Everyday is an Interesting Day

Every day is an interesting day when you live in Puno and work in Juliaca.

Remember how there was a total strike last week? Well today the teachers went on strike. We found out about it at breakfast this morning when my mom came home early. She’s a high-school (or the equivalent, ¨secundaria¨) teacher. She told us that they had tried to form a union in her school this morning to support the strike. She was elected secretary but refused because the director of the school had made himself president and apparently that’s illegal. So she went ahead and taught her classes until the school shut down (despite being unable to form a union).

There were plenty of cars out as we walked down to the combi station at 7:45. However when we arrived the cars were leaving without passengers. I asked a woman attempting to get to Juliaca and she said that the teachers had blockaded the roads out of Puno and that’s why the combis wouldn’t take passengers - they were just going home, not leaving the city. We waited, along with throngs of Peruvians for a combi or bus willing to take us. Some taxis offered, but for 70 soles. One taxi driver tried to convince us to go to Sillustani (some nearby pre-Inca ruins) instead. What do we look like, tourists?

Well, at 8:30 we decided to give the long-distance bus station a try since almost all the busses from Puno to Arequipa or Cuzco stop in Juliaca as well. We convinced a bus going to Arequipa to sell us tickets just to Juliaca (4 soles- a high price but it was our only option). We think the guy who sold us the tickets just pocketed the money since they didn’t give us actual tickets. Leaving Puno we could see the evidence of the blockade – boulders in the road and riot police. We got through fine, although it was a longer trip than usual. We arrived at PRISMA at 10:15, an hour and a half after we intended to, just as the first meeting started. So begins the long day of a commuter in Peru.

Jessie