T'ant'as Wawas

 

In the before and after school programs in Tiqti, on the day after All Souls Day, an altar is prepared to honor deceased children. Little flags are made out of colored tissue paper, with geometric cutouts and glued to straw cut from broomsticks. All the children bring something for the altar, fruit, masitas, flowers, candy, T'ant'as Wawas. This year there was a contest for the best T'ant'a Wawa. Streamers, palm leaves, and other items are all used to decorate the altar.

 

Here is a close up of some T'ant'as Wawas. I even photographed my first T'ant'a Wawa, (certainly not award winning) but alas I am not sure where I saved it.

 

The kids ham it up after prayers and refreshments. Altars like this are also set up in peoples homes, if they have lost someone in the last year. Neighbors come by for visits and prayers and to remember the loved one. Since people are "buried" quickly (no embalming) this tradition on All Souls Day allows people who missed the funeral to pay their respects in a formal way. I found out anyone is welcome to stop in and pray. It is one of the few times I have seen doors left open to entry gates of houses for extended period of time.

The Devotional Chicken

Here is the praying chicken photo I wanted to include in an earlier post. She is outside my apartment in Tiqti. She was actually trying to avoid the rooster. Due to her unrespectful approach to my plants I called her owner up and sent her home. I guess her prayers were answered in that she got away from the rooster.

The rooster was also sent to his own home a few months later. The only other chicken had hatched out 6 eggs and no longer needed his services. I was glad to see the blind rooster go because he would crow at 4:00 am, and he attacked plants too.

A few weeks ago I heard the mother hen making a fuss. As she had lost two of her chicks the week before, and I was the only one in the center, I went to see what was happening. A chick was caught in a bucket of water by the outside faucet. It was near drowned, I rescued it, but it couldn't stand. It was shivering and the mother ran away. So I dried it best I could in my shirt and kept it near my belly to warm up.

I tried to see if it would stand every so often. It just kept shivering and couldn't stand. When the sun came out from behind the clouds I held it up to the sun. The feathers were not drying quickly. After about an hour the mother returned and as it had been able to stand a few minutes earlier for the first time, I set it as close to the mom as I could get and it took off running feather still stuck to it's back!



Butterfly and bee, in harmony, feasting on my plants, better than chickens!

The plagues

2011 began with my usual collection of bugs in residence. There were the "no named many legged hard shelled" crawling bugs and spiders that I leave alone to help control the other bug populations.

January I began to notice my first scorpions a little larger than those of Comer Georgia, and I didn't know if they were more venomous. The spiders seemed too wrap them up like mummies so I found more dead than alive. I also noticed tiny grasshoppers in just one sector of the apartment. There always seemed to be a few, very cute, but they never seemed to grow, was it a grasshopper nursery?




Next the ants came, I could not leave a plate with a few crumbs in the sink because shortly dozens would be having a fiesta. One night I invited a few people over for dinner and games. To my embarrassment, I hadn't noticed, that the ants had invaded my apple crisp as it cooled. I banged the pie plate on the table and they came running out, it didn't stop some guests to ask for seconds!! That same night the flies invaded by the dozens. I was beginning to wonder if I was being visited by the plagues of Exodus.

At the time Joel and Lynn began to stay with me while they looked for a new residence. They were changing their mission site from Carmen Pampa to Cochabamba. Luckily Carmen Pampa is filled with bugs, so they couldn't find much difference, except when the flies began personal attacks on Joel, as he read at night.

I bought fly swatters and Doña Severina put ant poison at the front door of her apartment. My front door is on the back side of her apartment, and she has no back door. Thus my latest plagues of ants and flies were attended to.

The rainy season peaked during February, and mosquitoes took up residence in Tiqti for the duration until rainy season passed into winter (about June). For less than $5.00 I bought a beautiful lacy mosquito net and slept in peace knowing they could not get to me.

Mid February I began to have welts mostly on my arms and back, but sometimes my legs. I thought the mosquito net might help but to no avail. Fr Edwin said I probably had fleas from the dogs at the center. I thought maybe I had bed bugs, I woke up nightly scratching.

I moved to the spare bedroom with my mosquito net. I cleaned my bedding and room. My skin was improving and I decided to move back to my room. The day I completed my taxes (April 13th) I was jubilant! I attached to email and sent to Jill to print, write check and mail. I had washed my sheets in the morning and was excited to sleep on clean sheets, dried in the hot Bolivian sun and breeze. Nothing like sheets fresh from the line!!


"Many legged" is behind, hidding legs!

As I put the sheets on the bed I discovered 5 pesky vinchuca bugs clinging to the cording on the mattress bottom, fat from sucking my blood. The source of my welts confirmed. I captured them for the public health department. I went back to the spare bedroom where there were no bugs present.

Vinchucas can carry the disease Mal de Chagas, which effects many people in the Bolivian countryside. The disease weakens the heart, among other things and shortens life spans, especially when left undetected. To make a really long story short, it took five weeks to find exterminators and to schedule them to exterminate. They did come for an inspection 3 weeks before extermination.

