The biggest adventure of my life.....

Saturday was a good day. Real good day. In fact it was a day that will stick out in my mind for the rest of my life. It started really early... Alfonso and his wife and their daughter picked me up at the crack of dawn and we started off to go pick up the 200 loafs of bread before we hit the road. We started the journey by driving up to the mountains and about an hour and a half to another town where we´d pick up a friend of Alfonso and his wife to show us the route and translate for us. Where we were going there would be no paved roads or Spanish spoken.. the people that we visited in the villages spoke quechua. Our additional passangers were the woman and her two kids, one fourteen years old and the other just two. With a full tour bus we set out on our journey... I was wide-eyed trying to soak in all the sceanery and the views. We went on for a long time away from any civilization. About 2 1´/2 hours into the journey we got stuck. That would be the first of MANY times we got stuck.... after that we were stuck more then not. The solution.... to get unstuck of course- again and again and again. How? Lift the van and put rocks under the tires and then build a road with any rocks you can find. After you´ve gone a few feet collect the rocks behind the vehicle and build more road. Slow process to go a few feet my friends. Once again I´ve learned patience. We did that many times- at one point coming across a fast paced stream that was about 2 1/2 feet deep where we all had to get out and cross so the vehicle could cross without any weight.... that was a memorable moment. We went as far as we could go until we were REALLY stuck. This time for about 5 1/2 hours. We walked up to a village that was nearby and these people were in SHOCK to see me. Their reactions were kinda painful... most of the kids were afraid of me as if I were an alien... they had NEVER seen a white person before. I´ll do the best I can to describe the village we were approaching......

This is a place I never could have imagined. Walking up the hillside there is nothing but beautiful sceanery surrounding me for miles and miles. This is the land of llamas and alpacas wondering free. Most of the open field had horse wondering free mingling with some pigs and sheep. The animals outnumbered the people by the hundreds. As we got close to the village there were a few horses with their front holves tied together so they would stay close by....donkeys, pigs and alpacas that were the village animals. There were some huts- or houses where the people lived. They were made out of rocks stacked on top of eachother formed together with dried mud- the ceilings were made of dried grass straw. The doors were no higher then 3 feet... and the few people we came accross in the house were not much taller than that. I felt tall for the first time in my life as I ducked to enter the house. The house was a one room I could hold my hands out and nearly touch each wall.... if I took one step left Iwas in the kitchen one step forward in the dining room and one step to the right the bedroom (no walls) where the entire family slept in one ¨bed¨. As I took those few steps I had to be careful not to step on the dinner.... live guinea pigs that ran around on the floor to be breed for food. That was a sight!

The land that they had cultivated was the ONLY land they had ever known other then a trek to the next village- that looked just the same. It was almost painfully quiet... no TV, no radio, no interruptions. In that moment I tried to picture the lifestyle....nearly impossible. These people had NEVER seen anything of any outside world.... what they lived was everything they knew... it was generation after generation of routine. I can´t imagine even a day in that life...not because it is bad or wrong...but because I come from an opposite world...where quiet and stillness are often signs of laziness and weakness. Made me think.

The woman (girls 10 and older) were there to breed and weave. All the women were weaving all day long- that was their task in life. The girls start to have kids at about 13 years- or close after (basically as soon as they can) and they have around 6 kids each. The first village we were at had about 20 people total..... we joked around that you would ¨marry¨or be with whoever was born your same age. WOW! Talk about a concept for THIS GIRL to swallow. If you were lucky you would have 2 MAYBE 3 guys to choose from to have your kids with and spend all your life with. I´m pretty sure I´d be in trouble :) :) :) (I can just hear you all laughing and thinking... that is so true- shut up)! WOW. That was and still is an incredible concept for me to grasp. You would know that person since birth.... and hopefully like them. Okay...I have to move on because I can´t and probably will never comprehend that concept.

Back to the point. We greeted all of them and told them to hike down to our van that we wanted to give them some gifts. We made the journey back down to the van and worked on getting the van unstuck again.... a little bit forward, a little bit back. At one point Alfonso needed to be in the back of the van but have someone driving it while he was doing whatever he was doing. By this time people had come from several villages and there were about 40 people gathered....who would drive? Believe it or not I was the ONLY other person that had EVER driven a car- so hop in and 4-wheel it Lindy.....with a live audience. Another moment....¨where am I and what am I doing¨??? UNO DOS TRES.... my job was to floor it (I´m not sure this was the best idea but Alfonso insisted on it) and steer up the terrain. We would go a little bit forward and a little bit back. I was laughing in my head pretty hard as I imagined what they were thinking of this alien white girl driving like a maniac. Oh.... and this is my REAL LIFE.

After being stuck for about 4 1/2 hours we had enough people that had gathered from near and far to give away the supplies. That was a cool moment. The kids all lined up behind the back of the van and we gave the bags away- each kid walked away with a bag of supplies and everyone got some bread. It was cool to see the excitement of the kids and how greatful they were to recieve the supplies. Alfonso encouraged them to study and work on education- which seemed like the right thing to say... but for the first time in my life the thought passed through my head..."Is education necessary?" I mean IF they were to become educated it would be so they could leave the life that they were living, and had lived.... to advance. Did they want to advance? I can't answer those questions, but who am I to say that they way they are living is wrong? Lots of questions that crossed my mind throughout the day for sure.... none of them do I have any immediate answers. It's good to question your views- so I'm thankful for that and the smiles that these little kids had on their faces (until I got back in their view and they turned away- darn gringa :)).

There was one great part about being the blonde hair- blue eyed girl in this village. The highlight of my day was when this little boy probably around 8 years old approached the line and had all of his body covered in clothes and pulled his hat all the way over his face. I tried to figure out why.. then realized that he was albino... and all the other kids made fun of him. I walked over to him and they tried to get him to peek out of his little hat to look and see that I'm white with "white" hair and light eyes too..... That he wasn't a freak- just different from the people around him. A moment that is in my heart for the rest of my lifetime was when he peeked out under his cap and looked at me and got the slightest grin. They told the other kids to stop making fun of him because there were a lot of people just like him..... just not where they live & that he is in fact "special". Another moment that made it all worth while.

The rest of the day was full of adventure as well..... we got unstuck and said good-bye.. and headed to yet another village that was sort of on the way back. This time there had been word we might be coming and as we drove down a dirt road there were kids chasing the van. We got to a middle ground and once again gave out the supplies... kids lined up behind the van anxious to get some treats. The thing that amazed me about all these dirty little kids was how bright their clothing was. Very typical traditional clothes worn by all of them- and you can't help but LOVE the big brown eyes peering up at you. That made the trip all worth it! The work that Greg & Kirsten are doing with "Sense the World" is admirable work and I got to witness it personally that they are doing some great things throughout the world. I am honored to be able to have worked through their organization.

Returning back to "civilization" we stopped at the clinic just before you leave and gave the clinic the reading glasses, medications, first aid kits etc. as they would be able to distribute them better then we would have been able to. The main concern was that the supplies that we gave would be used for a cause and not to be sold- so the clinic was the best place for those supplies. By that time it was about 4:30 pm and we hadn't eaten so I treated them to lunch- we all went to get chicken and papas (french fries) a favorite of peruvians. We got fed- they have a saying here that is "fully belly- happy heart" true true. Then the drive back to Cuzco.... it was a long drive but it was good.... we got back home and I was exhausted. My host mom had dinner waiting for me but I couldn't eat anymore- I just headed to my room and crashed by 9:30 pm. I was one tired girl after a brilliant day.