Difficulty in the bathroom, bedroom, and trouble at work

My last few weeks in Cusco were filled with difficulty and excitement. The seasons were changing from winter (The dry season which is warm during the day with overnight lows around freezing) to spring and summer (Which are warmer seasons, but also a lot wetter). Along with these changes of the seasons came some unexpected problems for me. The first of which was the challenge of going to the bathroom...not physically going to the bathroom, but actually going, or getting to, the bathroom. The house I lived in while in Cusco was a little different from those in the states in that none of the rooms were actually connected to each other. To get from one room to another it was necessary first to go to the central courtyard and then to the next room. Because of this and the changing seasons it was a bit difficult making it to the bathroom. In my last few weeks there, the rainy season was starting and when it rained, it poured. That meant for me in order to go from my bedroom to the bathroom I had to use an umbrella! Oh how I miss the USA! With the food and water standards not quite being up to par in Peru, this made for some interesting sprints from my room with an umbrella to the bathroom while trying not to slip down the outdoor metal staircase...I'll spare the rest of the details on that story!

In addition to my problems in the bathroom, I was also having some trouble in the bedroom. In September not only was it raining more, but temperatures were also going up, which meant it was not getting down to freezing at night. At first this doesn't seem like such a problem, but then when realizing that that's when bugs start to flourish again, it becomes more of a problem. Not only do flies, butterflies, and ants flourish in higher temperatures, but also bedbugs...which I recently learned are not only a problem of our grandparents’ generation. About 3 weeks before I left Cusco I noticed some weird bite marks showing up all over my body. They were kind of like mosquito bites, but a little bit bigger and a little bit itchier. I dismissed the marks at first, but when they continued for about a week and a half I finally asked my host mother what they were. She informed me that I had probably brought bed bugs with me in my pants from the floors of the rural villages I was working in. Apparently they are most commonly found in warm areas of rural houses, like near the kitchen stove. Awesome! Thankfully that was nearly the end of my problem. After leaving ALL of my clothes, sheets, and mattress hanging out in the sun for a few days the bedbugs naturally left all my stuff! Three weeks later all the bite marks had disappeared and I was back to normal.

In my last week of working in the rural village of Puma Marka I also witnessed a fight. I was walking between houses while installing stoves when I heard some screaming. I looked up the hillside when I saw a man hitting his wife in the face and head, beating her for I don't know what reason. Unfortunately in the rural villages here domestic violence, women's rights, and alcohol abuse are big problems. As the women of a household here usually don't have any income, their status in the house is lowered and are quite frequently disrespected. Seeing this fight, or beating to be correct, was a first for me. As this man and woman came down the hill toward me, I started running toward them in order to help the woman. To my surprise, however, the man was also carrying a knife with him in his left hand. I assume it was probably unrelated to the fight and he was probably using it for his work just before the fight took place, either way though, although he was not a really big guy, I found myself a little slow to get near the knife. Thankfully, only seconds more passed before help from neighbors arrived, pulling the man from his wife, saving her from more abuse.

For me the whole situation was a very surreal experience and very eye opening to how frightening something like that is in real life. We see so many similar images on TV that we become almost numb to it. The reality of the situation for me however was very frightening and made me become aware of how real some of the problems seen on TV really are. I hope that will be the last time I ever have to witness something like that.

Until next time, I hope at least you all are livin' the dream!