-Carpeting is Awesome. I can’t wait to experience it again.

-Thank you, Mom and Dad, for the moccasins! It’s colder at night now. And thank you, Native Americans, for inventing moccasins!

-Little-known fact: Robots with the capability to climb have to date proved able to climb any surface material except Teflon.

 

With Vitis Ayllu, one of the Ayllus (groups of families) in my town, I am working with an NGO in a forestation project. Of importance is the Quinual tree, a famous tree native to the Andes and in danger of extinction. Here is a Quinal in Vitis that is about 100 years old. We planted 1,500 quinal trees in the forestation project and are now setting up an irrigation system to water the trees year-round.

 

When my program director/boss visited, we went to Aiza. This is a very isolated and poor town which is an annex of Tupe. These two towns speak Jaqaru, and are the only spots where the language still lives. It is taught in the schools but migration and outside influences are making Jaqaru’s future uncertain. The people wear unique clothing as well- a lot of plaid and bandanas. Tupe is known for having fought off the Incas and the Spanish, using a slingshot against the enemy. This slingshot is still used for herding cattle. This is a lady we met in Aiza along with my boss Diego, my friend Jared, and yours truly.

This is from when we cooked Pachamanca. “Pacha” is Quechua for “Earth”, and “Manca” is Quechua for “Pot”. Pachamanca involves heating up stones, then putting meat, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and sometimes humitas (like tamales) on top. Then an herb named Warmi Warmi is put on top of the food and the whole thing is covered in dirt. It cooks for about one and a half hours, and always comes out delicious! May is Pachamanca season, since it is harvest season and it is typical to end a day of hard work harvesting with a shared Pachamanca. Here they are putting the meat on the hot rocks.

 

The Mets suck!