Perucho is all ayAla ayala ayala!! It is here that Micheal is from and in this small community of only a few hundred people, most are closely related. The people we meet in the street, are cousins, aunts and uncles.
The community sits in a corner, nuzzled by a curve in the mountain about two thirds if the way up the valley. The river is far below in a deeply hollowed out ravine. We are high up with views across the valley of a wind-whipped landscape. It used to rain a lot here, but the past 7 months there has been an intense drought and it has barely rained. The landscape is dry, the weather hot and sunny and the nights mild.
The village is small but has a beautiful plaza and one principle street that winds up and round the corner towards San Jose de Minas. On the corner, on the first floor balcony a husky dog patrols. He reminds me I am in cooler parts now. Old earth houses with wooden fronts and shutters, their interiors dark and cool sit side by side with newer ones constructed of concrete, reflective glass and painted in bright colours.
The front of Michael’s house would never give away what was behind. There are floor to ceiling piles of donated books ready for the new library and the walls are dotted with ceramics and years of productivity. It is full of all kinds of seeds in the process of drying and the smell and ambience put me at ease, it smells strangely familiar and reassuringly wholesome.
One morning, sitting out the front of the house, about 5am. We are waiting for a bus and it is dark and silent. A dalmation wanders past and looks at me suspiciously as I am perched on a doorstep. It’s times like this when it’s quiet that you learn a little more. Michael reminisces about when the road was one vehicle wide and there was only one bus a day. Everyone would come out to see what was happening. A real event. To me, Perucho seems a very sleepy place,. However the silence is briefly interrupted by the occasional bus or lorry passing by the front of the house, whereby the windows vibrate in their frames creating an unbelievable racket! I guess it’s not like it used to be and everywhere changes.. people move away to the big city to get jobs.
Time has not stood still here, but it moves more slowly. People have time to sit, to talk. One day when I wasn’t feeling amazing a lady in the square stopped and chatted to me like I was an old friend. -.. it made all of the difference. It felt slightly confusing but rather wonderful too. Afterwards I walked up to the church and I could see through the tall solid wooden doors, a chink of yellow light, when I neared inside the locked church I could see a dark wooden interior and a beautiful altar stretching from floor to ceiling lit with flickering candles. I was intrigued.
The village has several shops, all of which have outside selling a mountain of avocados. Perucho does not lack avocados. The village shops all sell similar things, some more variety than others – one has a rather interesting mix of bumper boxes of pregnancy tests, stationery, floppy disk and avocados.
But my favourite aspect of Perucho is the village speaker. From the plaza’s parish office, you can pay a few cents to read your announcement to the village. This has got to be the best thing.. in a land where mobiles don't rule!
awesome!!!!
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