Andahuaylas

My journal:

´Ah, so my bad Spanish language skills have finally caught up to me. I just spent 10 hours on a bus to Andahuaylas thinking I´d be able to catch the Cuzco bus just 3 hours after my arrival, but, though I arrived here on time at 5AM I don´t get to leave again until 7pm tonight. It wouldn´t be so bad if I weren´t so exhausted, not having slept much on the bus.

...

´I realized on my way here there, if I´m to be perfectly honest with myself, I´m kind of afraid of the small villages here. I did no research prior to coming here, so I had no idea how big it was, and as we were passing through a tiny little village at approximately the time we were supposed to end the journey, I got really nervous. It was because of the thought of my inferior language skills, in a town I was totally unfamiliar with, in the dark.

´It´s natural I´m sure, this apprehension, but I must get used to it. I know the people here are poor, but I couldn´t believe some of the huts and shacks we passed that people call home. On this journey I looked out of my window and was alternatingly (is that a word?) awed by the subliminal beauty of the landscape and afraid of the poverty I saw.

´As always, the people I really interact with are warm and open, but I feel more like an outsider here than anywhere I´ve been thus far. I´m the only white girl around and I get more stares than smiles.

´I approached two boys playing a game of checkers on one of those outdoor chess boards and asked if I could take a photo of them. The one on the left just stared sort of menacingly and didn´t reply, and when I pulled my camera out, again asking ´¿Si o no?´, he put his hood on and turned his back to me.

´On the other hand, I came across a lovely woman who asked where I was from and suggested I take a taxi and see the ´laguna´ nearby.´

After I wrote all that I wandered around some more and ended up playing with these two 7yr old girls for a while. They were really sweet and wanted to show me the playground (and holy what a playground!! I have to post pics cuz it´s mucho mucho dangerous and crazy that it´s even there). They were unclean and unkempt so I tried to minimize physical contact with them, but I didn´t want to seem like a snob gringo and they were fun to be with for an hour. I need to shower though, and wash my clothing.

Well, I´ve got 7 more hours to kill before my bus. What adventure will take place next??!