Another day of school and volunteer work has passed and I have, yet again, survived! School is really great, though, don´t get me wrong. It is really interesting to be able to take classes and be immersed in the education system of another country. In the United States school is so much different as it is considered a right and is understood to be a logical step in the process of growing up. Here, school is a privilege at the college level and students really take advantage of their opportunities and genuinely want to be there. It seems that all to many people in the States are just herded to colleges by their parents with faint echoes of "If you want a good job, you have to go to college nowadays" in their ears. Don´t get me wrong, I´m not condemning our nation or our education system, its just something that is easier to reflect on when you are out of the "bubble" that you are so used to.
Anyway, today instead of going to class as normal my class got a special treat. Our teacher Erwin took us to a town about 45 minutes from Cusco via bus called Huasao (wah-sa-oo). Speaking of buses, this was also my first experience on the city bus "system," which is a bit daunting at first. Take a look and see why:
It may not look that scary at first but these "combis" as the cusqueños call them make very short stops and are always very crowded. Ours today had about 75% of its wires exposed on the dash and around the console. Each bus has a doorman who yells the upcoming stops on the route at approximately 200 words per minute while subsequently cramming as many people in as the bus pulls away and the door closes. Needless to say it is a bit scary for someone who does not know the route that well so I was planning to stay away from the bus for a bit. Anyhow, for about 66 cents round trip we traveled in all the style a combi could offer.
While in Huasao we got to take a walk around the local fields or chacras as they call them here in the Andes to see some of the local produce and the people at work farming. It was awesome and very impressive to be outside of the city and be reminded that all is not hustle and bustle. I seemed to be able to hear my self think and I could reflect a bit better on where I was and what was surrounding me. Here are a few pics I snapped while there:
The real purpose, however, was to go to see the shaman to be able to get our futures read through their interpretation of a bag of coca leaves. Its kind of like the proverbial reading of the tea leaves except it has an Andean flair and is has historical roots in the Andean culture and religion. I won´t tell you what they told me but I can tell you I wasn´t convinced, haha. It wasn´t a big deal though and I didn´t have to sell my soul to the devil or anything else of that nature but it was definitely something that was at least "neat" to try while in the area, its not like you can do it at home or anything. This was the plaque outside her door:
After the trip I returned to the hostel and got right to work outside. I started about a half hour earlier so that I could end a half hour early because I had scheduled and interview for my Quechua research at 5PM today. Unfortunately, despite getting a lot done outside and finishing on time, my contact wasn´t able to get here on time and unfortunately got here when I was out to dinner at the vegetarian restaurant down the block. At first I was a bit angry for having waited outside in the cold for 45 minutes but in the end I realized that with two busy people´s schedules and only email contact, I couldn´t have expected anything else to happen differently if there was a hitch. This whole not having a phone thing doesn´t make things easy, but maybe I´m just learning what it´s like to be a real researcher and not one inside the comfy confines of the US or even just Rutgers.
Well, that was my day, hope I haven´t jawed your ears off, but I just like to keep everyone informed! Thanks again for reading and enjoy your evening!
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