In the meantime, yesterday we learned more about how the folks of the Andes live. This is not the city - this is living out in the country without much modernization. Things that really stood out today:
1. Your Hat Identifies Where You're From
People wear amazing hats as part of their native dress (which is worn routinely, not just for special occasions). The design of your hat tells what region of the Andes you are from. Check out some of the hats we saw - how would you like to wear these???
2. There are Lots of Camels in Peru! (Well, kind of....)
You may have thought there were Llamas in Peru. There are actually Llamas, Guanacos, Alpacas and Vicuñas. Each one of those are considered part of the camel family. I guess that's why llamas sometimes spit and have feet like camels!
Vicuña:
Alpacas:
Llama:
Guanacos (we didn't see one of these, since they're endangered):
By the way, if you ever wondered what alpaca teeth are like, this guy gave a big alpaca smile for us:
3. The Pluses and Minuses of Adobe
Folks in the Andes build their homes from Adobe because it's readily available and cheap. You take clay, mix in straw and water, cut it into blocks and let them dry. Voila - you have bricks for your house! Start stacking, and soon you have a house.
There's a slight problem though - the rainy season in the Andes lasts 6-months. Add water to adobe and you get.....wet clay. Which is not structurally stable. To help protect the adobe, some folks cover it with a layer of cement. Others cover the house with plastic whenever it rains a lot.
Folks like to build their houses on cliffs and embankments - because everyone likes a house with a view. In the rainy season, often the earth begins to shift and give way - another danger. Here's one adobe building on a river embankment:
4. More about religion.....
I have to say The Andean folks are the most honest people I've ever seen about their religion.
As I mentioned before, they practice a combination of Catholicism and the old Inca traditions (complete with worship of Mother Earth, water, sun, etc). On top of every house, you will usually find a cross surrounded by other things, depicting what else the person worships. Often it's 2 bulls, symbolizing agriculture. Sometimes it's a ladder, symbolizing prosperity (a "step up"). Sometimes it's jugs of water. Or beer, or wine. Or some combination of these.
It's not a great picture, but here's what it looks like on top of the thatched roof. This family worships agriculture and beer....
I have done a lot of thinking the last couple days about what would be on my house if I lived here. There would definitely be a cross! But for us folks in North America, I think all too often we would also have ladders (prosperity), cars/houses, something representing power, etc. What would be on your roof?
5. The Guinea Pigs think they're beloved pets, but they're not!
I LOVE guinea pigs. I had one as a pet when I was a child, so this one kind of pains me.
We saw these cut little guinea pigs in a cage. Complete with baby guinea pigs. They squeaked for us and got all excited when we fed them grass. We also saw a herd of them (group, pod, flock?) living loose in someone's house. They all came running over to visit us, squeaking as they ran, like they were delighted to meet us. I wanted to take every one of them home with me.
Well, if you hadn't heard, guinea pigs aren't pets in Peru. They are protein. You get roasted guinea pigs at restaurants or at stands on the side of the road (YIKES!). I'll spare you the picture.
By the way, if you tell a Peruvian you had a pet guinea pig, they think it's pretty funny. Almost on a par with having a pet sheep living inside your house. I've made a lot of Peruvians laugh this week :-)
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