After not one bug would stay alive in the apartment for almost 5 months! A second infiltration of ants (that had arrived two weeks before exterminators) was stopped in their tracks.

I had wanted to write a blog comparing my infestations to the plagues in Exodus. I realized I had more different ones but I still "faulted" on a few. We did have hail twice during that time, though not very damaging. I never had frogs, but then I have never seen one in Bolivia, because of location.




Cooking by Candles

Just recently I could complete some others such as darkness, when the pastor decided not to pay the electric bill for 4 months and the electricity was cut until payment was made over a week later. I felt I was back to early mission days, candles, drawing water from the "well". (My poor back) Water not just for me but for the lunch program, school program and plants.

I was visited by a new plague, mice! Which is not a good one when you don't have light! I could finally be thankful that I didn't have a first born or they might be in danger.

A special note for Dianne, Christy, Paul and my brother Jim, regarding the mice. My friend Dianne sent me a birthday card this year a copy below. A few weeks ago I brought the card to Doña Severina and her family saying I had taken a picture of the rascally mouse that is in my house. They were so amazed I got a picture of the mouse (believe me he doesn't stay still enough for his photo to be taken). They kept asking me about the helmet. Why was he wearing it? Where did he get it? and so on!! I said he was very smart and didn't want to die! By the way all our floors are cement or tile. Wood floors are rare in Bolivia, or more for upper class.

Machu Picchu

Here is the first test of the Blog. Is the above photo Machu Picchu? Most people would not recognize the shot of the mountain as Machu Picchu, but it is! The ruins of Machu Picchu are set in the saddle between the two mountains of Wayna Picchu and Machu Pichu. All the famous photos are taken from the slopes of Machu Picchu of the ruins with Wayna Picchu as the backdrop.




I made it! I can cross one thing off my ¨bucket list¨ This photo was taken earlier in the morning before the tour, after my first peek at the ruins.



One of my first detailed photos of the northeast side in the early morning sunshine.



Another early morning shot of the northeast side. There are some agricultural terraces before the drop off down the steep mountain slope.



This shows the amazing Inca masonry. Cement does not hold the stone work together, they are cut and shaped to fit perfectly together. All the stone was quarried from the top of the mountain, which is good news for the workers who came for a month or two a year, to pay their taxes through labor. There is still a major field with rocks available for expansion. (which they may need to use, as so many people have robbed rocks from this important site.)



Machu Picchu seems to be created for the ruling and comercial class, though actual facts and historical data are absent. The ornamentation and high quality of stonework point to Machu Picchu being a royal retreat or important cermonial center. People lived there for about 100 years, which looked to have been abandoned when the Spanish invaded the region. The above photo is taken of the industrial center, with the residential sector to the left fading into the distance.



My new friends from Argentina who were in my tour group. Very international group, people were from 7 different countries. My new friends asked lots of great questions, such as where did all the workers live? They atually did not live above in the ruins but further below, closer to the river, though ruins of their houses were not on the tour. Issues revolving around migrant labor are not a modern issue but ancient in existence.




These huts were located at the edge of the agricultural terraces. They have been restored as far as the thatched roofs are concerned to give a feel of what it may have been like, very few roofs in the ruins have actually been restored. (the view is looking toward southeast)




As I ended my day, I hung out on the southwestern side, many people had left and it was much quieter. Above is a detail (of the below photo) of more agricultural terraces at the edge of the community. I had never noticed before in the classical postcard shots, until a Peruvian pointed out that the mountain of Wayna Picchu looks like the profile of a head in repose. I couldn't help but notice this, it is most obvious in the photo of me and the Agentinians.

Monasterio de Santa Catalina

One of the highlights of Arequipa was the self guided tour of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Siena. The immensity of this historic convent was incredible. Much of the cloister was open for the public to wander around (at a significant entrance fee!) I have over 170 photo, it is quite a photogenic place, though I somehow uploaded the less colorful ones. It felt like visiting a whole separate town within the city. It seemed to go on for blocks, there are at least 6 major streets, orchards, chapels, various cloisters, common areas, individual cells, bath house, clay jar laundry and much more.



The convent was founded in 1597 and constructed of Sillar, white volcanic stone quarried locally. The first, fourth and fifth photos show the use of this stone. It is considered on of the most important and impressive colonial structures of Arequipa.



This bedroom chamber is located in the (old) novices cloister. Certainly upscale to most of my bedrooms in my life time. The original nuns that entered the cloister came from rich Spanish colonial families. They lived upscale lives within the cloister walls, each having a cell that consisted of a bedroom, sitting room (with eating area) and a kitchen. Some even had a bathroom (a room with a commode). One of the historical plaques referred to the sale of one of these "cells" from one nun to another. This rich life continued for almost three centuries, until a strict group of Dominican nuns entered and restructured the convent. I can't recall if this was the time when the indigenous nuns were allowed to enter the cloister or this happened at a later date.



All the cells had kitchens that seemed large for one person. The kitchens were darkened by wood smoke (this is not a back and white photo!) and were mostly out of doors. Later the great kitchen was created and the nuns ate communally in the refectory.



