A new lens... Peru and Bolivia

As I sit down to write this I can't identify the hypothetical taste in my mouth after my most recent time in Peru and Bolivia.

I think back to my first trip to South America and the looks in people's eyes and what I identified that as. Those same faces and looks, or similar in structure and background, I saw on this trip now have a whole new meaning for me. More understanding as a world traveler also comes with getting down with the nitty gritty of the culture for better or worse as it may be...

I think it goes to say with every job or experience the more time you spend getting to know a place the clearer all sides of that place become. As I headed back to the Sacred Valley I wasn't sure what to expect on that front. My departure from Peru in August was with extreme pace due to my need to revitalize myself after a very challenging professional experience. Coming back "home" was great, romantic almost. Being greeted by community contacts with huge hugs and the typical kiss on the check, walking in the market and having the women I got my delicious tasty juice and chicha from recognize my arrival (and the fact that I had left), and honks of moto taxis saying my name. I had to crawl the town to get everything set for our short program and in that time Urubamaba wooed me once again. Yet, slowly things came out of the Peruvian culture that made my experience bittersweet. I adore the Valley and the people that live in it, but the corruption or the culture started showing itself more and more. Urubamba is Cuzco's neighbor, and it seems because of that there is a degree of dishonesty imbedded in the culture. You can't tell me it will take 2 hours to get somewhere that really takes 40 minutes because you think you can scam me out of money. Sorry Peru, but I get you, I know you. You can't trick me that way. Now this is a horrible generalization on my part, but This Is Perú: the answer to any question is always yes, no matter the question and how far that may lead me off my goal, any foreigner is chance to earn an extra sol, and pulling of a lie or two is a sign of success- no shame involved. That really got under my skin this time around. The critical eye often sees too much, or at least I was feeling that weight this time around.

Despite such epiphanies, I had an overall wonderful time. This program in Peru was exactly what the doctor ordered. The group of kids and leaders that came to spend the week with is were inspirational and I learned a lot from them. I even so rudely blurted out "You can actually teach me something!" when I realized out different our focuses were and the knowledge they contained. It was absolutely perfect. I still wear the "friendship bracelets" their leaders got one knee and gifted to my co-leader and me. As an experienced solo traveler it is easy to overlook how much the people you meet and work with shape the experience. These coworkers and leaders: Edu, Ayala, Arielle, and Marcello, out-shown my otherwise critical realizations to keep that spunk and smile in my daily happenings. I have to give credit to the kids that came along too, they are why we do what we do even if they don't tell us about their pending athsma.

As we all know at this point. The trip wasn't just work. After sticking around Urubamba a few days to wrap up the program, scout a future project, and celebrate Carnaval by dancing around a decorated tree with an ax to chop it down and determine the hosts of the next years party; I decided to get more out of my 10 year Boliva visa I paid for in August. 

Here is where more of my perspective started to shift.
Those of you who have been reading my random writings into my transition to adulthood probably know I have a list... for lack of a better title a bucket list. It is more or less how I figure out what I want to do or where I want to go. The first thing on my list was Machu Picchu (first bagged in 2012) and from then on out just navigating myself around the world to do things I would put on the list. Examples: Machu Picchu (duh), meeting the borrowers in Honduras, walking on part of the AT, working with Elephants, surfing, scuba diving, visiting Lake Titicaca, touring the salt flats of Bolivia....
The last two on that list are things that I have done twice now, and I have come to realize that the world isn't full of check boxes for me (you probably all knew that without me verbalizing it). It is full of perspective.

So I took off for the boarder to see Lake Titicaca from the Bolivian side. The first time I had been there was on a tour out of the school I got my certification to teach English with in my first trip to Peru. I didn't have my critical lenses on then and I only remember beauty of it. This time around the Bolivian side blew away my idea of the beauty of a lake. I started on the South side of the Isla del Sol for a few nights or rest and relaxation. While there I was impressed by the lightning, thunder and heavy rain storms that the night brought in. I was also giddy about the snow capped glaciers that tempted me in the  distance,as well as the vibrant green textured mountains of the island itself. If I wouldn't have gone to visit the lake for a second and totally different experience I would have really missed out. From there I strapped on my backpack and hiked to the other side of the island in order to catch a boat back to the mainland for a day to get a real taste of La Paz, or a second taste of their strangely delicious fried dishes.

I left La Paz content and ready for a second dose of the Salt Flats. When I went there in August I was impressed by the sheer size of the flats and it's crystal beauty. This time around I realized how different it wad due to be with all the rain and I quickly accepted my fate of yet another visit. This was probably the smartest move of my trip and I am still dazed with how beautiful the salar was. Upon arriving I was bouncing in my seat because it was so DIFFERENT it was so PRETTY! We did all the stops that we did my first time around, but instead of moving on to the next day of the tour across the salar we just sat. We sat and took amazing pictures, jumped in the salt so much that my jeans looked acid washed, and just soaked up the beauty. It helped that the people in my tour were a riot and we laughed the day away, but it also helped that the sunset brought in a stunning sundog and some glowing colors. Saturated in salt with a camera full of photos I was content to head back to town where my friend from high school was due to be waiting for me. Twice almost didn't feel like enough times to have visited such a natural beauty, especially knowing how much the second time enriched the experience.
Something about a familiar face in such a beautiful and now semi-familiar place felt so right. Sarah was just arriving to Bolivia so I took that chance to show her my favorite hot drinks and fried foods. It was great to catch up, but I almost preferred setting her up and sending her out on the first solo part of her trip. I've learned so much about being "alone" in a foreign place that I get excited about the prospect and impact it can have on all the people I love.

As Sarah went on her way I took some time to reflect. I have come a long way. Despite the foggy visions I have of some of these places, I have gained in exchange clearer vision of myself. If you would have told me 4 years ago that I would visit Machu Picchu twice in a summer and the Bolivian salar in two totally different times of the year, along with covering a lot of other things I had dreamed about seeing or doing-I simply would have laughed. Now that this has become a reality I recommend not thinking about travel/life as a list, but more of an experience. The misty view of Machu Picchu wouldn't have been the same if I hadn't seen it again in the blazing sun on blue bird day. Uyuni wouldn't have been complete without seeing the rain reflection of the sky and clouds. Surfing just once isn't enough. The AT doesn't need to be touched it needs to be seen.. you get it. My perspective has and is changing.
With a fresh perspective I headed back to Peru to say goodbye to the Sacred Valley. I don't know when I'll be back so I took a friend I met in Ecuador on a tour of my favorite hike in the valley (ending with more salt,) and to a few of the local breweries I found this time around.  I even serendipitously crossed paths with another VISIONS employee who I had met the previous two summers at training.... it's a small world after all...Sharing my insight and glee over the beauty of the culture and valley was the opportune way to give this landscape it's full respects.