Laundry and Cancion Criolla

I wanted to take a moment to to talk about washing clothes in Peru...because it has been a humbling experience and I have never realized how much work "laundry day" could possibly be (even when I lived in San Francisco and had to haul my laundry down the street to the local laundromat). Here in Peru I have to wash all my clothes by hand. Now, this seems like a simple enough task, but when it comes down to washing your jeans and sweatshirts in a basin with a bar of soap...a few hours later you feel like you don't want to do that again anytime soon ;)

One weekend a few of us volunteered to help a community near our training center in Chalcacyo work on their new slow sand filter, we helped move dirt and rocks by hand to build a small retaining wall around the lower portion of the metal protection fence. When we arrived at 7am, everyone in the community was still sleeping and they had me announce over the town loudspeaker that everyone needed to wake up because the gringos had shown up to help!

Helping move sand/dirt for the retaining wall

Whole group working on the slow sand filter

Behind our neighborhood in "3 de Octubre" there is a large mountain of rock that we were told you are able to climb. So one Saturday morning we woke at 5am to go climb the mountain - it was an interesting trek up boulders and rocks, and it was a great view from the top!

View from the top of the mountain

Traversing the top of the mountain

Taylor and I at the site of "7 hills" (you can see 7 ridges in the mtn.)

My neighborhood "3 de Octubre" from the top of the mountain

For October 31, here in Peru they celebrate "Cancion Criolla", a day full of sining, dancing, and celebrating indigenous culture here in Peru! We spent the day serenading each other in groups at the training center.