a group of young people from different cultures met on a ship. As soon as they introduce themselves, they became friends. They did not know each other but something joined them. Almost all of them were part of small countries, countries without a state but with their own language: a couple of Welsh people, a couple of Galegos and a couple of Bretons. The rest of the group was from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Japan. They planned to sail towards beautiful islands: Uro, Amantani, Taquile and Sun Island. First of all, we met Uro people. Uro island is made by bulrush, a kind of reed which grows in the lake. Bulrush can be eaten and it is also used to build houses and islands. It is really interesting to see how these people live sharing everything. From Uro Island we sailed to Amantani. We both lived with a family, a couple about our age with two daughters and a grand-aunt. They showed us their style of life, growing a piece of land on the water, sewing some clothes and preparing their house everyday for children, who attended school every morning. Amantani people were also used to receive people from everywhere who were interested in learning how to enjoy a happy life in a small island without stress, media and timetables. They were surprised when we talked about how we lived in Galiza, working so far our home, travelling everyday with hard timetables, computers, cars and too much noise. After Amantani we visited Taquile. Taquile Island is the second big island in Titicaca Lake, where people follows this idea: "Ama suwa, ama llulla, ama qilla", which means do not steal, do not lie and do not be lazy. Consequently, everybody is as rich as their neighbors because they share everything and there is a fixed price for every product. It costs the same in every place of the island. We could take some pictures and it was really cool looking how people greeted us as if we were their neighbors. Taquile was the last Peru island and we sailed to isla del Sol (Sun Island), nearer to Copacabana (Bolivia). Isla del Sol is the biggest island in Titicaca Lake and we were so tired that it was difficult to run and get the ship to leave the lake. A kind, old man showed us the most important part of Sun Island. We still specially miss Mrs Olga and her family (Amantani). We learned a lot of interesting issues with them during those nights speaking near wood fire in the kitchen. We might never know if they might receive their photographs but we do remember every second of our days with them, speaking, singing and dancing with their dressing folk clothes on.
Marinha
