April 25, 2005
The Children of Manco Capac
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Manco Capac is a very small village on the Canal Puinahua, down river from the end of the Pacaya River and the closest town to Lake El Dorado. Only about 1,000 people live there and they see up to 20 tourists all year. We stayed in a very rustic hospedaje - just tiny rooms with small beds, no electricity, and buckets of water available for washing out back (like in Lagunas, but even more rustic). The cost per room was 5 Soles (about $1.75). When we arrived, we were immediately surrounded by children. They were very shy, but also very curious about us and seemed to swarm around in droves. I broke the ice a little by taking some pictures and showing them on the back of the camera - they giggled like crazy, pointing each other out in the pictures. Right in front of our building was a net with some girls playing volleyball, and in the muddy front yard some boys were kicking around a soccer ball--which of course Jesse couldn't resist, even in the pouring rain! All the boys ganged up on poor Jesse, but he held his own. The entire village consisted of the wooden thatch-roofed houses on stilts we were used to seeing - every building, that is, except the school! The school building stood at the edge of the large main soccer field and was constructed of cement and painted blue. We were told that about 300 students went there. Most of them wear dark blue uniforms with white shirts that all school children seem to wear in Peru. The woman living at our hospedaje was a teacher at the school. She said we could go visit, but that students didn't often show up if it was raining. When it stopped raining we headed over to see who we could meet. I was greeted by a young man who addressed me in English. Señor Nanir said he was the English teacher there and has been for over a year. It seemed like he didn't get the opportunity to speak with native English speakers very often and he was very happy to talk with us. His students are around 15-years-old and they enjoy learning English. We also visited with Señor Wilderlao and his class of 34 six and seven-year-old students. These students were absolutely adorable and excitedly answered all the questions Dave had for them. They enthusiastically shouted "Si!" (yes!) to "te gusta" (do you like...) school, math, soccer, swimming and sleeping. Some of their favorite foods are arroz (rice), chancho (pork), leche (milk), and mono (monkey). They also love jaunes (one of our team's favorite Peruvian foods, too), which is rice and chicken with palillo seasoning, wrapped in palm leaves, tied up and ready to eat. All of the classrooms had blackboards, desks, and chairs, but nothing more. No computers, no library, no lunchroom, no gym. We did see a room that contained quite a few animal specimens that had been stuffed for display (a lot of them were guinea pigs!). It appears that the organization of the classes and discipline is quite a bit different from schools in more developed areas in Peru as well as in the United States. Students seem to come and go as they please. As we said our good-byes and headed out a lot of children tagged along with us. Many of the children we met kept me company as I guarded our equipment while the guys hauled the canoes over the portage. Even though these kids don't have television, electricity or lots of toys, they are very much like any other children in the world and we certainly enjoyed meeting them. Jennifer
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Jesse joined the fun and played soccer in the rain.
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