¿Arreamos la vaca?

Things are beginning to settle down to a routine based around our daily English class in Pucará and what has basically become an afterschool program in English in Chijnaya. Needless to say, there is ample time for funny moments, family adventures, "peaceful" games of Rummy in Daphne's room, and preparation for what promises to be a smashing Halloween party. Oh yeah, and the professor who started the Chijnaya Foundation, Ralph Bolton, is coming TODAY for his birthday. This, I can assure you, will be no ordinary birthday. There will be lots of Peruvian line dancing (in fact, other communities are coming for a dancing competition), newly cut trees lining the road, elephant size portions of meat, a buffet-style lunch (which César and Paula were puzzled about), a CAKE (!!!) with Happy Birthday written in English, and probably copious amounts of drinking.

But before I get there (as it hasn't happened yet) I have to backtrack a couple of weeks to where I left you all off; back to a couple of fin de semanas atrás when Beto, Richard, and I went to arrear the vaca (and ovejas) lejos. This entails stocking up on yummies like hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, tuna (which, thank heaven, we didn't end up eating), fresh cheese, and gaseosa (soda). Then all this food, plus rain gear, is put on top of a bicycle, and we set off down to where the cows are being held (a temporary situation due to adobe blocks in their normal yard), set them loose, and herd them, along with the traviosa sheep, along a wide dirt road pointing to the mountains to the west. I was told that other family members from Paula's side would also be joining us, but for about half of the "trek" it was just Beto, Richard, and I. We passed the time telling stories...well I told stories. Interestingly, I was the one who ended up telling Peruvian stories about condenados (the damned), though I also treated them to a classic American scary story about a boy and his (dead) dog. Oh! and I also told them the story about Ferdinand the bull. It seemed appropriate as we were surrounded by all those cows.

About halfway up to the pasture we stopped to let the cows have water and so that a couple of cousins that we saw in the distance could catch up. A boy who is simply called Chico came riding up on his bicycle and another small one came bustle up beside him. This small one gave me a huge smile and immediately took hold of my hand and began dragging me around. At first I was baffled by this forwardness because I was under the impression that this small one was Lucmila's (Paula's youngest sister) youngest child, Chano, a boy. I was struck again by how much "he" looked like a girl (long hair and feminine features that I can't quite put my finger on), but I tried to put these thoughts behind me. "He" had not yet said one word, so when a full sentence about the vaca came busting out of this small person I instantly realized my mistake. This was Jimena! (the second to youngest traviosa chica) Not Chano at all! She had just gotten a haircut apparently. But still, how I mixed up a five year old with a two year old is still a mystery.

Well, we continued on up, Jimena still holding my hand, and with Elida/Chavi (the second oldest) and Lucmila who had caught up with us. The landscape is beautiful. Dry, grassy hills that continued to soar higher, with bare, rocky and lichened cliffs, and littered with small scrub trees. At one point I watched as an eagle or a hawk (I still don't know my Peruvian birds very well) approached from the mountains on the other side of the valley and fly right towards, then into, the rock face directly in front of where we had stopped. Then, barely a second later, it reemerged with a second eagle/hawk, of a lighter shade, and they both took off to another site of the rock facce with a songbird hot on their tails. Mamaranti (Paula's mom, who had just arrived with Magaly, Lucmila's oldest) said something about hunting, but I couldn't quite figure it out.

After sharing some gaseosa with the entire family, we kids took off to explore the rock face (from which the eagle/hawks had flown) and the rest of the hill above it. We climbed up through a beautiful passage walled by cliffs and consisting of nearly impenetrable shrubbery in places (it reminded me of the steep trail at Tumbledown). Magaly, Elida, and I straggled behind helping Jimena, while the boys raced ahead. We climbed about on boulders, slung small rocks with slingshots, took pictures of ourselves and tiny baby birds Beto found on the top in a tree, and poked around a bit. After about an hour we went down for lunch, which turned out to be quite enjoyable.

Having herded the cows and sheep down to the stream so they could drink and munch on the more substantial green grass, we set ourselves down in a spot with a good vantage point from where most of the animals could be seen. A blanket was laid out heaping with habas (a type of bean...lima??), potatoes, fried wheat munchables, eggs, and the cheese (from the local quesaría!). After lunch, the kids played/wrestled, Mamaranti shot a plastic dart revolver at her grandsons and challenged them to a boxing match, and I went running back up the mountain to chase down some roaming sheep. Beto and Chico followed me with their slingshots to persuade the sheep in the other direction. Then thunderheads began to move in.

The whole party finally got a move on, but a few steps into the descent rain started to fall. Soon the rain was accompanied by hail and a strong wind. Thunder was sounding in the distance and I could see flashes of lightening over some not-so-distant peaks. Jimena took hold of my hand again, but I told her she could ride on my back so we could go faster. We had a lovely time singing under the poncho Beto insisted I wear over the both of us (Jimena and I). When we had reached the bottom of the hill and the long, flat section back to town, Jimena decided she'd had enough of piggy-back riding. I let her down and took the bicycle from Richard, who was looking tired. This, I quickly realized, was a bad idea altogether (pushing a metal bike). Thunder clapped almost directly above us after a quite startling bolt of lightening. It didn't seem like I had too many options, so I put the straggling Jimena on the bike (probably not such a great idea...) took shelter among the cows, and booked it back to Chijnaya. Quite a heart-thumping end to a quite peaceful day.

Back at Chijnaya the power was out (as apparently always happens in thunderstorms), so I stripped off my wet clothes, put on long underwear, and got into my sleeping bag. Later, after dinner, Beto, Richard and I played with a rapidly melting beeswax candle I brought and told a couple more stories before heading to bed.

...

Well, I didn't mean to go on for quite so long, but it was a nice day.

Classes have been going fine, if a little frustrating at the colegio. These high schoolers don't seem to be taking us seriously--not doing their homework, not studying for quizzes, etc. But I'm pretty sure bad quiz grades will change their minds.

On the afterschool English class front things are going quite well. Maren's been reading Where The Wild Things Are, which is quite a hit, and we've been drawing monsters in preparation for Halloween. The collective monster drawn yesterday was exceedingly scary...double chin, three eyes, ghost-like body, four gruesome hands, wings, and wacky hair. The kids loved it.

Well, I have no doubt that I'll have a lot more to write after Ralph's birthday party and Halloween, so I'll leave you here.

¡Hasta pronto!