Kaysi and I bummed a ride on Russ and Jean's bus half way back to Kaysi's town of Maca last night because we both were yearning for a shower and her town is closer to the hot springs than mine. After the day's 6 hour hike up and down the mountain the hour-long hike to Maca was not welcomed by either of us, but necessary if we wanted to partake in the joys of hot water. We both attempted to jump up and down with excitement when we got to her road, but our strength was completely void from 3 days of working and walking. Her host mother dropped the potatoes she was cleaning and put a kettle on so we could enjoy her homemade quinoa bread with warm tea. Kaysi's adorable host siblings entertained us until our strength couldn't even hold us upright at the dinner table any longer. I had surprised myself and my hosts when I and devoured two plates of rice, avocado, and egg. It was only about 6pm so we decided to put in a movie to numb our brains and bodies into dreamland, but her host brother had math homework to be done. We insisted on helping him finish it together so he could watch the movie "UP" with us. An hour later all three of us were wrapped up in alpaca blankets sound asleep as the Spanish dubbed cartoon illuminated the tiny straw roof hut.
Today, hot showers hushed the acid in our tired muscles and some hot quinoa and chicken soup nursed our souls back to the world of the living. I began phone calls to plan a trip to the geyser outside the city of Pinchollo and we sat for some time to let our tired tootsies convalesce.
The only bus going back to my town left sooner than I would have liked, and I was rushed to purchase some cheese and fruit and pile into the crowded comvi. There were some people on the bus that were not dressed in the traditional attire like everyone else that lives in my town. They must be children of people from Madrigal that were sent into the city when they were young to get an education, and raised there their entire life. They obviously weren't going to be squished in the bus. They spread themselves out to make themselves comfortable and ignored everyone else trying to get onboard. The custom of these comvis is to get everyone where they need to be using the least gas possible (aka one trip, overcrowded bus, standing room only). When the driver asked them to scoot their precious little bums over these "middle class" Peruvians scoffed and refused, "what a terrible custom you people continue" one woman said. They looked at me, two elderly traditionally dressed women, and two men in cowboy hats that wanted to board and didn't budge. The driver gently coaxed some more and then one of the elderly women reprimanded them far to slightly for my taste and squeezed herself into a seat. I made a couple jokes with some people already on the bus about being skinny and if only they could please let me squeeze into some standing room and they laughed and cleared about a 1 foot by 1 foot space for me. While one of the traditionally dressed women clung to my leg to keep her balance my face was calm but my brain was screaming at the princess sprawled out behind me, "Who do you think you are little lady? You think I and these rural Peruvians WANT to squeeze on this bus? You think I am not used to more comfortable transportation? Do you know how uncomfortable these people and myself are going to be for the next hour? Do you see any of us complaining? Do you see all of us making room and squishing together awkwardly but out of necessity? The priority is not comfort here, and if it is to you, go rent a taxi and pay top dollar to protect your for delicate physique. And, buckle your seatbelt, or is that a terrible custom you don't wish to continue?" I couldn't look at the woman's face I was so angry. I distracted myself in conversation with some neighbors from town, and choked down the fire lump in my throat. The urban Peruvian culture really has no respect for the challenging lifestyles these people have, even though it is where they came from. It breaks my heart into thousands of scrambled splinters that I don't know how to put together again and those shards are the fuel I use keep myself motivated to help the people here.
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