Drawn by a Star

There aren't many days in my life when I feel like a deflated balloon, but yesterday, Saturday, was one. It started on Wednesday actually, with two minor car accidents, but it took until Saturday for me to realize I was in bad shape. A broken toe, toothache and a feeing of uncertainty culminated in a bit of a nightmare. But as with all nightmares, we always wake up to ... in this case, to a bright new day ! !Si Senor! ( no little do- dah's or accents available with this programme, sorry Jeni!) Peter Ustinov once said of his mother- in- law that "she didn't know what she thought until she'd heard what she'd said." I remember thinking at the time that I often don't know precisely what I think until I seen what I've written. Writing has become my way of burrowing out of confusion, or pain, or negativity. And I've had a dollop of all three since Wednesday! So, I decided to write to a friend about these misadventures, and out of that came t...

The Bolivian taxi driver. The taxi driver picked me up outside my hotel which was just a stones throw from the famous Mercado de Hechiceria, otherwise known as the Witches Market. Yes, I chose it because of its location! The market is one of La Paz ’s most visited places, and the concentration of pickpockets in the area I’d read, is extremely high. In the labyrinth of streets which make up the market, you can buy silver, stone, and crystal charms, beads, all kind of herbs, incense and llama foetuses, and much, much more. There’s everything and anything you might need to make your own personal alter or ceremony. Shamans sit on the pavements and read cocoa leaves for the local people. Bolivians will wait for hours (in the street) to consult their favorite shaman. This kind of oracle telling is taken very seriously by all Andean people. At this stage of things, day two in Bolivia , I was still in a state of overwhelm/altitude mal- adjustment, so hadn’t yet dared explore the mark...

Jet lag, rain, grey skies, mudslides, snow, flooding, leaks in my roof, part of the track infront of my house collapsed , stories of extraordianry dramas of cars, caravans and bridges being swept away, and many lovely hugs from treasured friends were what greeted and enveloped me when I returned to Spain. It then felt like I slept for the next ten days . And now three weeks later, parts of Peru are experiencing the same kind of flooding, but worse. Most of the villages where we went to distruibute the hot chocolate and presents are high in the mountains ,so they haven't been distroyed, but many settlements in the Sacred Valley leading up to Machuu Picchu have been. Machu Picchu is inaccesible. Today I'm especially remembering the little girl on the bus I wrote about in the last blog who, as we were driving beside the fast flowing muddy river (which gushes right through the Sacred Valley) , told me that ten mermaids live in the river, that five of them are prin...

Hi dear friends, Happy, happy New Year wherever you are . I'm right on the last lap of this Peruvian adventure. Arrived back in Cusco this afternoon after spending New Year in Ollantaytambo with my young friends Wither and Tatiana and their four year old son Mauro. New Year and last week are a bit a blurr ! I remember buying yellow flowers for my friends here (a Peruvian custom signifying good luck for your house) , resisted buying yellow knickers in the market for them, also for good luck (!), and I remember seeing everybody in the street on the 1st, covered with yellow confetti, a very important Peruvian custom for New Year. I remember having lunch with Tatiana's whole family on New Year's day, her mum sitting in the corner of thier very humble abode making chici morada, a drink made from maize, and local mountain people calling in every ten minutes to fill up all manner of containers. Our lunch consisted of roast guinea pig, roast chicken, rice, spagetti and mou...

Here I am back in Peru and I wanted to quickly let you all know that I am fine, but so exhausted - I will briefly explain. So many of you in Spain helped raise an amazing amount of money for the Universal Heart restaurant's chocolatadas for the children and older people and your efforts have funded the whole thing! Mission in progress ... The chocolatadas are going ... are going ... 4 or 5 a day ... but we are going to the most incredible places, to the remotest of villages in the highest of places ... driving up mud roads in mist and sunshine ... pickniking beside rushing rivers. We've had some hair-raising adventures getting our minibus up mountains and down valleys. It is all dirt track roads, single file and crossing bridges that you wouldn't believe you'd get a car over! Our days start at about 5am and we're in bed about 8.30pm! I am absolutely knackered!! So more when I can, but love to you all and thanks for what you have done for all these people.

Lake Titicaca After the whirlwind of meeting Ivan and his theatre troupe and the chaos of the streets of La Paz, I was heading for the tranquility of Lake Titicaca for a couple of days. Oooohh! what bliss to leave the crowds and be beside this totally amazing sacred lake. My guide turned out to be a Bolivian archeologist who spoke 5 languages, including Japanese. Gael, this guide, took me to visit the sacred Isla del Sol, on Lake Titicaca, where 4 virgins were sacrificed each year by the Incas on the summer solstice in the sun temple. So much happened during these 24 hours at the lake, including being drawn into the ancient ceremony of car blessing outside Cocacabana cathedral! Bless! Lines of vehicles wait outside the cathedral every day, and the priest blesses each one and their owners. Familes drive here from all over Bolivia and make altars in front of their cars outside the catherdal. They believe the Black Virgin Mary of the town will work miracles. After the priest has blessed ...