Bailamosing

A word coined by a fellow Gringo who was visiting a friend here in Cuzco...though quite funny how the term came about
(a tipsy Gringo wanting to bailamos with everyone) it struck me that Christina and I are bailamosing just about everyday. Each day presents a different ''dance'' of Peruvian culture to learn and understand.

Racism is something that Christina and I have witnessed, but, for the exception of limited reverse racism (as some call it) in the States, we have never really been the target of it. It never occurred to me until a combi ride, that we could be targets of racism. Being 2 of 4 Gringos in our neighborhood, we stick out quite a bit. When I first went to meet my Spanish tutor, I was a little nervous as to how she would know that I was her student, until I realized, I would be the only Gringa surrounded by locals. She had no problem figuring out that I was her student.

The combi ride was interesting. Christina was sitting because of a sprained foot while I was standing. Behind me was a small boy with his sister and mother. I wasn't paying attention to what the boy was saying, but Christina overheard the little boy talk to his mother about the whiteys. He laughed quite a bit about us whiteys, but his mother and sister didn't do a thing to correct him. Instead, they just laughed along with him.

The orphanage is a different experience everyday. Some days there is a little bit of play time outside and then a movie or cartoons inside. Some kids have homework and some do not. Public schools are on strike, which seems to be more common than we'd find in the States, so for the majority of the boys there is no school and probably won't be in school for the rest of the time we are here.
Those in private schools still have classes but there are very few of them. Children are taught in various ways and most are foreign to concepts in the States. Some days, we play outside all day long- well for the 3.5 hours a day we have with them. Some days, like yesterday, we brought a coloring book for them to share and some crayons, which worked well for the first hour and a half. After that, fights broke out, kids yelled louder and louder to get attention (which it seems to be common outside of the orphanage too), others fell asleep among the chaos. The difference in our days at the orphanage, only speaks loudly to the discrepancies in a governmental institution.

Christina and I have found it a different experience to have a wash room but one for washing clothes by hand. The angst is quickly stripped away by the single image of women washing their clothes in a river littered with trash to the point that you can barely see any of the embankment. A river so unsanitary, that the smell wafting up to the bridges creates a sense of being down in a sewer. The severity of the situation is striking and the image is emblazoned in my head and on my heart.

While these three examples are quite depressing, there have definitely been light moments for us which bear the same situation in learning about where we are.
For instance, what happens when the keys don't work to the door and everyone is asleep? Well, there are two options: 1) Find an open window and climb through to open the door from the inside for the second person. When the door won't open from the inside either, of course, just make the second person, with a bummed ankle climb through as well. 2) If there is no open window like the previous night, kick the door a little bit to try and get it to open and then have someone wake up to let you in. Luckily, for Christina and me, we had a chance to experience both these situations. Even though we've explained that both our keys don't work, one of them looks like it turns so it must be alright. The problem for us is not getting the key to turn, but getting the door to pop open.

Forget getting the door to open, what would happen if you finally get into the house after climbing in the window or slightly kicking the door and make it to the bathroom before there is an accident, only to find that there is no water? No water means no flushing toilets. Like any sensible person, or two Gringas like us, you'd try to get up early enough, before anyone else, to flush the toilet when the water has come back on.
Although, it's not gravely inconvenient at night because you can sleep through it, the interesting moments are when the water goes off in the middle of the day. It does make lunch an interesting yet funny adventure, to say the least.

While these are only examples of daily life, they do represent the new experiences we encounter on a daily basis. Taxi and combi rides can be different. Some stores are open during some times and others are not (although we have a good handle on when siesta is). Something we see as simple as having water changes daily. Even the weather that we thought would be the same is changing so now we have no idea what to expect. The only expectation to have here is to not have any expectations. With that in mind, I'm excited to see what other bailamosing I'll be doing.