National Potato Day

May 30 is National Potato Day in Peru.  The potato was apparently first domesticated in Peru and parts of Bolivia, today producing thousands of varieties.  After the Spanish invasion, potatoes were introduced from Peru to Europe and other parts of the world (latter part of the 16th century).

The locals of Haunca Huanca showed us their potato crops and explained the cultivation process back in November ('11)

Many potato varieties are to be found in the local Cusco markets all year long

Chuño and Moraya are freeze-dried potatoes especially preserved and found in the higher altitude regions of Peru.  Moraya is a white-freeze dried potato.  The Chuño are small, dark - nearly black - potatoes.  It is a five-day process that involves spreading them on the ground where they can freeze over night for 3 nights, in between which they are trampled by foot in the sun, to remove excess moisture, and then freeze-dried for another 2 nights. There is another process that produces the white Moraya which involves depositing them in cold river water for a time .  These dried potatoes can be preserved this way for many months after. Chuño and Moraya  are especially used in soups prepeared here in the Cusco region.

Because it's such a staple, the potato is used in many recipes and eaten on a daily basis for most Peruvians.

Preserved white Moray and dark Chuño potatoes in the market.

Widow-Maker's

Sometimes, with mouth dropped and eyes rolled, you really have to laugh.
One of the reasons I chose my new apartment before March was for the bathtub- not a common bathroom feature here. 
Cold running water is the norm in Peru, but if you want warm showers, you can buy what people call a "widow-maker": an electric shower head.  Just make sure you remember to flick the switch off after, or you could fry the wires and lose your heated water option pretty quickly! 
My first shower in my shower/bath was not so relaxing, as the water sprayed all over the place, I could feel what felt like a bit of electricity in the water and discovered a large crack between the wall and tub letting lots of water into the floor underneath.
It took a few weeks for my landlords to come intent to fix the shower after telling them about the problems (thankfully I have a second small stand-up shower that they put a widow-maker in prior to my moving in).  They figured that the "energy" I could feel in the water was due to the grounding wire being connected to a metal screw in the wall and that a ground to the earth would be necessary.

The picture below shows their solution (As of yet, I haven't tested it to see if it worked or not!)

Notice the grounding wire sitting in the dirt-filled flower pot 

Walter has assured me this is not the norm here in fixing things!

At the Casa...
In the countrysides the corn fields are now being harvested.  I didn't know before that the stalks of the corn are like sugar cane.  April is the beginning of the dry season, so without rain every day, we try to take the children on little adventures at least once a week to go for walks or picnics outside of the orphanage.  One day we took our mid-morning snack sitting on the side of a field close to the Casa where the staff collected corn canes for the kids to chew on.

With the four oldest kids in school and not returning to the home until after 1:30pm, I've been spending more time with the little ones with toddler or pre-school activities.  Sometimes that includes helping with therapeutic exercises for the babies to get different muscles working.  Carlos dislikes laying on his stomach and, nearly a year old, hasn't learned to roll over yet and doesn't sit up well even with pillows all around.


Fabi is ready for fingerpainting



Adriano excited to paint!

Other times I take two or three of the toddlers and we do a mini 'circle-time' with action songs, a story, and some other activity.  I even found a children's spanish music CD with lyrics that has a song entitled "The Little House in Canada"!

Adriano doesn't have many words in his vocabulary yet, but right now he really loves learning the animal sounds. What sound does a llama make?  Not sure about that one yet...


I also pull out different educational toys that help with coordination or fine-motor skills which are great for seeing where the kids are at developmentally.

Veronica is another down syndrome child who has been in Lima for health reasons for longer than I've been here, but just recently returned to the Casa.  The same age as Fabiola, she is much more developmentally behind, a lot more emotionally needy, and quite shaky on her legs, often falling which makes us all nervous as she's still recovering from heart surgery a month ago.

Veronica and Fabi in the therapy room

 

 Market Days...

Friday mornings are still market days...

Margarita and I spend about an hour and a half buying the meat, flour, cheese, fruits and veggies necessary for the weekly meals.

Below- photos of the meat market.

(Yes, I'm still vegetarian).

Ah, to the left- the mysterious 'meat' they fed us in Huanca Huanca on the last fall BCEF adult mission trip!  Even Pastor Fredi said we didn't have to eat the meat that time.

Thankfully, the flower section is beside, offering a prettier view!

Sugar cane you can buy in the market

Meanwhile...

With only a month away, Walter and I are getting excited for the wedding as we plan and really looking forward to my family and friends who will be coming!