After a three-hour relaxing boat trip to the island of Amantani, we had to climb a steep cliff with our luggage. Once at the top, we were welcomed by our host father. The next night we spent the night with the locals. The way was still a long way to our house. We had to walk uphill for about half an hour. At some point the guest dad took my heavy backpack from me, but I think he was panting more than me. In the new home we were allowed to take a look around and moved into our room. We even had a toilet, the only thing missing was the flush. But where should the water come from on an island mountain in the middle of Lake Titicaca – there is no electricity here either. We found a chamber pot under our beds because there is no light outside at night and, secondly, you could freeze quite a bit. During a delicious lunch that the host mother had prepared for us in her small and simple kitchen, our host parents talked about life on the island. Sometimes quite shocking and cannot be compared with our living standards. What could not be missing, of course, was the Mate de Coca. A coca leaf tea consumed all over the Andes to avoid problems with altitude sickness Soroche. After all, Peru is the main growing area for coca. After a walk to the highest point of the island where we could watch a beautiful sunset, we were dressed in the typical costume to be prepared for the evening. The village had organized a small festival with 4 musicians. While music was being made with guitars, harmonica and drums, we had the opportunity to get to know their traditional dances. We had a lot of fun and felt comfortable. After a while, however, the clothes became very heavy on the shoulders and a little uncomfortable. On the way home, our host mother simply drew water from a not-too-clean well that she had used for cooking the next day (boiled, of course). I was a little uncomfortable with it. Fortunately, we both left the island without any stomach problems. At the end of the day we snuggled into bed together because we were both very frozen. Including tights, warm pajamas, hat and scarf – and yet we were still freezing. Fortunately, the sun came out quickly the next day and we were able to go on a great hike across the island. As if I didn’t have to struggle enough with myself to get up the mountain, a little girl arrives, puts her lazy sheep in my hand and let me pull the ball of wool up the mountain. She said she would push it from behind, but I would have called it more of the “spank”.
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Back in the city of Puno we hardly had the strength to do anything. A little stroll through the diverse market, however, astonished us. After we had ordered freshly squeezed fruit juice to take away from a market vendor, I had to smile. Since she didn’t have a mug, she poured the juice into a plastic bag, inserted a tube and tied it. It tasted good, that was the main thing.
There was a place on the corner of our hotel that I hadn’t really noticed before. There men sat at tables with typewriters. I was wondering what they were doing there. Mainly because there were so many people standing around it. Until we were informed that illiterate people go there to have important documents written. In the mountain regions there are still some men and especially women who can neither read nor write. In addition, the majority cannot afford a typewriter. They then have the opportunity to have others write something for them. Actually a great thing, I thought.
The first week of lectures was about to begin and since we had no idea how things would go in South America, we were very excited.
I was able to create my lecture schedule almost myself, in consultation with my university in Karlsruhe. In my own interest, I have chosen two courses that are taught in Spanish. I thought it would be a bit difficult at the beginning, but I was pretty sure that I would somehow manage it. The remaining three courses were taught in English. But I’m already used to that, since I had all of the courses in English in Karlsruhe since the third semester. In the beginning it was actually a bit chaotic at university. In one of my courses in Spanish, I was exhausted every time at the beginning. I felt a little like high school. My fellow students are 17 and 18 years old and totally crazy about me because I’m the only “foreigner” in this course. Have 1000 questions for me and are totally restless during the lecture. It can be difficult to follow the professor. In the meantime, however, I’ve got used to it and even manage to get good grades. In the Spanish language course we have a professor who, by the way, calls me Sarita and who is very strict. Even when it comes to grading. But I also learn a lot from him. I am also satisfied with the English-language courses, as I sometimes would not have expected the professors to have such a good command of English. Many of us thought: “We’ll pack the semester with links” – in South America they certainly don’t see it all that closely. But then we were surprised with the opposite. I am also satisfied with the English-language courses, as I sometimes would not have expected the professors to have such a good command of English. Many of us thought: “We’ll pack the semester with links” – in South America they certainly don’t see it all that closely. But then we were surprised with the opposite. I am also satisfied with the English-language courses, as I sometimes would not have expected the professors to have such a good command of English. Many of us thought: “We’ll pack the semester with links” – in South America they certainly don’t see it all that closely. But then we were surprised with the opposite.
