Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

More pictures from the Puno trip. This first one is the last from the ruins in Sillustani-you can see just about how big the chullpas can be (Kevin and I are the tiny things standing in front of it). There was a guided tour next to us and I´m pretty sure we heard this one was 15ish meters, so it´s pretty big.


The rest of these pictures are from Las Islas de los Uros or as they are also known as the floating reed islands of Lake Titicaca. I didn´t know much about them before we arrived and so I was really amazed at what we learned and saw. First off they make the islands (which last about thirty years) and everything else on it out of reeds, their boats, their houses, their beds- they even eat the bottom portion of the reed (which you can see in the next picture they let us sample along with a type of bread they make). It was really different-you peel it like a banana and the flavor is really mild, something like celery with out the strings or crunch. I guess it´s has some good stuff in it though because they people don´t brush their teeth, they eat the reed instead and they all had really nice, healthy, white teeth.


The people are not Spanish speakers but the kids learn Spanish in one of the three schools they have throughout the islands. They people speak Aymara between themselves but they spoke to our group in Spanish. In total there are about forty some islands with a little more than twenty being dependent on tourism and the rest are further out and a bit more isolated. The island that we visited had five families living on it-the kids go to grade school/high school on other islands and then to University in Puno. This is a cute picture of two little girls that were playing around. Their clothes are amazing...beautiful with bright colors, and layered skirts. Nobody was wearing shoes- they all were walking bearfoot atop the squishy reed floor. The other picture is of their tiny stove that they use to cook on. Pretty different from the kind we have at home ¿no?.

This last picture is of one of the houses and a solar panal that was given to them by ex Prez Fujimori. Fujimori was not the best of presidents but the people of the islands like him because he came and stayed with them one night and gave them these so they could have light to work by during the night-it was probably one of the nicer things he did during his term.


Las Islas Flotantes were the first stop on our journey to three different islands. Those pictures will come later but it was a really fun trip. Met some cool people from Europe-made some good friends with five germans that are living in Lima all year working at a school for kids with disabilities that I´ll go visit. Got to stay with a family overnight on the island of Amantaní which is an island without cars or machines, it was pretty crazy. More on that later though.

This week for me I don´t have many classes and so this morning I just went to dance which I haven´t gone to in a while. I was pretty off cause they started a bunch of new dances but it was fun nonetheless - I didn´t realize it but I actually missed dance class a lot, it puts you in a good mood and you feel really good after...it´s weird.
Tonight I´m going to go out with Lucia and Marita. Hahaha I´m going as a tourist-it should be hilarious, I have a jumbo cardboard camera, sunblock, giant map, tourist hat, etc. I´ll make sure to post pictures later.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween-eat lots of sweets for me!! :) :) Besitos-Court