Day 16: Sep 22

Santiago De Okola Day 2

I woke up feeling WAY better! My energy was still low but my stomach was feeling way better. I ate some bread and Don Tomas, who is a cute, old Quechuan man, made me this weird native drink that he believed would cure my stomach problems. He mixed some natural herbs to make this foggy looking tea. I had a big gulp but with a bad stomach it didn’t taste so good…Crister helped me finish the rest thank god. After breakfast we had a community tour. The tour was very pretty. The town is full of gardens, fields, and the lake brings everything to life. Locals talked to us about crops and other town myths. We went to the beach and our guide told us a myth about a pass between two rocks. She said that the locals believe if you go through it alone then you will see a ghost on the other side and have bad luck but if you go in a group then you might see a good ghost who will reveal your true love. After we learned about the school, cemetery, and medical clinic. During the whole tour I felt soo tired. I constantly had to sit in between stations. Luckily, lunch was next. I was nervous to eat but Don Tomas brought out a soup that resembled Mirani’s chicken noodle soup. I was SOO excited! It was exactly what I felt like. It hit the spot and I felt even better. I took a catnap under the sun before our afternoon activities.
The group split up for afternoon activities. I was in-group 1 and we first learned about medicinal plants. Our guide, Walter, brought us around the community and showed us different plants and explained their medicinal use. After the groups switched and we my group learned how about textiles. We watched a 70-year-old woman work on a quilt she was working on. We took turns learning how to weave. It was harder than it looked but it was really fun! The elderly woman said it would take 6 days to finish, which seemed incredible! She also said that she takes her animals up the mountain and back every day! Imagine a 70-year-old woman herding animals up a big mountain every single day. I couldn’t believe it. The work ethic is so different. All her kids, like many others, are in La Paz.
On the way back from the activities Maro and I took a picture of a woman sitting in the field but she made us pay her. I payed her 2 Bs but it was totally worth it. After we played volleyball and soccer at the school. We all taught Walter, our 15-year-old tour guide, some English. It was really funny watching him try to learn it. He used a lot of hand gestures when trying to pronunciation words. At dinner we taught him “Hey baby, I love you.” It was sooo funny. I had more yummy soup for dinner that made my stomach even better. The group stargazed a little after dinner but it was really cold out. Bed.