The students prepared for today by playing reverse hide-and-seek last night amidst the maze of cottages. Washington, our guide, showed off his pool skills and the rest enjoyed reliable wifi in the lobby. Cell phones and camaras were left behind so the travelers could immerse themselves in the community and projects without seeming garish. We arrived in Umasbamba to a musical and lei welcome by members of the community. The "mamacitas" held our hands and danced with us on our way to the courtyard outside the village church. A drummer and flutist followed, serenading us with traditional rural melodies throughout our stay. After being further welcomed by our local guide Javier, we strapped Peruvian packs tour our backs and hauled tools to a potato field owned by Frida. We joined the women in a ceremony to bless the land and our work while two bulls plowed the ground in preparation for the harvest. For the next hour we dug and harvested potatoes using curved, hand-held hoes still utilized by the people today. The second hour we moved to another field 400 meters closer to the lake. It was much more deeply furrowed and produced a better crop. The potatoes were collected onto sheets of wool then dumped manually into rice bags. Each bag held approximately 100 lbs of potatoes each. They were taken back to the village on the backs of mules. It was back-breaking work and a few students are feeling further drained from the sun. For lunch, we dined in the fields on potatoes, onion salad, cheese, and quinoa. The mint tea to top it off was excellent!
Afterwards, we were shown how local plants (and insects!) are used to create the dyes for their textiles. They sheared a sheep with a knife and taught us how to spin and weave. Some caught on faster than others! It was a powerful day and the students were moved--their favorite day on the trip by far. Tomorrow we return to Umasbamba to meet the school children and to work on community home projects.
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