![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/lake-titicaca-2.jpg\" "\\"lake")
<\/a>Two weeks in Puno, Peru and it seems like we live here. \u00a0We are camped at a very nice grifo station on the south end of town (Salsado) on the shore of Lake Titicaca, which is actually \u00a0marshy and not the kind of shore you can stroll along. \u00a0There are sheep at the grifo station and we are tucked into a back corner, safe and secure. \u00a0A family lives here and they have been, as everyone we have met so far, most kind and helpful. \u00a0They have a daughter who is learning English and she works at a hotel here in Puno. \u00a0She helped us get much needed laundry done and arranged a tour for us of \u00a0Uros, the Floating Islands.<\/p>\n
Laundry cost almost $100 USD. \u00a0We had a lot of laundry but still that seemed like a lot. Laundry here is dropped off dirty and they charge by the kilo and return it pressed and folded. \u00a0We were having some trouble washing laundry well by hand. \u00a0I never learned really how to wash laundry well by hand, not whole loads of laundry. \u00a0A quick google search and some chatting with people who always wash laundry by hand and Team DeCorso has hand washing laundry down! \u00a0Here is how we do it:<\/p>\n
Water and detergent\u00a0dissolved\u00a0 in a 5 gallon bucket. \u00a0Add clothes (not too many). \u00a0Let them soak for 30 minutes. \u00a0We bought a new \u00a0toilet plunger and use it to agitate the laundry for 15 minutes. \u00a0Then we remove the laundry and let it drain for 15 minutes. \u00a0Next we use three buckets of rinse water and some plunger action to rinse and hang it out to dry.<\/p>\n
We have had several exciting things happen since we have been in Puno:<\/p>\n
- \n
- School stuff<\/li>\n
- Cell phone stuff<\/li>\n
- Hospital stuff<\/li>\n
- Roof rack creation<\/li>\n
- Hats!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
School Stuff: \u00a0<\/strong>We were getting worried about the accuracy of our shipping quote back to the states. \u00a0The time seemed to fluctuate between five days and 21 days and 4 kids need to be back in Alaska for standardized testing. \u00a0If the shipping is 21 days and there was a storm or a political problem, we might not make it back in time. \u00a0If it was the original 5 days, all would be fine. \u00a0We decided to unenroll 4 kids from school. \u00a0What this did was open up a world of possibilities and some flexibility in getting back. \u00a0We are now free to ship out of a better location a week later if we so desire. \u00a0We have not made any changes at this time and are still planning on shipping out of Lima. \u00a0But we COULD change our minds now and that adds some excitement!<\/p>\n
Cell Phone Stuff: \u00a0<\/strong>We bought a smartphone in Fairbanks and had it shipped here (THANK YOU MARY!!) and, even though that took less than 2 days, the phone is still in customs hold. \u00a0And we are in Puno for at least another few days. \u00a0The customs process makes no sense; it costs no fees and everyone is earnest and sincere – and it still makes no sense. \u00a0Our used cell phone is being held in Lima until we fill out a form (which the Ministry did for us), mail it to Lima (which the Ministry did for us and paid for express mail for us while walking us 7 blocks to the mailing place), Lima generates a letter and sends it to us and we send it back to DHL in Lima. \u00a0On Monday, we are going to try to have the letter sent directly to DHL. \u00a0Probably won’t work. \u00a0No one seems to know why we need to do this. \u00a0Once the letter gets to DHL in Lima, they will ship the phone and we will leave Puno.<\/p>\n
Hospital Stuff: \u00a0<\/strong>Max got bit by a dog. \u00a0A stray dog was sleeping under the van and Max opened the door and the dog bit him on the leg, a bloody bite that took out chunks of skin. \u00a0The bite was not very bad, it looked like it might have taken a few stitches maybe but there was the possibility of rabies. \u00a0 Mark & Ryan took him to the hospital (imagine flies and a lot of people) and returned with a Puno Official who came to find the dog to see if it had a rabies shot – which was practically impossible. \u00a0There are stray dogs everywhere here. \u00a0Many live at the trash piles and they are not nice like Ecuadorean dogs; they are snarly and mean and everyone is afraid of them. \u00a0Ryan and I feed the nicer \u00a0stray dogs because sometimes we just feel so bad for them. \u00a0It seemed like Max was heading back to the Hospital for a full compliment of rabies\u00a0vaccinations. \u00a0He didn’t know what that meant and he was in his usually good spirits telling me that he wouldn’t mind a shot, making me nearly cry. \u00a0 But! (and this is a miracle) the dog had a rabies tag! \u00a0Everyone was shocked and surprised, no one expected the dog to have a rabies shot! \u00a0Max got a\u00a0prescription for antibiotics and his leg healed up well. Total cost for dog bite: \u00a0$8 USD.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Max-dog-bite-225x300.jpg\" "\\"Max")
