Darren and I have just had the most wonderful and genuine experience here on Lake Titicaca. We had our village home stay at Llachon with the sweetest woman named Nilda, and her husband Pedro. Nilda is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She has a beautiful smile, and she runs everywhere. She'd say "uno moment" and be off. She has 5 children, all of whom go to school across the lake in Puno. Her oldest daughter's name is Tania, her youngest (age 8) is Rosa. She had a brother named Vincente. So many coincidences. We were also briefly introduced to her mother who is 103 years old, blind, and I believe partially deaf. Still independent though and living on her own (though not far from her daughter).
The people around here speak Quechua and Spanish so communication often took place in three languages (Spanish, Quechua, and body language). Nilda was wonderful. She would tell us a word Espanol and then give us the Quechua version as well. Sometimes we would talk, and just smile in clear incomprehension and then we'd all laugh.
We arrived right around lunch time yesterday. We were each introduced to our designated families and were shown to our rooms. For lunch, Nilda made us barley soup (the soup's in Peru are fabulous), potatoes, rice and fried cheese. We had a short talk with her (in our broken languages) before getting to work on their property.
We took part in shelling some sort of bean which was dried out in pods. Nilda laid them all out on a mat and we stepped on them. We jumped and smushed and danced to break up the pods. Then we got down and started to shell them by hand, while separating the larger pieces of broken pod. To get rid of the smaller particles, Nilda spread out a two separate mats and we would grab a handful of the beans and slowly drop them in the air. The wind would then pick up any smaller pieces and carry them into a pile.
We also helped Nilda with her sheep. We went and fetched them from her mother's property and walked them back to Nilda's house. When I say "walked them back" they really walked us back. They were basically on leashes, and we didn't really know which way to go, but these sheep were clearly used to the routine and they led the way. The little lambs (wua wua ona), who were not tethered followed closely and obediently behind.
After some chores, it was time for a friendly game of volleyball-gringos vs locals-next to the lake. A little beach volleyball if you will. The locals were basically all women in their traditional garb and they kicked our butts 3 games in a row. It was a horrible slaughter. Darren represented us all well, I provided some amusement for all in attendance and avoided the ball at all costs, and the rest of our group faired somewhere in between. The locals were one handing it and hitting strong! One of the older ladies (I think she was 80) kept score with a small pile of rocks. It was embarrassing but a lot of fun.
After we walked back to our houses in shame, Nilda dressed us in their traditional garments for dinner. There's no eating unless you contribute to the meal however, so we all took part in peeling potatoes. That was interesting! I hate peeling potatoes but I've done it before, many people have not and were good sports about giving it a try. These weren't the big round smooth potatoes either. They were fairly small and uneven and full of little holes and divots. Sometimes I think the end product was half of the original size.
Anyway, dinner consisted of soup (as good as ever), rice and stir fry. We were all exhausted and ready for bed after dinner, and it was only 730/8.
When we left the restaurant/dinner place, Darren and I just about tripped in the dark. The stars were so incredible neither of us was paying attention to where we were going. I have never seen stars like that before in my life. They were stunning. The Milky Way was as clear as day. There were more stars in the sky than hairs on Darren's legs. It was
breathtaking (unlike Darren's legs).
When we finally stopped staring at the sky and went to bed, Nilda brought us a couple of hot water bottles. And by that I mean plastic water bottles covered in a small sheet of fabric. They were piping hot but were still nice to have under our blankets. We had 2 blankets of alpaca wool which were very heavy. We just about slept in the same position all night. Nice and toasty.
This morning, Nilda woke us up and made us pancakes and biscuits for breakfast. Delicious. We had a few minutes to get ready and she walked us down to the dock where we said our good byes. She gave us many hugs, told us to have lots of babies and said "tupananchis kama"- See you later.
It was back on the boat to Puno (with a quick stop at Tequile Island) and our last night in Peru. Tomorrow, we leave for La Paz in Bolivia.
So, to Peru-Tupananchis kama-Buenos noches-sullpeiki-and, muchos gracias.
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