This week I learned a little about Peruvians' mixed faith in God and in the spiritual deities and traditions of their past.

I attended the Catholic church service that is held in Chucuito in their old church building. It started about 20 minutes late (like everything here), so I had some time to just sit and reflect and watch the people come in. I thought the whole town (all 1600 people) would come since this is the only church service here, but there were only about 75 of us. The service started with, in my opinion, some rather contemporary music. There were guitars, a drum, a tambourine, and a flute, along with a couple of song leaders. They even played one I knew (''Sing Alleluia to the Lord'', but in Spanish, of course). It was a very nice service and I think I'll go back this week.

I had a conversation about religion with Sr. Santiago one night. He asked me if I was religious and I said yes. Then when I told him I was protestant, he wanted to know the difference between protestantism and catholicism. So, using my limited vocabulary, I attempted to give him a rundown of some major differences, but I stressed that both worship the same God. Then he went off on how he can't understand how people can believe in that stuff because God doesn't guide our lives, we do. So it was a good opportunity to share my beliefs, but he was not very accepting because he was sure I was wrong.

Yesterday, Sr. Santiago asked me if I wanted to walk to the top of the hill behind Chucuito. I said sure because I've been wanting to do that. I had no idea what I was in for! There were five of us that started out together. Before we left, we all chewed up some coca leaves and stuck them in our cheeks because ''it helps with fatigue and makes you stronger.'' (see picture at left) And, yes, cocaine is made out of coca leaves, but it only becomes a drug when it is processed. The coca leaves are just a natural-growing plant (like marijuana!). Anyways, it took about an hour and 45 minutes to climb to the top, and it was a hard hike, especially at this elevation. When we got there, I took some pictures, and then people started arriving from all over. Huh? Is this some kind of meeting or something? When about 30 of us were gathered, they brought out some incense and said some kind of prayer. I didn't understand any of it because it was all in Aymara. Then we had lunch. All the women emptied the contents of their shawls onto a blanket, forming a huge pile of black and white potatoes, lima beans, and pieces of fried bread. Then everybody just dug in. They all kept offering me more, but there's only so many cold, flavorless potatoes and beans I can eat. After everyone was satisfied, we started picking up the garbage in the area. Apparently, the rocky area at the top of the hill is a sacred place for the Aymara people. It is where they offer sacrifices and come to pray. I had noticed a bunch of rocks stacked on top of one another in various places, and it turns out they do that as a form of worship. So after about four hours of gathering all the garbage together, they had another ceremony, I guess to dedicate it as a clean place to worship. Then, after taking more coca, we headed back down. It was really funny to see these old women saying ''Give me more coca. I need more coca!''


I've been going to Puno a few times a week to mail stuff, use the phone, or just hang out because there's not really anything to do in Chucuito. The first time I went, I ate at this restaurant and ordered Pollo con Coca Cola (yes, that's exactly what you think it is). It was good, and cost about $3.25. The next time, I got wise and ordered the menú, which is the set meal of the day. To start, I got a small plate of bbq beef and a potato. Then they brought out a soup with rice, potatoes, and beef in it. Next was the main course, fried chicken with thick french fries and salad. I also got my choice of beverage. Lastly, they brought out dessert, jello with something creamy on it. All this for only $2.25. Needless to say, I was stuffed. Last time I went to Puno, I found a restaurant with a menú for only $.80, which wasn't quite as much food, but it still filled me up. I love how cheap everything is here. My dollar goes a long way.

A couple days ago I bought a Cosmo en español to entertain myself. I'm going through it cover to cover looking up words I don't know so I can increase my pop culture vocabulary. I think I'll go work on that now before my class starts at 6:00.