DAY 32

I remember today a lot better; so after a breakfast of bread and jam (bet you didn't guess that) we met our Lake Titicaca guide, Hugo, and hopped in some rickshaws to get to the port. They were possibly the coolest mode of transport I have ever taken, there's two if you being pushed along in a cart steered by a guy on a bike. There were 19 of us, so ten rickshaws, all going down this teeny road at the same time, one of them was blasting music, and they were all trying to race each other, so much fun!
We stopped at some shops by the port, we were going to be staying with a local family and so we were supposed to but them presents (useful non-perishables) I bought some pasta for the family and a Lion king colouring book + pencils for any children. Then we got onto the boat, which had comfy coach-like seats inside on the bottom deck, and then a top deck where you could sit and watch the scenery zoom by (but only once you were clear of the port because the Peruvian Navy had banned people standing on top after 20 people decided to have a party up there and some fell off and died)
Our first stop was the Uros floating islands, the cover photo is off one of the residents explaining how the islands are made. They start off as a reed canoe, and then more and more reeds are added until it expands into a whole island . They had to re-reed the island every 2-3 months, and they usually lasted about 15 years before all the reeds are completely rotten and a new one had to be built. There were 15 people living on the island we visited, 3 famalies, and new islands were made when a couple got married and wagged their own space, or a family had an argument and wanted to split. People choose to live on these islands catching fish and shooting birds because it means tax avoidance, also it maintains history but mainly the tax thing. We went for a ride around some of the islands in a reed canoe; I got a 'lake Titicaca' stamp in my passport.
Then we hopped back onto the boat to go visit Tequile, which is the largest island on Lake Titicaca (this ones not floating, it's an actual island)
There we saw a typical island dance show, and our guide explained how rank was defined by hats, white hats meant single, colourful hats meant married, and black hats signalled the leader of the island. We had to go up an insanely steep path to get to the main square, but the view was amazing; you could see all the different farms, the floating islands in the distance and the water was shockingly blue.
After that we got back on the boat, drove to the middle where we had a chance to jump in. Apparently it was 9 degrees in the lake and so I was slightly terrified to jump in, only 4/18 of us did, but after a lot of hesitation/deliberation I did it. It wasn't even that cold, honestly the Thames has been far colder.
Then we headed off to our lake Titicaca homestay, it was on a Peninsula rather than an actual island, we got there and challenged some locals to a football game. My role was basically running up and down the pitch to no avail, although I did manage to tackle a boy once (not that it helped, we still lost 4-2)
Some hilarious moments were Sarah just running up to whoever had the ball and screaming whilst trying to tackle them, Ellie trying to get down the whole pitch on her own and Claire yelling THIS IS A TEAM SPORT, and Helen attempting goalie :')
Then our families arrived with traditional Peruvian dress for dancing; mine consisted of three skirts, each a fluorescent colour (pink was on top), then a black jacket with colourful embroidered edges, then a white sash, plaited hair and a hat. First we watched the locals perform the dance, which consisted of side stepping and twirling some form of Pom Poms, occasionally joining us with a partner for some twirling of Pom Poms; I can't say I particularly mastered the dance (or got it at all) but it was good craic.
Then it was time to go back to our homestay places, mine was on top of a pretty steep hill, Helena the 14 year old daughter of our family had to keep stopping so that we could catch up :')
Dinner was soup, followed by a plate of vegetables, they tend not to eat much meat because they only have a certain number of cows or sheep, that they need for milk and wool, whereas it seemed as if each family had several fields where they could grow a large variety of vegetables.
It was quite strange being taken in by a family who spoke no English, and Dara and I spoke no Spanish, although we did have a dictionary and so managed to gleam that Mathilde and Pedro had three daughters, two of whom, the 23 and 17 yr olds, were studying in Puno, whereas Helena still lived with her parents and went to school on the Peninsula. They had two dogs, a huge black one, and a two month old blonde Labrador/sausage dog called Anyi, we learnt the word lindo (cute) just so we could describe the puppy. It was hilarious because Dara kept trying to convince it to come with her, but Anyi was terrified and kept hiding behind Pedro. Dara braided both mine and Helena's hair, and then we managed to convey that we were tired (cansado) and headed to bed. We attempted to watch The Martian, but that wouldn't load, then we attempted to watch Into the Woods, but that wouldn't load either, and so we ended up just staring at this light that Dara claimed was flickering until we fell asleep :P