<\/a>Max’s dog bite. The photo does not really show how much it hurt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n A Custom Roof Rack<\/strong> has been a dream of Mark’s. \u00a0And now we actually need one. \u00a0We need to carry 25 gallons of deisel as we travel the southwest circuit of Bolivia and then we need one to put things on the roof when we head back because we have decided that we are selling the camper in South America. \u00a0So for a few days, the van has to hold everything. \u00a0Peru is a great place to get this done as there are guys with welding stuff and recycled stuff and metal and such everywhere.<\/p>\n
Hats:\u00a0<\/strong>the hat project has become the #1 activity in Puno. \u00a0Ryan has a list of requests and items and we venture out every day to buy some hats. \u00a0It is more challenging than you might think as some of the people most desperate for money have kind of bad hats. \u00a0We buy some bad hats but mostly we buy great hats for about $4 usd each. \u00a0I know Ryan has a lengthy blog post he is writing about this but I wanted to give a short update. \u00a0Ryan has been kind of busy this week as the colleges he has applied to all come out with their official scholarship offers and he has had a lot of forms and such to fill out. \u00a0The hat project is going very well.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/hat1-225x300.jpg\" "\\"hat1\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/hat-300x225.jpg\" "\\"hat\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nStuck in Puno<\/strong><\/p>\n
Frommer’s says Puno is not worth spending an entire day in. \u00a0Frommer’s also says that Puno is “bleak, unimpressive and often brutally cold and not one of Peru’s most\u00a0interesting\u00a0or attractive cities” and “a mostly unlovely city”. \u00a0Team DeCorso however, LOVES Puno. \u00a0Brutally cold? Are you kidding? \u00a0We have to wear a fleece jacket at night. \u00a0Bleak? \u00a0Puno is full of activity, every single night and lovely parks, playgrounds, music, parades, singing, dancing and wood-fired pizza all on the shore of Lake Titicaca. \u00a0We could not have picked a better place to be stuck waiting for the phone. \u00a0The cost of living is quite cheap here, allowing us to live like the fabled 1%. \u00a0A large wood-fired pizza in candlelit restaurant is $8 USD. \u00a0On Saturdays, the market is the biggest we have encountered in South America. \u00a0Frommer’s says the market is “seedy”, “unattractive” and “a realistic look at the underbelly of the Peruvian economy”. \u00a0WTF Frommer’s? \u00a0 We have found the market to be amazing. \u00a0Everything is for sale here from dishware to tradtional Cholita dresses, llama fetuses, witchcraft, perfume, knock off North Face jackets, yarn, fabric, used Happy meal toys… \u00a0We spent two wonderful Saturdays dodging the many marching bands (why so many marching bands we cannot know) and meandering the market. \u00a0For 1 sole (forty cents in the USA) I can buy a ring, a small skein of yarn, a jar of buttons, a saltena (deep fried bread stuffed with potatoes, olives, egg and chicken), 10 pairs of shoe laces, two hair scrunchies, a tin cup, a small bag of good luck potion, a 3D\u00a0religious\u00a0poster, a salsa CD with 168 songs on it or five spoons. \u00a0I am often shocked at the low prices and cannot bargain down at all. \u00a0I bought Sylvia a waldorf style knitted doll made from alpaca and stuffed with wool from the Women’s Cooperative and it was $2.80 USD.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/puno2-300x225.jpg\" "\\"puno2\\"")
<\/a>Passing traditional dancers on the way to the market. Another great thing about Puno is that this is all genuine celebrating, not tourist oriented (as most tourists have Frommers or Lonely Planet and do not stop here).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n People here are so much more efficient than we are used to. \u00a0We always pride ourselves on recycling and reusing items but it does not hold a candle to Peru. \u00a0So many things I would have (and have) thrown away are rebuilt, reused, fixed and sold. \u00a0Many things I think of as disposable are not that way here. \u00a0Ryan has a pair of LLBean hiking boots we bought him last summer. \u00a0He is hard on shoes and they have fallen apart. \u00a0A hole, a rip, a torn off lace holder, no tread. \u00a0He took them to the mercado and for 7 soles ($4.80), they sewed the holes, replaced the tread, fixed the lace holder and put new insteps into each shoe. \u00a0They are better than new.<\/p>\n
