to the mudslides a few months ago, the train tracks that lead to Machu Picchu have been damaged. So instead, we got on a bus that literally drove on the train tracks for about 45 minutes until we reached a town where the tracks were still intact (or had been repaired, I’m not sure). We sat alphabetically on the train, so I sat next to Ashley and we read our Spanish books and shared my dictionary – it was pretty cute. Our group was split into two hotels, and I definitely picked the winner (sarcasm). Our toilet leaked constantly, the “skylight” was open to the outsde (but that was over Kathryn’s bed so I didn’t mind), and our TV left a little to be desired….

Kristina, Kathryn, and I went to bed around 11:00, excited for our early morning starting at 4:00 am to visit one of the most famous ancient civilization sites in the world.