Aucapata (week 2)

We are slowly starting to settle into a pattern of life here. The power came on late on Monday, but no school as the teachers were not back from La Paz yet. Joy has art classes for everyone in the house when there is a chance. The teahers arrived back by bus on Tuesday and we got back into our schedule by going to Cosnipata on Wednesday. This time we took our dentist, Amparo, with us and combined dental health and art. Every child gets a basket with a towel and toothbrush of their own and we managed to hang these on a decorated ¨dental wall¨in each school. The teaher was issued toothpaste and encouraged to have the children brush as a group each day, usually after the breakfast that the IMIF provides. In some of the remote villages like Cosnipata and Charaj there is a language problem as well. Many of the children and parents do not speak Spanish, but only Quechua, an indigineous language. In Cosnipata this is complicated as both the teachers speak Aymara (another indigeous language) and Spanish. Imagine having to know three languages!
On Thursday we finally got to Charaj and what a spot it is. Don Manuel drove us there and the plan was to catch the bus (Juan Carlos´blue bus) back to Aucapata. Oh yes, before we left, we discovered that the water was off to the whole village. Charaj school is perched on the hillside looking over most of the houses that make up Charaj. It is a very unique place with the clouds coming up from the river far below and rain falling from blue skies and a rainbow over the top of the mountain above and all at the same time. Women communicate by talking in a normal voice from house to house when the winds are just right. The lone teaher who lives at the school blows a wistle over the valley to call the children to school. And what a kind, gentle man he is almost acting as a surrogate Father to the little ones in his care. There was a parents meeting when we arrived so school was late. Amparo got the honour of raising the flag during the singing of the national anthem. Some of the parents stayed and enjoyed the art classes and Joy loved having the women in traditional clothing in her class. Before we left, women brought us a hot meal of rice, egg, potato and salsa. They had to bring it from houses far away and we were all touched by their generosity. We hiked up to the road to wait for the bus and when it hadn´t arrived by 4pm, we decided to set off walking to make sure that we were home before dark. Nice walk as this road is mostly flat to downhill. We arrive about an hour before the bus.
By Friday we had water and power again and spent the day at the Aucapata school. Joy was quite surprised by a pig in the schoolyard, but I had been here long enough to not want to bother with the picture. Afterall, Joy´s first class at the house had as many pigs as kids in attendance.
On Saturday there was a big meeting of the Aucapata district and there were losts of folk in all sorts of outfits in Aucapata for the event. At the end of the meeting, the delegates were greeted by Joy and her class who were painting in the plaza.
On Sunday, our power line was fixed by the owner of the house and this fix seemed to have worked. Joy and I hiked up the hill behind Aucapata toward the cross on the top. The afternoon was spent with Joy painting and me watching the bus activity in the plaza. Bus arrivals and departures are announced by a loud blowing of the bus´horn and these old buses are loud! Unfortunately, even departures at 2am (quite usual) are announced the same way!
Jim