Day 13

Okay, I know I missed a day. I was pretty much lying in bed feeling weak so that's my excuse. Anyway, today was an awesome day in the countryside! I actually sat down and talked to some of the girls about their lives, where they're from, etc.

The first girl I talked to, Judith (19), is from Puno which is near Lake Titicaca 6 hours to the south. She's the oldest of 7 siblings and is in the weaving school in Cusco. She only goes to Ccorao on Wednesdays. When I asked her if she had any plans for the future, she said she couldn't. Isn't that sad?

The second girl, Maria (20), is from Ccorao. We talked for a really long time and she told me that it's her dream to someday own a restaurant and make all types of international foods. She's learning how to make ceramics right now but she wants to go study cooking in Cusco. She told me about a 3 month program which would teach her the basics but is too expensive. The whole thing would cost 900 soles ($300). Then I asked her what were prevalent social problems in Peru and she stated the economy and mistreatment of women and children. Well, that's exactly what I wanted to know about and I didn't even have to ask straight out! She cited alcoholism and drug abuse as two of the main problems, and then continued by saying that a lot of the women in the countryside didn't even know that they had rights. She also said that the government didn't protect women and children and that sexual abuse was widespread. When I asked her if there were any solutions, she said, "No. It's always been like this."

Needless to say, I felt pretty depressed. I am glad that it's only taken a week and a half for these women to feel comfortable talking about serious issues with me. I feel like I have a lot more purpose now (not that teaching English isn't super-worthy), but I don't really know where to go from here...