I had a nice first Saturday here. Sr. Santiago wanted me to help out with their ''project,'' which turned out to be a city clean-up day. They gathered all the kids together (about 120 of them) and a few adults went with each group to a certain part of town. Then we brought all the garbage back and sorted out the plastic and metal (which is going to be sold for recycling) and then burned the rest in the middle of the street. I'm glad I'm up-to-date on my tetanus shots because some of those things we were handling were so rusty I couldn't tell what they were.
I also got to see part of a wedding today. Wedding celebrations here go for two or three days straight. The actual ceremony took place in the church at about 8 am. Then everyone processed outside with people throwing fake flower petals on the couple. They marched around the plaza with a band playing. Then all day they continued marching around the town with everybody following them. And people kept throwing the petals on them so that they were completely covered in them. The kids especially loved this activity. Once in a while they would stop and dance and everyone would take a drink.
Another fun activity I got to do today was wash my clothes. Most of the roads here are dirt, so everything I wear is dusty by the end of the day. There isn't a laundromat here, so I did like the locals do and bought myself a bar of laundry soap and cleaned my clothes using two tubs and a faucet out in the yard. My hands were fa-reezing when I was done and I wanted to take a shower (especially after handling gross garbage all day). Most of the showers here only have cold water, and I HATE taking cold showers. There is a shower that gets warm-ish, but I have to turn on the water heater two hours before I want to shower, so I kind of have to plan for it. So I've only been showering here about every three days or so. I'm fine with that--I bought myself a hat so I can cover up my greasy hair.
Yesterday I decided to check out Chucuito's one and only claim-to-fame, The Temple of Fertility. It consists of a stone structure full of phalluses of various sizes. Apparently women go here and sit on top of the penises to increase their fertility. So of course I had to try it. (Hey, I want to have kids someday!) When I left, there were women selling penis keychains ''to remember the temple.'' I tried my best not to laugh in their faces.
Brrr...I'm so cold right now. My hair is still wet and I have to wear a skirt because both pairs of jeans I brought are drying on the line. It's fairly warm during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down (at 5 o'clock), it gets really cold. I got sunburnt my first day here and I was only outside from 8-10 in the morning. But the elevation is so high that the rays are stronger. So now I remember to wear sunscreen every day! There's no heat indoors, so at night I bundle up and fill my Nalgene bottle with hot water and sleep with it.
Here are some photos. Sorry if all the pictures take a long time to load. But I can guarantee you that it takes longer on the computers here. I have to start downloading (uploading?) when I first get on the computer and then they're finally done when I'm ready to leave about an hour or so later. But I don't mind; at least I have internet access here!
I also got to see part of a wedding today. Wedding celebrations here go for two or three days straight. The actual ceremony took place in the church at about 8 am. Then everyone processed outside with people throwing fake flower petals on the couple. They marched around the plaza with a band playing. Then all day they continued marching around the town with everybody following them. And people kept throwing the petals on them so that they were completely covered in them. The kids especially loved this activity. Once in a while they would stop and dance and everyone would take a drink.
Another fun activity I got to do today was wash my clothes. Most of the roads here are dirt, so everything I wear is dusty by the end of the day. There isn't a laundromat here, so I did like the locals do and bought myself a bar of laundry soap and cleaned my clothes using two tubs and a faucet out in the yard. My hands were fa-reezing when I was done and I wanted to take a shower (especially after handling gross garbage all day). Most of the showers here only have cold water, and I HATE taking cold showers. There is a shower that gets warm-ish, but I have to turn on the water heater two hours before I want to shower, so I kind of have to plan for it. So I've only been showering here about every three days or so. I'm fine with that--I bought myself a hat so I can cover up my greasy hair.
Yesterday I decided to check out Chucuito's one and only claim-to-fame, The Temple of Fertility. It consists of a stone structure full of phalluses of various sizes. Apparently women go here and sit on top of the penises to increase their fertility. So of course I had to try it. (Hey, I want to have kids someday!) When I left, there were women selling penis keychains ''to remember the temple.'' I tried my best not to laugh in their faces.
Brrr...I'm so cold right now. My hair is still wet and I have to wear a skirt because both pairs of jeans I brought are drying on the line. It's fairly warm during the day, but as soon as the sun goes down (at 5 o'clock), it gets really cold. I got sunburnt my first day here and I was only outside from 8-10 in the morning. But the elevation is so high that the rays are stronger. So now I remember to wear sunscreen every day! There's no heat indoors, so at night I bundle up and fill my Nalgene bottle with hot water and sleep with it.
Here are some photos. Sorry if all the pictures take a long time to load. But I can guarantee you that it takes longer on the computers here. I have to start downloading (uploading?) when I first get on the computer and then they're finally done when I'm ready to leave about an hour or so later. But I don't mind; at least I have internet access here!
Clean it, boys!
Wedding procession
Increasing my fertility
Yup
posted by Susan @ 6:10 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
HAHA the thing about the temple of fertility made me laugh for about 2 hours. Those don't even look like penises, they look like mushrooms! but whatever floats their boat...
I'm curious, who's been taking your pictures with you in them?
The fertility thing is very strange!
Glad I could make you laugh so much! I had a good time with them, especially since I was the only one in there. I just set my camara to take a picture in 10 seconds, and then I go pose.
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