Earthquakes hit Arequipa in 1958 and 1960 (again this is not a black and white photo!), destroying parts of the convent. My inderstanding is that the second story was ruined in many places, thus exists many staircases that seem to go no where. In the above photo, this section shows the earthquake damage, an entire area was left in this condition. The new convent takes up only about 15% of the space within the cloister walls. I hope the nuns can wander the historic part when it is closed to the public.



I have spoke of the immensity, it was just a maze of one room after another and then popping back onto the street. It felt like a mini retreat, very tranquil, because few people were wandering around. It was like the spirits of the ancient nuns were still hanging around and praying. There were so many flowering plants, religious artifacts, blooming trees, the light filtering through various windows, or over walls and through gates. Some cells even had little private outside prayer areas, with small altars, crosses and plants. I felt there was so much to see, at the same time I just wanted to stay put, sit and soak in the spirit. I could see why someone would choose to enter the cloister and stay without returning to life outside the walls. A very peaceful place.

Vacation 2011

Here I am with one of the many new friends I met on vacation. Luckily this is the only one who wanted to kiss me! I saw many llamas, vicuñas, and guanacos all throughout my trip.Some were at tourist locations, but the majority were in the countryside as I passed in buses. Vicuñas and guanacos are wild animals taht roam around like deer. Most llamas were in groups being shepherded around by campesinos.



I have dozens of flower photos, this one was taken near the Butterfly House, just outside Agua Calientes. The Butterfly House is an interesting environmental project, they only capture and release butterflies of the same altitude.

The below photo was taken during a tour of Arequipa. I can't remember if it is actually a mountain or a volcano!

Fall looks like Spring after the Rainy Season

Yesterday was the first day of Spring in Bolivia. It is also El Dia del Estudiante, El Dia del Amor & de la Amistad. A sort of Spring, Valentine's Day, Friendship and Students Day all rolled into one. I think Bolivia has more specialty days than even the US, even with all our greeting card days. Some like friendship day seem to come around more often than once a year! (It is always good to celebrate your friends.. Hi Jan!)





After our reflection and prayer time last night, our mission group decided to head out for pizza. A treat we had been hoping for for weeks, a treat because it is not a cheap food item unlike the 4 cent oranges I bought this week! With the list of celebration days above, we slowly realized the error of of ways, checking out 4 different pizzerias with hour waits. We will wait until our next reflection to indulge.

So as all of you head into fall with cooling days, rain, leaves changing color and falling, pumpkins, cider and the rest (yes I grew up in the northeast), you can imagine us heading into Spring. Yet most of your images would be off for a Bolivian Spring.




First of all there is no rain, no crocus pushing up from the last melting snows. No wild bursting rushes of flowers or flowering vines. During these previous months of winter, people have been cutting back their still flowering trees, bushes and vines. But without August and September showers there simply are no flowers.

We just keep getting increasing heat until Advent time or until the showers begin and with it a coolness that does not become Summer, especially knowing I am so close to the equator. The rain brings to the dirt caked landscape mud. Slowly without being aware, because you are looking at your feet to avoid the mud, or to prevent tracking mud indoors, a spring comes.





The brown landsacpe has turned green and wildflowers and plants bloom and you look at your calendar and it is actually March! Strangely the Spring sensation lines up more with the traditional Spring of the Northern Hemisphere. All the pictures in this blog posting are from March of 2011. I left the original title, I just never had time to write a post at the time, and as Spring just started I thought they were more appropriate to this date.

I am interested in the celebration of Spring here, I guess it is the Spring equinox really. Very little of my northern image of Spring lines up. Certainly the days are warmer as well as the nights. Rainy season use to begin here in November, and thus the planting began in the countryside. The rainy season has pushed it's start into December, January and even as late as February some years, making it difficult for the planters to seed their fields.




Environmental change, global warming, and even El Niño/a have been sited as possible causes for this change. I hear this year the rains will begin earlier according to the old people who read the signs of nature (or should I say back to normal rhythm). I am interested to see if they will predict correctly. Interestingly in the last week we had sprinkles and many cloudy days, which for me is a great relief to the intense sun at over 8,500 ft.




Another seasonal difference is that we also have a windy season which had just extended itself from August into September this year. The wind usually comes more frquently in the afternoon with a strength to blow your clothes off the drying lines. As it is also still dry it feels more like dust storms, which blow sand and dirt right into the houses through all the cracks of poor construction and non existent door thresholds. Another reason to get your clothes in as soon as the dry, which is pretty fast here in Cochabamba.



I usually write my entries at home and type up at internet, I did so yesterday. Last night it snowed in the mountains, and was still snowing as I made my way into the city. I reflected that so many people here have seen snow in the distance and right now can even see it snowing, but they rarely get a chance to touch it or walk in it, as you would really need to make a mountain trek to it at 13,000ft and on up. This snow will certainly help any Spring planting (snowmelt), maybe the predictions are already starting to happen. Today we feel the cold of the snow, in the past I could even smell it blow down from the mountains.