Madrina???

Dayana and I

October 14, 2009

Location: Cusco, Peru

A little update: Two days ago, I went to go visit some friends I had made a few weeks ago: Dayana, Rodrigo, and their mother, Julia. I tend to see them a few times a week and I will chat with Julia and play with the kids. So on Sunday, I stopped by to say hello and as I was holding Dayana, Julia looked at me and asked, ¨Will you be her Godmother?¨This question took me totally by surprise, and luckily, my friend Alonso had been there to translate for me or else I am sure I would have politely nodded my head and ignored the question, since I did now know what Madrina meant. Anyway, I was totally shocked and didn´t know what to say or what the duty involved, so I spent the rest of the day pondering the question. I felt it was quite an odd thing to ask of a stranger from another country who was only going to be staying in town for a few more days. Although I still don´t understand it, I spoke with Julia this morning and turned down the position, which was a difficult thing to do.

Another strange occurence: Puppies and Breakfast!

So I ordered Eggs and Coffee, but what I got this morning was much more delicious...a puppy at the table! Dogs are common here, but usually, they don´t frequent restaurants, but this little one not only came to visit, but tried to partake of our meal as well. It´s these little idiosyncrasies that really make Peru Peru and I treasure them.

Quickly wanted to mention an amazing museum I went to today. It´s called IrqÍ Yachay Museo de Arte de Niños Andinos. http://www.aylluyupaychay.org/museo/index.htm

Basically, it is a collection of children´s artwork who have never engaged in art before. These youth are from 31 indigenous Quechua communities outside of Cusco who do not have access to any means of art. The NGO took 49 one-week long trips to these communities to incorporate art not only as a means of self-expression but also to demonstrate numerical, scientific, and other academic concepts. The children get to do all sorts of activities with the artwork, and unlike in the States, none of their artwork is influenced by outside forces like television or media because it does not exist to these communities. In fact, the kids were asked to illustrate ¨Apu¨which is the concept of what is beyond their sight. Some kids drew condors, some drew mountains, and some drew big faces, like spirits. These students had to draw their Apu, or what they thought was out in the world, and all of their concepts were different. The project also engages kids to draw maps as a means to explore geography and use mirrors to express concepts of symmetry. All sorts of cool projects are introduced to these communities because the NGO firmly believes that ¨self-expression is a fundamental right of childhood.¨ So cool- and many of the projects incorporate their Quechua culture as well.

A little children´s parade I stumbled into this morning....