Yesterday - Day Sixteen

yesterday was jarring to say the least.
not because i didn't know which part of the island i was on but but because getting out of bed for the bathroom in the freezing cold had me as frigid as a german tourist. with no hot water in sight, i went right back to bed. finally, after fifteen minutes of me starring at the ceiling and warming up my hands, i still had some courage left for a few more icy steps into this paperless bathroom. while washing my face with soap, ice cold water and my ERIN MILLS BASEBALL t-shirt as a towel, i realized that the town's healer that i was suppose to interview might be leaving soon. so i rushed out of the bathroom, still chattering my teeth, i got dressed and packed up my gear to leave immediately.
when i was at the door, after several attempts of opening it, i realized that you can't actually open it from the inside but only the outside. all dressed, dirty and ready to explore, i crawled out of a very unstable window in order to free myself from this pretty but very modest hostel. finally liberated, i saw the owner's daughter out of the corner of my eye watching me as i closed the door. i gently turned around and asked her name: JOANNE. she asked me if i was going to have breakfast but i declined. i decided to save my ten bolivianos for some food on the more northern part of the island. i felt bad because i think that she already had some hot tea and bread waiting for me. i started to ask her about the healer her mother told me about and if it was possible for her to take me to him.
after going through a few pig filled back yards and a many winding rocky roads, we arrived at the healers house. the little girl quietly called out to see if anyone was home. a little girl emerged from the shadows carrying a container of white sugar refined, her face was covered with white sprinkles. as the crystals reflected stars off her chubby face, my guide ask if her father was home. after about a minute of starring at minute, the toddler informed us that he wasn't. i asked JOANNE to ask our new friend if her mother was home. very few people speak spanish in these small rural towns. only those who have had schooling can speak SPANISH. finally JOANNE calls out for the grandmother of the home, who is apparently always there because of the many chores that need to be done daily. finally the grandmother comes out and i present myself to her. we ask when her son was going to get back and she informed that he wasn't going to be back till tomorrow. instead of leaving empty handed i has the idea of interviewing the grandmother and asked JOANNE to ask the grandmother if she would be so kind. before before we could begin i asked JOANNE if she was comfortable translating in AYMARA for me. she agreed and we sat in the shade and we begin to talk.
one of things that still has me shaken up was when i asked this beautiful woman what her happiest and saddest moments in her life were. without evening hesitated she started to tell me that the saddest moment in her life was when she worked for the "PATRONES". i didn't know who or what a "PATRONE" was, so i kept asked why. it was after at point that she started to tell me, in this matter of fact tone, when she was forced to work 14 hours a day in the fields and beaten by the owners if they didn't keep to the quota they set.
it was at point where i realized that i was speaking to victim of slavery. now, this was the kind of contemporary slavery exists today, like sweatshops, but the kind i've only read in history books. i then asked her how old she was and with a smile she said in spanish "71 years old." i then asked how she was when the "PATRONES" left the island; "when i was 45." at this point i had to contain myself from crying as i did the math. after i took a breath i realized that this was only 26 years ago and then realizing at this time i was four years old living in chile. while i was having a birthday or playing street soccer with my friends, this woman was being beat by her slave owner.

she then began to tell me that the happiest moment in her life was when the "PATRONES" left the island. "since then, everyday has been the happiest day of my life.