August 23: Hi ho, Hi ho, it’s off to site I go

Tuesday morning Jeff, Ali and I got breakfast before we finished our shopping. I got a ropero and hangers for my clothes (there are no shelves in my room). It’s pretty amazing how quickly our moving in allowance goes away and that’s even with some fairly successful bargaining. For lunch the three of us discovered yet another wonderful café in Huaraz. We hung out for a little while before they helped me load my stuff into a taxi and sent me on my way. I had a huge suitcase, hiking backpack, ropero, mattress and a market bag of stuff….. luckily there was room for me in the front seat. :-P I got to Mancos about 4 in the afternoon and had just enough time to haul my stuff into my room before my host mom took me to the fiesta at the school. From the school we went to the town plaza to watch some dancing and then join the procession as the men carried a giant wooden San Roque up the hill. During site visit my host mom discovered that I can dance, so now every time music turns on she makes me get up and dance. This time happened to be in the town plaza with a guy wearing a two foot headdress, a gold tunic and beads tied to his shins. Did I mention we were the only ones dancing and it was in front of the entire town? Being inconspicuous….ever…. is not a trait retained by many PCVs.