Living High in the Andes

One of Emma's new friends

(Emma) I was not too excited about driving to Patakancha village. It was a remote, small village up a rocky, windy road to 14,000 feet high in the Andes mountains. When we arrived in our big, bulky-looking van, a group of 10-year old boys came running to us. When they receded, a group of 12-15 year old girls came to greet us. I became shy and hid in my shell, like a tortoise would. As for Mom, she jumped right into her High School Spanish.

The kids faces look tired and beat, while their clothes were bright: colorful ponchos, hats, and everything else they wore. Kids always wear layers and layers of clothes to keep them warm in their high homes.

Their friendliness was intimidating, but it was time to go look at their school. It was a holiday for them, so the kids had a day-off from school, but some of them were at the school anyway. The first thing we saw was their fish farm. They were anxious to show us, I could tell. They were raising the fish to eat because they do not get enough protein. Their diet is made up of mostly carbs and starches: potatoes, corn and anything else that they can grow on their land. After the fish farm, they challenged us to a game of soccer. I was not ready for it, because we were at such high altitude that it was hard to breathe. But we tried it anyway. The 6 of us were divided into the different groups of Patakanchans. Then the game started. The kids would just kick the ball to any random place; no one knew where it would go. We played for about 30 minutes. In the end I did not know the score of the game, but all of us had a great experience. We gave the kids fruit that we had bought at a Peruvian market earlier that day. The second the kids saw the bananas, tangerines and little peaches, all of their eyes lit up. We passed out all the fruit, and they each got at least 4 pieces. For them, it was a lot. And they were all incredibly thankful.

After we bought some hand-made Peruvian things from them, we had to go. All their faces sagged, but we had to leave. We walked away with souvenirs, pictures, but the most important were the amazing, vibrant memories.