My blog has moved home!
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Hugs,
Elise
Monday, January 29, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
Cusco – New ideas and jungle reflections
Our first stint in the jungle is over, a few days ago we made the 21-hour busjourney from the wet lowlands of the Amazon jungle into the traditional heart of Peru, the high and dry Cusco. Maku, our 4-month old (cat), during this journey taught me what it must be like to travel with a small child, he slept in or crept around our laps virtually the whole trip, so we couldn´t just fall asleep without thinking. Luckily we drugged him with valium so he did more sleeping than meowing and attempting to escape!
Apart from the obvious climate change, what also hits you in the face is the change of culture between Cusco and Puerto. Puerto Maldonado is a town that has only really grown over the last 25 years, and its inhabitants are from all over Peru, some from Japan, along with handfuls of natives of the area, which means it has no real feel of history or definite culture. Everyone here seems to be escaping where they´re from; people from other parts of Peru forget their customs, and (formerly) indigenous cultures just want to have their Nike´s and internet along with the rest, but Puerto doesn´t offer a good alternative of culture for anyone to escape to.
Cusco however, as soon as we got into the mountains, you not only see the indigenous culture in the features, dress and customs of the locals, but you can feel it in the air. This area is really special, not only since its ancient traditions are unchanged in many communities outside the city, but the modern cuscueñians are also one of the friendliest and most welcoming I´ve come across in Peru so far.
Plans roughly are to stay here for a week or so doing more advertising for Helard´s dads apartments (the famous www.cuscoproperties.com , please have a look if I haven´t spammed you with it yet) and then going to Arequipa to do Christmas with his parents.
5 months in the jungle – what did we get from it?
Most importantly, a lot more respect for mother nature, and not just because of our first encounter with Mrs Ayahuasca, but simply walking in the jungle seeing the unending array of plants and animals she harnesses, and learning about the medicinal uses of so many different plants. This also brings home how important the Amazon is if humanity wants the flora, fauna and ourselves to stay on for a bit longer on this earth, and how it´s looking less and less likely. Funnily enough this doesn´t motivate me to set up (another) save the rainforest NGO, as it probably would have done before in my charity days, it just makes me want to enjoy nature as it lasts and just ensure personally I pollute as little as possible. The multinational monsters are too strong, and the amounts of people too little to be able to get anywhere at the moment, but in a few years´ time, out of pure necessity, this will change, so I might stick a finger out then. Also, from another point of view, Peru is fed up with the thousands of foreign dubious NGO´s marching through Peru, leaving a trail of inappropriate and unresearched projects, and more and more obvious signs that a lot of the money they raise abroad goes into the western employees´pockets, living the good life back at home, or right here in the sunshine.
So apart from more lovin´ and respec´ for da Pachamama, I loved teaching English at an alternative primary-secondary school, Potsiwa, my first try at teaching, which has always been something I thought I would enjoy doing. And enjoy it I did, since their approach is a lot more child-centred and matches my ideas about teaching.
A nice extra is their affiliation with a capoeira group over the border in Brazil, Cordao de Ouro, where we made friends with the mestre, Xandao and some of his students, and got some good classes in.
Our first stint in the jungle is over, a few days ago we made the 21-hour busjourney from the wet lowlands of the Amazon jungle into the traditional heart of Peru, the high and dry Cusco. Maku, our 4-month old (cat), during this journey taught me what it must be like to travel with a small child, he slept in or crept around our laps virtually the whole trip, so we couldn´t just fall asleep without thinking. Luckily we drugged him with valium so he did more sleeping than meowing and attempting to escape!
Apart from the obvious climate change, what also hits you in the face is the change of culture between Cusco and Puerto. Puerto Maldonado is a town that has only really grown over the last 25 years, and its inhabitants are from all over Peru, some from Japan, along with handfuls of natives of the area, which means it has no real feel of history or definite culture. Everyone here seems to be escaping where they´re from; people from other parts of Peru forget their customs, and (formerly) indigenous cultures just want to have their Nike´s and internet along with the rest, but Puerto doesn´t offer a good alternative of culture for anyone to escape to.
Cusco however, as soon as we got into the mountains, you not only see the indigenous culture in the features, dress and customs of the locals, but you can feel it in the air. This area is really special, not only since its ancient traditions are unchanged in many communities outside the city, but the modern cuscueñians are also one of the friendliest and most welcoming I´ve come across in Peru so far.
Plans roughly are to stay here for a week or so doing more advertising for Helard´s dads apartments (the famous www.cuscoproperties.com , please have a look if I haven´t spammed you with it yet) and then going to Arequipa to do Christmas with his parents.
5 months in the jungle – what did we get from it?
Most importantly, a lot more respect for mother nature, and not just because of our first encounter with Mrs Ayahuasca, but simply walking in the jungle seeing the unending array of plants and animals she harnesses, and learning about the medicinal uses of so many different plants. This also brings home how important the Amazon is if humanity wants the flora, fauna and ourselves to stay on for a bit longer on this earth, and how it´s looking less and less likely. Funnily enough this doesn´t motivate me to set up (another) save the rainforest NGO, as it probably would have done before in my charity days, it just makes me want to enjoy nature as it lasts and just ensure personally I pollute as little as possible. The multinational monsters are too strong, and the amounts of people too little to be able to get anywhere at the moment, but in a few years´ time, out of pure necessity, this will change, so I might stick a finger out then. Also, from another point of view, Peru is fed up with the thousands of foreign dubious NGO´s marching through Peru, leaving a trail of inappropriate and unresearched projects, and more and more obvious signs that a lot of the money they raise abroad goes into the western employees´pockets, living the good life back at home, or right here in the sunshine.
So apart from more lovin´ and respec´ for da Pachamama, I loved teaching English at an alternative primary-secondary school, Potsiwa, my first try at teaching, which has always been something I thought I would enjoy doing. And enjoy it I did, since their approach is a lot more child-centred and matches my ideas about teaching.
A nice extra is their affiliation with a capoeira group over the border in Brazil, Cordao de Ouro, where we made friends with the mestre, Xandao and some of his students, and got some good classes in.
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