The Puno Festival

(Pic: Top, the lorry. The Rest, Puno festivities.)

He still had some doubts about the decision he had made. But he was able to understand one thing: making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

-The Alchemist

February 6, 2009... 4:30am: Wake up to get dressed and pack my bags for Puno. We´re all going to witness the famous Festival de la Virgen de la Candelaria. 5:10am: Meet Sophia at the bottom of my street to catch a moto-taxi (think motorcycle-drawn carriage) to the bus terminal, where we´ll meet up with Julia and catch a bus to Cusco. 7:00am: Arrive in Cusco. Catch a cab to the main bus terminal, where we´ll meet up with the rest of the volunteers going to Puno. (12 of us total). 8:00am: Board the bus to Puno...Not too shabby. A nice, double-decker bus with reclining seats, tons of footspace, and a toilet on board. Only 30 soles for a seven-hour trip. 11:30am: Bus breaks down in the middle of gorgeous, Motorcycle Diaries nowhere. Another bus will come along to collect us in a few hours and continue to Puno. Ugh. 12:30pm: We´ve been playing Set (a type of card game) for an hour and don´t feel like waiting anymore. Conveniently, the driver of a massive lorry (a semi with an enclosed wooden bed for the purpose of transporting vegetable produce) has come along and pulled over to make an extra buck. For 5 soles each he´ll take us the rest of the way. So, in the style of illegal immigrants, we hitch a ride with him. 2:30pm: Another couple of hours and we´ll be there. I´m lying on the floor of this lorry, trying to sleep but instead staring up at the canvas roofcover, billowing in the wind like brown clouds. The clamor of loose wooden beams and steel rods banging against each other with every bump in the road fills the silence. Yet, I find this ride somehow peaceful. The air smells strongly of dirt and garlic and there are carrot bits rolling against my leg and leaves in my hair, I´m sure, but, besides the urge to pee, I´m in no rush to get there. 4:00pm: We arrive and spend an hour at the terminal trying to get our money back...Your bus DID NOT get us here and, in fact, our trip took nearly twice as long and we had to pay an EXTRA 5 soles...they would only reimburse 10 soles. We walked out of the bus terminal swollen with indignation, not for the money, but for the principle. 6:00pm: Our travel woes behind us, we´ve checked into the hostel, freshened up, and set out in seach of food. There´s a little pizzeria on Calle Lima (the main street, lit up like a mini Times Square) where we´ll eat. 9:00pm: Me and Jovana, exhausted, head back to the hostel for a shower and early sleep. The rest of the gang goes bar hopping. February 7, 2009... 7:00am: Wake up early for breakfast (included in the cost of the hostel--17 soles) and set out for a day of exploration. 2:00pm: Lunch and a game of Texas Hold´em with toothpicks as chips (Sophia brought Swedish playing cards), followed by a return to the hostel for ciesta. 6:00pm: We all head out for dinner. The festivities are beginning! Streets are filled with people, colorful costumes, and marching bands. 8:00pm: Dinner was delicious. Cream of corn soup, steak, potatoe, apple pie, and sangria for 25 soles. Pushing through the crowds of people now to get back to the hostel, where a bottle of rum and the game Big Booty awaits us. 8:10pm: Arrive at the doorstep and reach into my purse for the key to discover my bag already half-open when I knew it was closed because I had just mentioned to the other girls, ¨Make sure your purses are closed. This would be a perfect place to get pick-pocketed.¨ Don´t tell me...Yep. Wallet gone. No credit cards, no ID, no money. Shit. Call my mom from the public phone next door. Cancel my cards immediately, please. Love you. 10:00pm: We go out again, this time in search of a discotec. Everyone´s being really sweet and saying that I can borrow all the money I need until my mom sends new cards in the mail. 2:00am: Having danced the night away and now sufficiently wiped out, me, Jovana, Kat, and Michael return to the hostel for sleep. The rest stay out until 5:ooam. February 8, 2009... 6:00am: We have to get up early so we can get tickets for the festivities at Stadium and get our return bus tickets. Me, Kat, Michael and Monty collect the cash and head out on our mission (the rest of the bunch are still half dead). While at the bus terminal, I go over to the police station (conveniently right next door) to report my wallet stolen. 10:30am: We´ve all met back up and made our way to the Stadium, where the dancers, in all kinds of colors and costumes I could never dream of, put on their annual performance. It´s amazing. 3:00pm: We leave the Stadium, now scorched by the sun (even I got a sunburn, with sunscreen) and find icecream and a place to rest on the side of Calle Lima and watch the endless stream of parades. 7:00pm: Dinner. 8:45pm: We check out of the hostel and walk back to the bus station. 9:30pm: Board the bus and fall asleep immediately. February 9, 2009... 4:00am: Arrive in Cusco and sleep in the bus terminal for 3 hours since McDonald´s doesn´t open until 7:00am, and there are no hostels open at this hour. 7:00am: We catch a cab to McDonald´s, in the Plaza de Armas. I freshen up and change in the bathroom and then eat breakfast. 8:15am: We all catch a cab to work.

Good times.