La Finca en Paruro

by Christy
Last weekend we went to a small town called Paruro with a guide whose family still lives there, doing things much as they have "always been done."  The town is 2 hours by taxi outside of Cusco, at a lower elevation. We wanted a chance to learn a little bit more about true Peruvian culture because we are a bit distant from that living in our apartment.

One of the first things we noticed is that time is different there.  We had a lot of down time to relax. This was fabulous, in my opinion, because it was WARM and sunny there so sitting around doing nothing but feeling grateful to be warm was perfect.  I also liked watching our kids adjust to not having constant entertainment.  There was a "3 or 4 year old" boy there (not sure if they really don't know) who loved the toys we brought to share.  There was electricity for a couple of hours at night but not the rest of the time.  So the kids had to think of things to do that did not include electronic devices. This is not all that unusual for our family except that it usually doesn't happen for hours on end.  I loved watching the inventive games they came up with.

The thing that most stood out to us was how much WORK everything was.  And how much preparation everything takes.  We helped make chicha, the corn based alcoholic drink common in these parts.  They take the kernels off the corn and place them under a tarp for 15 days, watering it each day.  Once it starts to grow roots, it is ready to dry for a few days.  Once it is dry, they take it to the house in town where there is an electric grinder.  They grind it.  Then, an enormous pot of water is brought to a boil over an open fire (all of our meals were made over an open fire except our cuy which was brought to one of the 3 houses in town with a public oven.)  The corn is added, stirred, then strained through straw into another pot.  This process occurs twice.  Some of the last batch of chicha is added and it is allowed to ferment overnight.  This is just one example of the planning.  We also helped grind wheat which was used in our soup the first night, and used a mortar and pestle (a huge rock, though, not what I imagined a mortar and pestle to look like) to grind quinoa which was used in a different soup.  We also peeled potatoes which require sitting out overnight to freeze, then soaking in water to thaw before finally hand peeling them.  Aaron and I realized we get frustrated when we forget to thaw out dinner.  Imagine if you forget to dry the corn 15 days in advance!

We walked to the land they own and saw the guinea pig farm.  Anna fed the pigs and we brought back 4 of them for our feast.  Anna made sure to dance and jump around for them so they would "enjoy their last day of life."  The next day, we learned how they are prepared.  Totally crazy!!!  first, we watched him humanely kill them (quick neck snap).  Then they say a blessing over them and sprinkle them with chicha as an offering. You dip them in boiling water and then take off all of the fur.  The next step was amazing to me- you SHAVE the skin to make them completely naked.  Then the expected removal of the intestines occurs, they are stuffed with delicious herbs smashed together on the giant mortar and pestel and they are allowed to sit in the sun for an hour or so.  This family cooks everything over an open fire so they have to pay to use an oven.  It is a giant clay oven.  We left the pigs and a ton of potatoes there to be cooked and returned in an hour.  This process was also fascinating.  The owner of the oven was very busy putting bread inside.  I learned that this isn't his bread.  People come to his house, pay to grind large bags of wheat, then use his kitchen to make bread.  He bakes the bread and they pay him for his preparation space and his oven.  Then the next day, they sell the bread at market and come back to do it all over again.  It was really enlightening to me to be in a community where everybody shares things.  How nice it would be if there was a lawn mower on our street and when we need it we just pay $3 to use it and then return it.  It really doesn't make sense for every single house on our street to own a lawn mower.

Now we are back to Cusco.  Back to the cold.  Ready to feel warm again soon.

Anna grinding wheat:

 This is the kitchen.  There is an aluminum cover to it but otherwise it is outside.  It is all open fire.

 Anna at the guinea pig farm.  She loved feeding them.

The chicha (boiling water with corn) was poured into this basket with straw.  The chicha is collected below and fermented overnight.

 Cole using the mortar and pestle to grind the quinoa.  We have since learned this is how the Mayans ground chocolate!

 Anna is shaking hands with the dead guinea pigs.

 The cuy and papas ready to go in the oven.

 The room where we ate didn't have light except at night.  In order to find the eyeballs, her favorite part, she had to sit in the open doorway.