About half of the people here wear traditional dress and that traditional dress is really amazing because it is complicated and heavy. \u00a0Women here traditionally wear layers (and layers and layers and layers). \u00a0Several skirts under a felt skirt, several shirts under a blouse, all topped with a fabulous apron smock, then shawls and blankets, socks, stockings and leg warmers, wrist warmers, fingerless gloves and mittens, knit hats under tiny bowler hats, scarves and heavy hair jewelry – beads and pompoms woven into braids. \u00a0Often carrying a similarly dressed small child wrapped in a blanket like a sling. \u00a0Makes me nearly pass out just watching as even standing up at 12,080 feet can make you dizzy – I cannot imagine wearing so many heavy things and then carting a baby and potatoes around! \u00a0The market has shops that sell each specific layer. \u00a0I loved the apron smock thing. \u00a0I bought one for myself, one for Sylvia and one for Shana.<\/p>\n
We spent a day on Uros, the Floating Islands where we ate grass (the banana of the Uros), bought a little reed boat for Sylvia’s dolls, and had an enjoyable sunny day on Lake Titicaca. \u00a0The islands are 2m thick. \u00a0They harvest 1m chunks of reed roots now in the rainy season to form the floating base and then cover them with 1m of reeds. \u00a0The islands are spongy to walk on. \u00a0They have a school, a Seventh Day Adventist Church,\u00a0several\u00a0restaurants and homes, although made of reeds, have solar panels and internet.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/uros-best-300x225.jpg\" "\\"uros")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/uros4-300x225.jpg\" "\\"uros4\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/uros5-300x225.jpg\" "\\"uros5\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/uros-3-300x225.jpg\" "\\"uros")
<\/a>Uros<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Most of the time, we wander around town. \u00a0We have made friends (the owners of the vegan restaurant, the\u00a0Uruguayan man who works at the coffee shop, the woman at the IPeru office who has been helping us with the phone…). \u00a0We eat out more here, food is almost as cheap to eat out as it is to cook. \u00a0We had Chifa (Peruvian Chinese, very common) which is rice stir-fried with cut up hot dogs three ways: 1. \u00a0with french fries 2. with pasta 3. with pasta and french fries (the Triple). \u00a0One of our favorite places is the Salchipaparia (salchipapas are french fries with cut up hot dogs) where you can get a plate or a cone of salchipapas. \u00a0For some reason in Peru, they filet the hotdogs to look like squids. \u00a0It’s kind of unappealing. \u00a0More or less, the food here is starchy and bland. \u00a0Rice, pasta, and french fries are the basis of all meals. \u00a0Meat, except chicken, is unknown – llama, alpaca, cuy, pork, beef?<\/p>\n
We play a game here called the Peruvian Lucky Food game – who gets the hair? \u00a0We sometimes have multiple winners at any meal out. \u00a0We have never once had food in Peru where no one got a hair, except at the excellent vegan restaurant.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/vegetarian-restaurant-300x225.jpg\" "\\"vegetarian")
<\/a>Vegan Restaurant in Puno<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/vegan-sign-300x225.jpg\" "\\"vegan")
<\/a>We each got everything on the menu, a plate lunch, for $2.80 usd each. And it was fabulous!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Otherwise it has been very relaxing and fun. \u00a0We found clay for sale here and Sylvia has been playing with clay for the last two weeks. \u00a0It doesn’t harden (its\u00a0paraffin\u00a0based) but it does eventually turn all one color – grey. \u00a0The kids\u00a0rediscovered Boggle and we have been playing every day. \u00a0They keep on their music lessons so there is always music being played, the piano keyboard but also the mandolin, pan flute,\u00a0ocarina, bag pipe chanter,\u00a0\u00a0charango, charang\u00f3n, ronroco, hualaycho, zampo\u00f1a, quena, bombo, huancara, reco reco, chiapya box, pinquillo, tarka, toyos, pututu and Andean saxophone – another reason why we need the roof rack.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two weeks in Puno, Peru and it seems like we live here. \u00a0We are camped at a very nice grifo station on the south end of town (Salsado) on the shore of Lake Titicaca, which is actually \u00a0marshy and not the kind of shore you can stroll along. \u00a0There are sheep at the grifo station… Continue reading On the Shore of Lake Titicaca<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[260,259,256],"class_list":["post-1743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-peru","tag-cholita","tag-peru-lake-titicaca","tag-puno","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1743"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1782,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1743\/revisions\/1782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebluevan.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}