So we have been in Ayacucho for a few days now. The routine has typically been to sleep in, go play with the kids, take a lunch break to rest, and then go back to play with them in the evening. It has been nice to just relax and learn to appreciate each moment instead of getting caught up in all the things that usually stress us out. Also, the rest is much needed to do how hard our bodies have to work in the altitude. We´ve also been able to see the city.
The kids like to play this game they call taps. Basically they take these small plastic circles with stickers on them and try to flip each other´s tops in order to get more taps. We saw some in the city the other day and bought a bunch for the kids for like less than a dollar. Brandon has been dispensing them, just giving them one a day and making them say please, although they are always asking for more! It has been fun to see how happy these little plastic discs make them! They sit and play for hours. Now these kids have plenty of toys and are provided for more than many other kids in the city, but it still makes me think about the things that make me happy. If only it just took a small plastic circle with a sticker on it. As I mentioned earlier, the kids have many lessons to teach us.
Yesterday we went to get Brandon a tapestry he has been wanting for his christmas present. We made a stop to visit some friends that Brandon used to volunteer to teach english with. They also make tapestries. They showed us their beautiful artwork and showed us how much goes into making each piece. They also told us a sad story about how they have contracted with a woman in Minnesota to sell them. She gives them only about 200 dollars per tapestry and then sells them for 900 dollars. She has been giving them this same price for many years even though the value of the dollar has gone down and the cost of living has gone up. They also use natural materials which cost alot and that combined with the number of hours (15-20 days) it takes to make one tapestry further prove that this family is getting abused by the American woman. She has also slighted them in other ways like not including the craftsmens name on her website nor inviting him to the US to shows she does. She instead invites another artist on her site who gives her much less artwork than the family we met. She further puts a tag on each tapestry saying 5% of profits are donated to a charity that´s existence cant be verified. When the girl who makes the tapestries asked the American woman for some money from the charity for a breakfast that she was doing with children she volunteers for, the American woman declined. It was amazing to see these tapestries and all the other beautiful artwork in the Santa Ana region. It was just sad to hear about how these people were being taken advantage of. We purchased Brandon´s tapestry from a place in the same region where he has gotten one before. It was very elaborate and showed a story of this history of Peru.
Tonight we will go to the city center to celebrate New Years. We are excited to bring in 2011 here in Peru. We hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season so far and wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Feliz Ano Nuevo!
Rachel and Brandon
No comments:
Post a Comment