Marriage and Altitude Sickness

With my first gasping breath in Puno, Peru my Grandfather took his last breath in Decatur, Illinois. Rest in Peace.



Altitude sickness really sucks. If was so bad that I would wake up in the middle of the night, walk to the bathroom and have to take a minute to catch my breath. Sara and I choose to take a bus straight from the coast to Puno (a climb of 3,820m). The symptoms of altitude sickness include, headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, insomia, loss of appitite, fluid in the lungs, and swelling of the brain. I had 5 of the aformentioned symptoms, you can guess which ones. Of couse at the time I had no idea these were symptoms because we had not yet read that part of our Lonely Planet tour book. We left for the islands of Lake Titikaka at 7am and I was feeling like hell but did not want to miss the chance of exploring the islands with our newly made friends. (read about the Uros Islands below).

The Taquile island is a 7sq km chunk of land 35km from the shore of Puno. About 4,000 people live on the island. It also seems that every sub-Peruvian culture wears a different hat with a different meaning. On Taquile the men wear red or red and white hats, which they each knit themselves. The hats are half-white and half-red striped (meaning single) or all red striped (meaning married). The tricky part about these hats is that if the men descide to marry, they must present their knited hats to the father of their hopeful bride. The father will then pour water into the hat and if the hat leaks, the man is deemed not good enough, but he can make another hat and return in 6 months and hope his kniting has improved. So...Andy...I have been learning to knit and I am pretty good...I have a hat to show you...Also, Sara has been growing her hair out, which is good because before marriage on Taquile the women grow their hair out and then chop it off and make a wig for their husband to wear under their approved hats.

Taquile island truely is a fairytale paradise (except for the hours of 10-2 when they are stompped on by wandering tourist) unaffected by the Conquering Catholics. I am thankful I was allowed to tread on their paradise, if only for a glimpse of life unaffected by the mainland chaos. Also, because of the altitude, I was no stomping, but treading very lightly (and slowly).

Actually the hat I have to show was made by a man from the island and is not a marriage hat, but a typical cold weather hat called a Chullo, and Sara is growing out her hair, but just to have long hair. So no worries.