Saturday September 12 to Sunday September 13 - Peru Week 4, Drunken Idiots

I don’t know all the details of what happened but while we were having dinner last night, Nelio, the husband of the family I am staying with, was attacked by a crazy drunk while he having a beer with a friend outside the house they are building in Urubamba. This is where speaking more Spanish would come in very helpful because I can’t fully understand what is going on.

From what I can piece together some guy was upset and fighting with another drunken idiot when he picked up a rock and attacked the first person he saw, which happened to be Nelio, who he hit in the forehead with the rock. The police have the guy who did it and Nelio happens to be a cop as well, so I imagine Nelio is not the only one waking up with a bad headache Saturday morning.

Norma, Nelio’s wife, and Yaki, his sister, got a call during dinner Friday night, either from Nelio or the hospital staff he was taken to and rushed out. We had no idea what was going on at first, just that something bad had happened. The hospital kept Nelio overnight but it sounds like they either don’t know what to do or don’t have the equipment to do it, so this morning the family is driving Nelio into Cusco to take him to a better hospital there. I saw him this morning and he looks rather dazed and had a lot of dried blood on his shoes and pants. Yaki has stayed home with the kids, who are kept busy with a school fair at Colegio LaSalle across the street from the house. The rest of the day on Saturday we don’t hear anything and that evening they have not returned from Cusco but from what I can make out it sounds like things are better with Nelio.

There is not much for me to do on Saturday, I stay close to the house in Urubamba in case the family needs anything but frankly I am not sure how they could communicate it to me if they did. Perhaps because I essentially don’t do much other than play solitaire and read a book I found in my room, Popular Music by Mikael Niemi, I am pretty much ready for a nap all day long on Saturday. The feeling somewhat compounds itself as the more I feel like taking a nap the more I feel like doing nothing and the more I do nothing the more I want to take a nap. Some of the volunteers are heading into Cusco for the night but I don’t really want to spend the money on a hotel room and essentially just read.

On Sunday morning I am up early as usual and Nelio and Norma have still not returned from Cusco. I kind of want to head into Cusco for the day but all of the volunteers in Urubamba are heading out for the week for “English Week” in some small town about 5 hours away in the Peruvian jungle. As I am leaving first thing Thursday morning I am not going so today is the last day I may see some of them. But at the same time I’m not sure when they are leaving and don’t really want to just sit around all day again. Besides I have a tourist ticket for Cusco that expires tomorrow so today is the last chance to use it if I want to so later in the morning I catch the "colectivo" bus for one last time into Cusco.

 

While in Cusco I visit the ruins of Saqsayhuaman which rest on a hill above Cusco. Believe it or not it is actually pronounced “Sexy woman.” They are not exactly awe inspiring after having seen Ollantaytambo, Pisac and Machupicchu, but they are easy to get to and the air is filled with fragrance from the eucalyptus trees on the hill. There is also a fantastic view of the city of Cusco below from the site. After about an hour I walk down, do some last minute shopping and head back to Cusco so I can catch the other volunteers before they head off.

 

Back in Urubamba I meet the volunteers at the local gas station, Project Abroad’s meeting point and the one place in town you can buy western snacks using a VISA. I do both. I say my farewells to everyone and just as the bus is pulling out it begins to rain hard in Urubamba with lightning and thunder. This is the first time it has actually rained in Urubamba since I have been here and nowhere has there been lightning and thunder.

When I get home Nelio and Norma have returned from Cusco and Nelio is doing well but has been told that for the rest of his vacation he can’t do much walking and absolutely no work on the house. So he can actually start to work once he is due back in Puno for his job, lucky him! Also no red meat or alcohol for the next 10 days and he has a big bandage on his head. But all and all he is pretty lucky and just coming out of this ordeal with a bad headache, about 16 stiches and a big bump on the forehead.

Bird's eye view of Cusco from "sexy woman"