Immediately after our English lesson last Thursday evening we took off to Lima courtesy of Cruz del Sur bus lines. Well I suppose it was not immediately because we were on the 10.00 p.m. bus from Ayacucho. It was not too bad a journey, the only problem is that from the very outset you are climbing out of Ayacucho and into the Andes and you immediately begin swaying from left to right as you round every corner, and there are many of them. Even though we had fully reclining seats, ‘bus cama’, sleep does not come very easily while you are bouncing from side to side!
We were at the Columban Center house just after 9.30 a.m. Friday morning, so that was not too bad. Friday was a relaxing day, meeting and chatting with other overseas visitors. However, one thing we had forgotten about was the quite oppressive heat of Lima, and the low lying dust and grime!
Saturday was our big day, off to Montenegro by 8.30 a.m. to visit as many of our 2008 friends as possible. After about a ninety minute bus ride we were well and truly amongst the dust and noise of Montenegro. It was amazing to notice the changes that have taken place since we were last there. Even the gravel football pitch has now been fully grassed! Now the locals have two grass pitches to play on, and I suppose they still pay for the privilege!
After immediately alighting from the bus at Montenegro we met many of our friends – and even some we could not even remember, but they remembered us!
Tony, my hairdresser, the very same man that declared that he had never cut white hair before. I assured him at the time that silver would be more applicable.
Señora who was always waiting for a chat with us as we would head to the local market.
Horacio , our 2008 house owner. He had a serious accident while he was building the actual house we rented. He lives with his son, brother and sister-in-law.
And Teofila, still sitting at her little stall outside her house. She was absolutely delighted to welcome us back to the area.
They were all so happy to see us and wanted to know all the news. Although you do get the distinct impression that the word had spread that we were going to visit! It is quite humbling to be welcomed back so warmly.
After the ‘Montenegro rounds’ we were back on a small and quite crowded bus to head up to Valle Sagrado and visit more people. The passengers on this bus were so different from the ones on the morning bus, they were interested in who we were and what we doing. It was on this part of our journey that we really noticed the development. Obviously many population invasions had taken place in the last eighteen months. Many, many more houses have been built, small shops have opened up, much more traffic on the roads, however, in spite of all this, still not a lot of the necessary infrastructure. Although electricity is obviously present the lumbering trucks are still the main supplier of agua to the people, at a cost!
A quick call to the Sisters, Jacinta and Marie, followed by a visit to Gladys’ new home to catch up with her and her daughter, Stacey. Both were students in our English classes. Gladys was so proud to show us around her home, we also noted that she still has a very wide range of pets, especially dogs!
Back down to Motupe to share a lunch with the Josephite Sisters, Marg, Clare, Katrina and Dora. Katrina has just recently moved in with Marg and she is originally from Adelaide.
Chatting with Marg while she tended her upstairs ‘garden’ gives you a reasonably good impression of the local living conditions in Motupe.
After lunch another walk to visit Miguel, Pilar, Joao and Peta, then back to Marg’s for a shower before heading back to Montenegro for 7.00 p.m. Mass.
Beats me why we hurried because Mass did not get underway till about twenty past seven! Ample time to say hello to most of those sitting in the pews!
Straight after Mass we finally collapsed onto the bus back to the Center House.
A final story concerning Saturday 5th February. Towards the end of the day we were strongly advised to return to Los Olivos by a different bus line, the word was it was newer; takes less time because it was far more direct. Rather than going all the way to the Los Olivos Municipal buildings we could alight at the brand new Mega Plaza, walk over the footbridge and take a motor taxi five blocks to the Center House. What our advisors did not tell us was that about another four hundred and eighty-two locals also wanted to travel by the same bus and that it was actually driven by a retired F1 11 fighter pilot! The last third of our journey was along the Pan American Norte, Lima’s main highway, and this gave the driver ample opportunity to show his driving skill, something he grabbed with both hands and the accelerator pedal! Well the advisors did get the ‘shorter time’ part right but failed to mention the high stress levels!
We slept well that night.
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