School supplies of all sorts

We've been buying school supplies for years
This is one of our primary services to several families, to help their kids do well in school.
Teachers give students their "lists," the very specific notebooks required for each subject:
Red for Math, Green for Science (correct me on this, kids!), plus the art supplies and pens and even a cushion and toothbrush, plus a few books such as the dictionary.

We met Erica, Breta, and Yaquelin with their grandmother at the big school supply fair at the stadium and found most of what they needed.

Happy to get the rest of their school supplies

The elementary school requested cushions--I guess to pad the seats! Maybe they shouldn't be sitting so much as to need cushions.

Erica is happy choosing cuadernos

We bought school supplies for 12 students in elementary and secondary school at about $30 each.

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Ivan starts college, majoring in auto/boat mechanics.
Ivan's summer jobs the last couple of summers has been driving the boats back and forth from Puno to Taquile. He saw that mechanics would always be in demand, and also that it would be advantageous to have a mechanic in the family. Three boats are owned among his uncles. So he told his parents that he wanted to continue his education. He chose a respected institution, SENATI. His coursework includes not only auto mechanics, but math, physics, chemistry, British English, communications, personal development and technical drawing, as well as a special course in cell-phone repair!. It will be a three-year program. We have committed to paying tuition of $100 per month plus an occasional extra.

Silvano brought us on an excursion to check out the facilities.

Ivan is living in the family's apartment in the Taquile Albergue is on an upper floor, with natural light through a good window, plus a solar panel and electricity. Silvano chose it long ago with his dream to someday educate his children in Puno. It's small, but adequate for a college student to be able to study. The school requires that each student has a computer, so we bought one.  

Modern day college students everywhere use computers.

On top of the world:

Standing on top of the roof of the Albergue in his new uniform.

POSTSCRIPT ON IVAN'S PROGRESS, OCTOBER, 2018:

Ivan is doing very well in his coursework and beginning to experience hands-on mechanic work as well. All year, I have been in touch with his father through the internet. Silvano stays in Puno a lot to keep an eye on the young man, but he is living up to the challenge of advance education,. He keeps up with his studies.

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Kusi starts college
Kusi graduated from high school top of her class, and showed great promise to further her education. Her dream as always been to be in a profession that would help people, nutritionist, nurse. However those professions required a 6 year commitment and probably a move to Lima. She is only 17 as she starts her education, and settled on a study of languages for the tourist guide profession. Credits will be transferable from this school when or if she is ready to go for a bigger degree.
We got her all enrolled into a three-year program right in Puno. We are greatly assisted in the financing of Kusi's education by her godfather from Gunnison, Colorado, Luke Danielson. Thanks, Lucas!

A visit to the English classroom

The family is happy to get her started.

The family's  small room in the Taquile Albergue is dark and unsatisfactory for her to live in Puno, so the family want on a search for adequate housing where either her mother, Asunta, or her grandmother, Celbia, would stay with her most of the time. She would therefore need a desk and bed and other furniture. So school supplies take on a whole new meaning:

Table, desk, chair, tea kettle and pressure cooker

Armando loads up the new mattress. Big enough to share with grandma.

At last Kusi is established in her new apartment. She looks so confident at her new desk, with her new cell phone (required by the school to receive assignments).

POSTSCRIPT ON KUSI'S PROGRESS, OCTOBER, 2018

She transferred to a different school after two months. San Luis kept imposing new fees and unreasonably expensive excursions. For example, a student training tour of the Uros Islands required payment of the same that would be charged to tourists! She transferred to a facility in Capachica where she entered a program wherein she could study on her own and then report for instruction and testing every two weeks. During that time, she worked with Eufrasia in the store on Taquile while Delfin was recovering from an illness. We are not sure of her current academic status, but this week she was carrying and studying a book to learn English. She seems to have fallen in love; her boyfriend's family has a restaurant on Taquile. She is now age 18 and a legal adult.

Vacation!

