Developments...

Well...since my last entry quite a few things have happened.

The strike got bigger. The teachers expanded to the transportation industry, which then expanded to the shopkeepers (protesting the price of food--bread prices have doubled and tripled in teh few months since Garcia came into power) which then extended to the campesinos. It got interesting. Last WEdnesday there were several marches and I wandered down to the square to see what was going on. SOme of the speeches were in spanish, some in quechua, depending on which group was speaking and protesting and which time. It was pretty fascinating for me, not so fascinating for the tourists who had to leave. Part of the transportation strike was to pile massive boulders across teh road so cars couldn´t pass and then built a massive fire just in case the boulders weren´t enough of a deterrent. There is really only one road out of town, so it´s hard to get around the blockades. It is sort of possible to take a back road all the way around through the mountains (kind of a class six by our standards) the sixty miles or so to Cuzco, but that way I think it´s closer to 100. They called off school fro me for the day, which was fine, so I didn´t have to go anywhere, but there were lots of tourists stranded trying to get to airports and connectiions.

Thursday things gota bit more exciting. Hannah (the british girl in the house with me) and I wandered down in the morning to see what was up and witnessed a mob of campesinos attacking tourist buses. Fortunately the tourists weren´t on them. They broke into the buses, drove them out of town, and blockaded them in with rocks. The tourists blissfully wandering around the inca fortress had no idea. THey also piled rocks across the train tracks, blocking the only way in and out of Macchu Picchu, a non refundable trip of anywhere from 45 to $450. Numerous tourists ended up stranded on the train--there were pictures of them inside crying with campesinos outside shouting and throwing rocks.

We came back to the house for lunch and I went for a walk afterwards. On my way back I passed through the eerily quiet square and headed home. Fifteen minutes later Sonya and COralee (Host family mother and daughter) came running into the house shouting about a fight in the square. SHortly after sonya opeened the door and called in a mother, grandmother, and daughter, who were hiding in our little side street. We could hear shouting, a few gunshots, a lot more shouting, people screaming and running, and then suddenly there was smoke everywhere--they had tear gased the crowd in hopes of dispersing (no luck) but everyone else was screaming and sobbing, terrified. Sonya wet a bunch of washcloths to put over our faces (did I mention there isn´t much of an inside in my house? There was no "going in" to escape the tear gas. We were all standing on the second floor trying to see what was happening, but all we could see were a small crowd watching and several police running and shouting. I kept hearing the words "nos falta dos policia" and "muerto" (we´re mising two police) and (dead), and then a woman started screaming "donde esta mi hijo?" (where´s my son) and sobbing as she ran through the side streets looking for him.

Apparently this was covered int eh new york times last week but i haven´t seen the article.

It turns out, nobody is dead, although one boy is stil unconscous in the hospital. The police had been thrown inteh river and had hypothermia but nothing worse. Seven people ended up in jail, the ringleader is still in hiding, and the protesters (after the price of bread and wheat) achieved little.

It was exciting and a bit scary until I watched the news that night. In lima, the airport was blockaded, firebombs were going off in teh streets, and there were a few people dead. In Puno (next on my list to visit) there were cars burning, the nearby airport in Juliaca was on fire, and there were reports of all buses being stoppe3d outside of town and the people forced to get off and walk while all their belonggings went missing. Similarly in Arequipa and the road between where I live and Lima. Every highway was closed for a few days, as well as the train, and the president was pleading for peace.

Did I mention that the protesters were shouting "que muera el presidente" or may the president die...

On friday I went to cusco and the roads were partially cleared. there were boulders and ashes everywhere. Apparently one of the boulders had knocked a bus with 24 passengers off the road, killing all of them and the driver. The drive to Cusco is terrifying as is...it doesn´t need deadly boulders cluttering the roads.

Things are somewhat back to normal now, although teh american and british embassies have encouraged tourists to lay low and avoid traveling between cusco, arequipa, and puno, which kind of threw a wrench in my travel plans. After the whole experience last week, however, I am very, very ready to come home. My family and STA travel managed to change my tickets (and Dan too, of course) so I´ll be leaving on Tuesday. I´m feeling very, very relieved to be heading out. I love it here but I´m not ready to travel alone through these conditions. This has pointed out to me that I would make a terrible journalist, but that´s ok. Journalists, as far as I know, don´t have to hang out in a war zone and then return to teach high school, which is a war zone in itself. I think I´m entitled to spend my last few weeks of vacation resting at home.