Purple Penny Bridge : One month in Vilcabamba

We spent one month nestled between the mountains that create the valley Vilcabamba sits in. We rented an apartment from a nice family - there were about 10 houses down a little alley that one family owns, lives in, and rents some out. Our neighbors were locals and also a few expats from the states.

Vilcabamba smells like earth and farm, sounds like children laughing and donkey's honking, and looks like a town from a western film -- with the addition of some hippies and conspiracy theorists.

In one day I could be drinking coffee on my front porch with the neighborhood dogs running around me and in my house, then walk down one hill and up another to take yoga class in a pyramid shaped bamboo construction, and then walk to a one hour Vipassana meditation. -Break for lunch at the house- Then take a hike with Jesse into the forests or down to one of the rivers.

After one month of being in Vilcabamba, the community knows you... from the ice cream man to the person you pass by the bridge everday, to Lee who runs the book exchange. Our friends we saw day in and day out were Shehan (from Australia/Sri Lanka), Ali (from the Oregon to NY), 3-dogged Will (San Francisco), Professor Will, Peaceful, Stephanie, Bailey, Mariah, Fran, Larry, and on and on. It was a great time.

I was able to take dance classes at the Vilcabamba Community Center... between 15 and 30 people between the ages of 7 and 70 would show up for this music pumping, booty shaking dance class. It was a community all in itself. People would come and stand around the room just watching... the instructor would yell out "lista" and "eso" and more and more encouragements inbetween his own bouncing energy-fueled dance attack.

I also took part with the Vilcabamba dance collective, Hearts in Motion. A group of 15 - 20 people join together every other week to dance their hearts out. Each week a person leads the group, and I was honored to be able to the lead the group and teach some improvisational techniques on my last day in Vilcabamba.

Jesse found his creative niche, building slingshots, making bowls out of coconuts, and silverware out of bamboo. He would go on 'scavenging' hikes, looking for natural materials for inspiration. He enjoyed having conversations with Shehan, and studying the building and farming around us.

Vilcabamba offered a lot... I hope that you all can enjoy it one day too.