Excursion around Sicuani 

Sicuani has hot springs in one direction, the Raqchi archeological site and healing waters in the other direction. The city itself harbors few tourists. We brought three Taquile young Taquile friends with us. Juana is our goddaughter and hasn't been on an excursion since she was a child. Delfin also hadn't been on any of our excursions except many years ago to Silustani. Kusi had been to Sicuani with her family and us two years ago, but since she is starting college next month; a vacation seemed like a good start.

Juana got some free postcards at the museum.

The central plaza even has palm trees.

Sicuani has a pleasant central plaza with lots of plants

Sam and Delfin relax in front of a Palm Tree

The city has painted murals

We visited the Incan archeological site of Raqchi, a sacred place for Viracocha. 

We hired the same Local Guide, Denis, as two years ago.

Stone steps built into the wall of a terrace

We climbed to the mirador-viewpoint high above the ruins for an overview.

On part of the trail was like a bower, a tunnel of lush plant growth.

Girlfriends in the bower

It even had purple mushrooms!

The long corridor is oriented to correspond with the December (summer) Solstice:

Juana and Kusi wash at the Inca fountain for women

The Town of Raqchi is a town of potters. Denis's father is a skilled potter and was working on some commissions for various museums in Cusco. His pots are beautifully finished and all hand-built without a potter' wheel.

Church in the town central of Raqchi

The San Pedro natural cleansing waters are for drinking and diarrhea. It is rather like that medicine one takes before a colonoscopy. The Taquileños place quite a bit of credit to the healing powers of this process, so Delfin, Kusi and I decided to go for the experience. Delfin was an old pro, having come here a couple of times, but Kusi and I struggled. The grounds are quite lovely with fountains and beautiful gardens.

For the chemists, the following is the analysis of this water, of which we drank about 20 cups, until our diarrhea came out clear.

San Pedro Eye Bathing is a different set of water where one places open eyes in the water to bathe them. Sam compared it to his antihistamine eye drops. It stings quite a bit so you only leave your eyes in the water for a moment. Afterward, my eyes felt quite relaxed.

The Town of San Pedro was lovely, with this statue in the main square

Tupac Amaru Museum

Harvest and School and Life

Harvest has begun on Taquile

We approach the Autumnal Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere and crops are beginning to mature.The major crops on Taquile are Potatoes, Quinoa, Oca, and Corn. Oca is a tuber in the oxalis family with pretty yellow flowers. Quite sweet if placed in the sun for an couple of hours before cooking.

Here we see the beautiful quinoa, tall stalks. Many people are now putting plastic or scarecrows around their quinoa to save it from the birds.

In the foreground is oca in bloom with yellow flowers.

Gonzalo and Pelajia have begun harvesting their quinoa. Here it is drying in the sun just after harvest:

The potato fields are all in bloom. We have been enjoying new potatoes since Carnaval. Up to now, most have been from "volunteer" potatoes among other crops, but some further harvest is beginning. We have some problems with a "guzano," a grub sort of worm in the potatoes, so sometime I hear the joke that our harvest is in competition with the guzanos. Most have looked very healthy this year so far.

A few fields were planted very late, these potatoes may be quite small and will probably be used to make chuño, or freeze dried potatoes. Sam and I helped Celbia cultivate this small field of late planted potatoes:

School Starts

Just as autumn signals harvest, it also brings the first day of school. This is a day of pomp, with gifts of pens for the students, speeches from teachers and the mayor, and the school student body president. And, naturally, confetti.

The grade school children get gifts of pencils, balloons and lolipops.

Fun and Play
We celebrated Eufrasia's birthday with pineapple and mangos in the afternoon, and then Sam and I cooked supper. Coconut cream in Asian style vegetables with quinoa on the side instead of rice. And no, I didn't take of picture of the meal. Darn!

Of course, playing with children is the most fun. Lisbet can be quite organized with flower blossoms:

Here she poses for us before a large cantuta bush (almost a tree) in full bloom:

Community Radio
I am a volunteer for KVNF, Mountain Grown Community Radio in Paonia, Colorado, so naturally, I am interested in this little community radio station on Taquile. Besides, I had a couple of announcements to place on the radio and a visit to the station was the best way.

This DJ uses his video pad and a cell phone to play the music. The other DJ I visited runs the music from his two phones. Checks the levels with a radio in the window. It works!