May 18, 2010 - Daily Life in Pisac

Hola queridos,

Here is an account of daily life for us and others in Pisac...

Pisac, as I have described before, is in the Sacred Valley with the River Vilcanota running alongside it. It is so beautiful here. There are mountains all around us. The Incas and their modern descendents believe the peaks (apus) to be Gods, and they mountains are venerated as an expression of Pacha Mama, Mother Earth.

Now most of the cornfields have been harvested and there are piles of golden corn cobs lying all along the valley floor. The corn will dry and then be de-grained and stored for the year. Other vegetables that have now been harvested in the valley are: quinoa, fava beans, and many fruits.
In the highlands, potatoes are now being harvested as well as more quinoa. Wheat and barley are still growing.

Pisac is famous for its artesanias (crafts) market. There are such beautiful things: ceramics, instruments, weavings and textiles, knitted alpaca sweaters, socks, hats and much more. The artisan vendors sell everyday, but the main market days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. On these days, f0lks come down from the highland communities above Pisac with their potatoes, vegetables, etc. There are also fruit vendors with fruit from the lower lands: papaya, bananas, watermelon, pineapple... I love the market!

These days, our kids are going to the Kusi Kawsay school from 8:30 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. Perfect! They both really love it, and are learning lots of Spanish as well as cursive (River) and vowels and consonants in Spanish (Sage). They do lots of singing and movement in Spanish and Quechua as well as handwork (knitting, crocheting and weaving). Recess is awesome. They play outside and climb around on big rocks and build houses out of weeds and sticks. I wish they could stay all year!

We have our favorite lunch spots. Lunch costs about $1.30 and you get a daily soup and a segundo (second course) which could be some sort of meat or noodle dish, rice, potatoes, maybe a salad, and a drink. We also have our favorite chicken soup vendor at the market. This senora is so wonderfully sweet and kind. She blesses all who come to her stand with her steaming hot soup filled with yuca, potatoes, cauliflower, carrot and chicken. Today is a chicken soup day for us as it is Tuesday - market day!

On Sunday, we caught a ride up to the highland Quechua communities above Pisac. Some of Steve´s students are doing home-stays there right now with Quechua families. We took the opportunity to check in on some of them and to take a fabulous hike around 3 of the high lakes up there. This is up at about 13,500 feet, a windswept and chilly place to live. Nonetheless, all around are homesteads with hearty Quechua folk with their stone corrals to keep out the wind and keep in the animals. There are alpacas, sheep and llamas. Lots of potato fields all over the place. It is incredible that they grow up so high! But, of course, this is where potatoes are from. Potatoes, olluco, and oca are the root crops of the high Andes. These days, folks are digging them up and storing them in their walled in homesteads. They are also freeze-drying and soaking and drying some varieties to make chuno and moraya, two types of dried potatoes products that are consumed all year in soups and stews. Sage and River are mighty hikers! I call it the alpaca training program, and those two make good little alpacas. They love to hike and be up in the mountains! How fortunate we are!

I love it down here, and it also is serving as a wonderful pause in my life. I find that being down here is erasing much of the daily grind. Life is much calmer. Family life is much more harmonious than in Olympia. I never have to drive or car-pool. The feeling as as if so much as been stripped away: my usual Olympia identity, my usual chores, etc. It is great, and also challening as I find myself, especially in meditation, sitting with the big questions of life: how do I best serve in this life? All of my past experiences and endeavors are coming up for me: my various living experiences abroad, my studies of Latin America, my years spent in bilingual education, my years spent studying and teaching yoga, parenting, education... All of these themes are dancing in my awareness awaiting to be sorted and contemplated. I am contemplating changes and how to integrate my many passions... My latest dream is to create a sliding scale yoga class in Oly with proceeds to benefit local and international programs and organizations, especially those aimed at sustainability, education, health, etc. I really feel the desire for yoga to accessible and a means for true change and transformation in the world. I want also be more a part of local and international efforts and projects, both for myself and my family. I welcome any of you readers´ideas related to this!

And, there is the parenting and homeschooling sadhana. Wow! River and Sage are in school, and it is pretty great for all of us. I wonder what that means for our future in Oly. Well, we´ll take each day as it comes and live it fully.

As for me, I am open and being transformed which were my main goals of this adventure. How wonderful to have the sustained time for my practice and study as well as for my contemplation of life as it has been, as it is and how it shall be. Wonderful!

Hasta luego!

Annie