Conozco sus ojos (I know your eyes)

Hello all,
Sorry for the delay in blog entries. The internet connection at the volunteer house has been kind of fickle. Besides, who has time to write when you´re internationally recognized figures like ourselves? Let me explain... Beau and I took a trip to Lake Titicaca (cue grade-school giggling) and popped over to Copacabana (cue music), Bolivia as well. While trying to cross the border into Bolivia, Beau and I realized that we did not have the bottom section of the form we filled out when we entered Peru. This is something important to have when you´re getting ready to leave the country. We were therefore told we would need to pay a fine to enter Bolivia. As we got to the front of the line, the man with the stamp says to Beau in Spanish ¨I know your eyes¨. Beau of course had visions of a man on the wanted posters who happened to bear a resemblance to Joey McEntyre, much as he does. (For those who don´t know, this is a member of New Kids of the Block who Beau frequently gets mistaken for). Anyway, it turns out that the immigration official recognized Beau from the clinic in Arequipa and knows the doctor who he has been working with. Mind you Arequipa is 8 hours away from this border town and the clinic we work in is pretty remote. The official proceded to clear the room of people and tell the other official that we didn´t need to pay. The Jedi mind trick worked beautifully and we were off the hook. Needless to say, we are quite aware of where our forms are now. Luck like that only comes along once in a while.
The rest of our weekend travels went very smoothly. We took a day trip out on the lake to visit the floating islands. These are islands that are make entirely of dried reeds that are floating on the lake. People live here and make various goods to sell to tourists. The islands hold up for about 17 years before the people need to build a new island to relocate to. It was quite a site to see. We also visited another, land-based island, called Tequille. It was beautiful! We felt like we were in the Mediterrean with crystal clear skies, terraced hill sides, and winding roads with no cars. We had a great lunch of the local king fish (pejjerey) and headed back to Puno, the port town in Peru. Here´s a little piece of trivia for you: ¨Titi¨actually means pumain Quechua, because the shape of the lake looks like a puma chasing a conejo (rabbit). ¨Caca¨means grey, because during the rainy season, it becomes overcast and the water takes on a greyish hue. That night we met up with some friends from Beau´s residency, Pete and Dawn. We partook of some Peruvian fare, including a cocktail with ice, which can prove to be a little dicey. Dawn, I hope you´re feeling OK today.
The next day we headed to Bolivia. Copacabana is a colorful, active town with lots of shops and restaurants near the water. We took a hike at sunset up the hill overlooking the city. At nearly 12,000 feet at the top, the air was thin, but the views amazing. This hill is a place of pilgrimage for many of the local people. It is where they come to pray for various things they need or want in life. Along with the altars are countless stands selling what looks to be junk, to be honest. They sell plastic cars, monopoly money, dolls, play houses, you name it. However, each of these things represents the thing that the person hopes to receive from their prayers. The sunset we were gifted with that evening made me feel connected to a little piece of those prayers. We splurged a little that night and stayed in a nicer hotel that looked over the water. When I say we splurged, I mean that we paid $17 dollars a night. In addition, we had a great dinner that inlcuded two entrees, a bottle of wine, and dessert for $20. Bolivia is definitely the place to come if you want inexpensive travels in South America. Of course with the cheap prices, comes an economy that survives on tourism. The difference between those who have and those who have not was painfully clear here. Juxtaposed with the amazing views and travel experiences, was a sense of a community that has created something that they hope we as foreigners want to see. The children especially have learned to spot the type of passport you have and say something clever in your language in the hopes that you will buy something from them. I think the people here get very little sleep as well. Early in the morning to late at night, they are out selling their goods. It has been interesting for us to go from being a part of a community in Arequipa where we know people personally, to being strictly a tourist who is seen for what we can spend versus what we can give.
This week is looking to be a busy one for us in the clinic. Beau and I both have classes scheduled with the community. I am going to try to visit the hospital with one of the girls I have been working with to observe the process that kids need to go through to get orthotics here. I would like to set up a fund strictly for the therapy needs of the children in Alto Cayma. This would incluce purchase of orthotics, walkers, hand splints, etc. However, I feel like I don´t fully understand the processes or the local resources that are available yet to make this sort of a fund successful. I´ll keep you all posted. Hope everyone is well! Thank you all for your blog responses. We love hearing from you! Here are some answers to questions we have gotten from previous entries. The condors are really big! They can have up to a 10 foot wing span. The color difference on the tops of their wings signifies if they are male or female, although I can´t remember which is which now. Also, we had headlamps with us to hike out of the canyon. However, we would stop for breaks and could turn the lamps off and see pretty well by the moon and stars. ¡Vimos muchas estrellas!

Se amamos,
Deedra and Beau