So, driving in Ayacucho is terrifying. As in most countries, the roads are a lot smaller than those in the US, and people are a lot better at driving. When I'm within like three feet of a curb, I'm like "Ahhh, too close, going to crash!" but people here can be within three inches of a dog or a person or a bus- no problem. Freaks me out, but I've learned to trust that everyone here can drive a lot better than me, so I'm pretty safe. Like I said, the roads are very narrow, but that doesn't stop a bus passing another bus on a one lane, one-way road. Intense. Plus, all of the dogs. When there are a bajillion dogs in the road, sometimes chasing the cars, you'd thinking that a lot of them would get hit, but they usually don't. Drivers and dogs somehow know exactly how to play the game so that they come within inches of each other with everyone being okay. Crazy. Pedestrians also have no right-of-way here. Cars won't stop, and they often go really fast. So, you have to be careful. But, if it came down to me drivsing a car or me walking here, I would so pick walking because I would crash here in like five seconds. Plus, they drive manuals here, and that's hard. And there are potholes everywhere. Rough.
Construction
Ayacucho is an up-and-coming sort of town. From what I can tell, there is a growing middle class, and you can tell that looking at the construction going on everywhere. Property is really expensive here, so you can't buy new land when you want to make your house nicer, you just build over what's already there. So, in many places you see the crude stone walls (crude, but still super skillfully made- these people descended from the Incans after all). and aluminum roofing. But then you also see new brick constructions going up everywhere. New stories being added onto existing houses. Old stone walls being knocked down one day, and the next day there's a new, pretty white wall in its place. Piles of gravel and concrete being mixed are everywhere- laying foundation and just creating something new. It's strange for me because everything in the US, especially in the Northwest, is relatively new, but in countries where there is so much history, and there is this town that has been around for such a long time, building over existing structures is just very normal. It's like the town is constantly getting a makeover. I would love to see what this place will look like in ten years because, at the rate things are changing now, I'm sure that it will look very different!
Cold and Dry
Since we're way up in the Andes, we've got mountain-y sort of weather. It's sunny just about every day, even though it's winter now, and the temperature in the sun is usually about 70. But outside of the sun, it sure gets cold! It's down in the 30s or so at night, and they don't have heating here. So, you curl up underneath your llama wool blanket and try not to let too much of you stick out while you're sleeping. I wear thick socks. Luckily our house is pretty great about keeping in the heat, but in the houses here that are made of stone, there are undoubtedly cracks that let in the chilly. And if you don't have glass in your windows, it really can't stay too warm in there. So, I imagine that a lot of people are cold a lot. Plus, it's super dry up here in the mountains. The kids love how soft my skin is because their's is often rough and cracked from the dry and cold. It's even worse up in the villages because it's higher up (colder) and there tends to be a lot less money (clothes and insulation). Here's a picture of one of my favorite faces- Yeni Yulissa (not 100% on that spelling, but it's pronounced like Jenny Julissa). You can see that her sweet little cheeks are red and dry. Luckily, she's still real cute.
Pinwheels
This isn't really an observation, it's just a thing. But anyway, yesterday was Friday Fun Day, so the younger kids made pinwheels! It was the best. They are all so cute and have such great ideas for their art. So, they decorated the two sides of a square of paper, made the little cuts necessary, folded the corners and glued them down, then we stuck a tack through the paper and through a pencil eraser (ingenious, GeGe!). The kids were pretty amused, and the final project was great! Here're the third and fourth graders!
And, Just for Fun!
Here're my boys Lukas and Isaac playing with a slinky. Who knew that that was how you were supposed to use it!
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