March 2, On Tequile island and back to Puno

After a lovely breakfast from Emmy, some kind of grain pancake but delicious and again coca tea, we headed down to the port to meet up with the group and Clever for our ride to another island. Tequile is another communal island where one family was selected at a restaurant to cook our lunch. It was about an hour ride to the next one, again a stationary, not floating, island. Our boat was going to meet us on the other side. So UPPPPP we went!! Finally the nice Argentinean man showed me to walk zigzag as being easier and it was. At the top it was pretty level to the Plaza des Armes. We went to the one in Puno today and every Sunday, in every town and village there is a military/patriotic assembly. There were chairs set up for the dignitaries today, I´m assuming the mayor of Puno and generals. All around the plaza were squads of different military and police. One was an all women squad. There was saluting of each squad, marching around the square and raising the Puno and Peruvian flag. We stopped in for a second breakfast (some protein this time!) and a Peruvian woman in there who spoke English told us it is different troops each week. It´s done to keep up Peruvian patriotism. Lots of crowds were on the steps watching. She said now the army is all voluntary but used to be one year mandatory at 18. She said Peruvian women do vote (on the islands they said only married women do). She said many Peruvian women are standing  up for their rights and in this machismo society (her words) the men don´t like it. So every night on the news someone is beaten or murdered! The Minister of Women is working to correct this. Anyway back on Tequile, here ONLY the men do the knitting and boys are taught starting at age 5. The women only do the weaving. A red hat indicates married man, each family designs their own pattern so there are 800 patterns on this island. While he is living for 2 years with his future wife before marriage, he must knit his red hat and design his family pattern to show he is worthy. Single men or widowers after three years wear red and white hat.  Little girls wear a woven cute hat until 5 and then they wear black shawls for the rest of their life, over their heads. Single girls have big pompoms on the end of the shawls and married women have smaller and not so colorful pompoms. Again the church here is open only once a year for the priest from Puno.  They seemed to grow a lot of corn on this island. We visited the obligatory shop where each family has a number and display and prices are fixed. It´s supposed to be the best quality weaving and knitting but we didn´t buy anything. The men also wear a waist belt of two layers. The top one the wife weaves for him with the history of Tequile and presents at the wedding. The underneath one is woven from the women´s long hair that she cuts off when marrying and weaves with alpaca yarn into a very strong belt used sort of as a truss to help with heavy farm work. Clever talked to an 85 year old man whose wife had recently died and expressed his condolences. The man showed him the belt he had on and said "She´s still with me!"  I thought that was kind of cool. Then there was the 550 steps down to the boat!! Sweet Maddy lingered back with me so I wasn't the last one down. The boat ride for 2.5 hrs. back to Puna was lovely, chatting and sunning on the upper deck. We took a group picture at the pier and a driver took us each to our hotel. Betty and I went out. I got my sunglasses fixed for 4 soles. We had delicious pizza and cerveza and found someone who would do our laundry and she delivered it all done at 9 am. That was Betty´s birthday present!!! Got to Facetime with Kerry and briefly with Jackson and Sarah, playing the recorders Nana had bought them LOUDLY!! Jason said thanks to Nana!!! We head to Arequipa on the 3 p.m. bus and then need to figure how to get over the Chilean border to Arica. Ciao! (they seem to all say this rather than other phrases)