Tiraque´s medio del ambiente
We arrived in Tiraque over a week ago... and what once was an unfamiliar dusty colonial small town, has come to be almost like a second home. When we were first told that we were going to be in a rural village, I had images of huts and lots of animals roaming around. While the streets are paved, there are still a lot of dirt roads and stray dogs. The hotel we are staying at happens to also be home to the local radio station. There is music blasting at almost all hours of the day and night. This town is unlike any town I´ve been in before. There´s a very nice plaza with a church and government building on opposite sides of the square. And, the homes and stores all look the same, behind what looks to be adobe casas. There are no signs, so you literally walk into what could be a home, restaurant, tienda... it´s really different.
We are working with an alternative education school called, Centro Tata Esteban, and their director, Martin, is an amazing guy. We are working in small groups to help the school and community build awareness about environmental issues. The group that I am a part of helped to organize a Concurso para limpieza del rio (river clean up contest), and it was amazing. Students from the school as well as other children and students from the community came out in droves. Tiraque has a large Quechua population, and before the introduction of plastics and other packaging materials, they were used to throwing banana peels and other things in the streets. It also doesn´t have a big waste managment program, so many people dump waste near the river. It was incredible to see all the students and kids picking up SO much garbage. Some of the things they brought out from the river included tons of plastic bottles, trash, cans, car parts, and unfortunately some dead animals. I was amazed to see the kids so enthusiastically cleaning the river and the streets. One of the professors at the school said that this day did make a difference, because the kids learned about keeping the river clean, and the adults were shamed to have the children clean up their mess. Apparently Tiraque has a local news station, and there was 30 minutes of coverage. It´s a very small town (3500), so practically everyone knows we are there, and an older gentleman even said ´gracias´after passing by in the street.
That is just one example of the different things we´ve been doing here. We are currently on a mid-point trip, for reflection and to catch up on some necessities. We head back to Tiraque in a few hours.
One more amazing experience we had, on June 23, a group of us got up at 5.30am to climb a mountain near the town, which has a big cross at the top. It was dark outside, but felt good to be awake. We were going to celebrate they Aymayra , or Andean, New Year. The tradition is to try to climb to the highest point and put your hands to the sun, to catch the first rays of sunlight in the new year. I´ve seen many a sunrise in my life, especially back in the SPOP days, but this was literally breathtaking. We climbed as far as we could, and after a little adventure got to the top just in time for the sun to rise. The views of the town and surrounding areas was amazing. I´m so glad I got to participate in that moment... it was incredible. That´s all for now. It seems that time here is a bit different... slower, yet busy at times. And for all of you who are wondering, yes, the world cup has been fun and amazing to watch from down here. Every restaurant, hotel, or any place with a public tv, has world cup info 24/7. I may not know what else is going on in the world right now, but I do know that Germany won, and Argentina beat Mexico yesterday.
Until next time....
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