Dung-Roasted Potatoes and Global Whateveryouwanttocallit



Saturday we left early for Espinar to attend/participate in the baptism of eight year old Julie Emma Shirley Yauli Velazco. She is the last daughter of five of the Yauli Velazco family. Three of her sisters have served or are serving missions, the next one Sariah has two more years before she can go and little Julie (named after this Julie) is already planning her mission time. What a great family. Rich performed the baptism in a lovely font in the chapel we helped build. Naturally, the water was FREEZING, but the spirit was warm and strong. We had dinner with them at the pollo a la brasa place we used to frequent in Espinar. It was a fun, exhausting day.

Back before we had a chapel in Espinar, we carried out of the baptisms in the Cañipía River. Leah and Megan were baptized there in July when there was ice on the banks. Their older brothers, Glenn and William baptized them. At least it was in the sunshine… Later on, we built a cinderblock font in the renovated bakery we used for our chapel. That water was just as cold. In the case of little Julie’s baptism, they snookered Rich, telling him that the water was heating. It was a great experience despite the freezing water.

Though the actual temperatures in the Altiplano do not approach those in say, Ely, Nevada, there is no refuge from the cold. Though the temperatures hover around freezing in the winter, nothing is heated. One goes from the cold outdoors into and even colder adobe or concrete building where the only resort is more clothing and blankets. Temperatures up there are dropping now and noticeably colder than in Cusco. We were really thankful we packed our little space heater to warm up the hotel room. Nest time we will be taking along our lap blankets too.

We ate a bowl of hot quinoa cereal with grated cheese Sunday morning. It tasted and felt so good since it was freezing cold outside. We met the Yauli Velazco family to catch the combi to Tarcuyoc. We did learn that the letter “c” at the end is the correct spelling but it is not pronounced, another Quechua oddity. There were over 50 people in attendance in the Family Group. Rich gave another talk on the importance of family history and we handed out more of the My Family booklets. Julie taught primary and had 17 children singing, learning and playing, all in the weeds behind the “chapel.” There is no inside place to hold primary, we’re trying to figure that out. The children were so reverent and eager to learn, it was an amazing spiritual experience. 

We gave the Hatun Mama, (the grandmother) in Tarcuyoc, two rounds of cheese and some bread we had brought for her. She always fixes lunch on Sunday for the missionaries and anyone visiting from the ward in Espinar. She was so excited for the cheese. After a few moments, she bustled up to Rich and said, “I’m fixing a Watia.” 

To prepare for the Watia, they dig a shallow hole in the ground and pile the removed dirt clods to form an, “Igloo” over the hole. Once they prepare this, “Dirt clod igloo,” they load it with dried weeds and llama dung and fire it up, a ripping fire gets going. When the fire has died to coals, a bushel or two of small potatoes of varying varieties are shoved on top of the coals and then they collapse the dirt clods over the top and leave it to roast for thirty minutes or so.

They dig out the potatoes, put them on a blanket and, when they can get it, everyone gets a slice of the salty cheese. We all sat around the blanket and picked up hot potatoes, blowing as much ash off as possible, peeling them and alternating bites of potato with the cheese. In the USA we have nothing to compare to these potatoes, they are creamy and delicious, even without butter, shredded cheese, sour cream etc. and with the smoky flavor from the roasting, and it truly was a treat. Naturally our fingers were black from the ash so our potatoes and cheese had dark smudgy fingerprints, but we just laughed sitting there in our church clothes, peeling dung-roasted potatoes and marveling at the experience. What fun and so delicious!

Our trip home was uneventful in the main, with the exception of the beauty of this time of year. The elevation of the mountains combines with the low angle of the sun for spectacular vistas, almost at every turn. The fields have gone from deep to electric greens and have taken on the ochre and nutty browns of the harvest time. From Espinar we climb to nearly 15,000 feet and then drop back down to the large lake called Langui. Langui is famous as the purported location where the Spanish captured Tupac Amaru II, the leader of the rebellion of the 1780s, whom they drew, quartered and decapitated in the main square in Cusco. Anyway, the lake was spectacular enough to open the window to take a photo of it despite the hue and outcry of our fellow passengers at the dangers of the bad wind that might carry them to an early grave…

The weather in general is very odd. No rain is supposed to fall after April and yet, we have had torrential rains. It is definitely colder than normal just now, global warming and all… We have already melted one power strip. While in Espinar we got a couple of real wool blankets, since our fake-o fleece blankets were just not doing the job.

There seem to be a large number of random pseudo political protests and the government is busy as can be trying to look good. Cusco is all torn up with efforts to put in new sewer pipes and roads, a sure sign of pending elections.

This is also the time when the school kids perform for their parents. We run across dancing and singing practices almost at every turn. Dancing is huge in Peru and it starts very young. In June, they hold the huge dance festivals that lead up to the Inti Raymi festival in Cusco at the end of the month.

On Friday night, we got an invitation to attend the birthday party of our neighbor’s daughter Sthefania Agüero. She turned 19 and went to the Young Single Adults dance with a bunch of her friends.

We teach a Book of Mormon institute class as we have mentioned before. This has turned out to be something of a challenge since the approach is to teach the regular curriculum that would normally consist of 2 days a week for 1 hour each, in one nightly session of 1½ hours. It is a withering number of chapters, 12 this week to cover in on session. Still, we get about 14 to 17 students to each class. The faces seem to change pretty much each week, in all there are something like 40 enrolled. Just hope something is getting through.

We love our mission and feel much fulfilled in the things we are doing. We certainly can encourage others to participate in the same thing. It is one of the best things we have ever done.



 

Waiting for Mama

Qorikancha

To market...

Early Morning Pre-school Calisthenics

Holding down the sidewalk in the Shadows

The Beav's Peruvian Cousin???

Random Strike

Old Friends

Celia Mayta 1

Celia Mayta 2

Celia Mayta 3



Dance Practice 1

Dance Practice  2



Sthefania Agüero's Birthday Party

Matias, Sthefania's nephew 



The Agüero family



Catholic girl's choir

Mid morning snooze

Just a few of the variety of potatoes of the Andes

Various corn types

Zapallo Squash and other evidences of fall



Julie Emma Shirley Yauli Velazco

Spectacular Missionary Chalkboard Art

Julie with her buddies

On our way out to Tarcuyoc from Espinar

Ronal Saico, the first missionary to  leave from Tarcuyoc

Primary Tarcuyoc

Youth Class in Tarcuyoc

 

Julie teaching "Do As I'm Doing" in English

The Kids out front of the church

Leaving Descanso on the  way to Espinar

Tarcuyoc to Espinar, Not Nevada or New  Mexico...

Languna Langui

Rich's version of Langui