El Mercado – Mas Pastel (Cake!) – Birthdays

On Sunday, everyone slept in and spent time relaxing and rejuvenating after a long hike in Cajas on Saturday. Several students went to the weekly Sunday market in Paute with their families. The majority of the Bulan community, including all of the host-families, work within the agriculture sector. The Sunday market in Paute is a very important part of their weekly work/income. People from all over the valley come to shop at this market. The color and diversity of food that is grown here is stunning.

After the market and a calm afternoon, Fuyu and Ron invited our whole group to their house for yet another birthday celebration for both Estrella/Gwen AND Fuyu! We ate fresh watermelon and delicious cake. We also played taboo in Spanish 🙂

That night, Felipe-Uly/Gavin joined Amanda and me for dinner at our host-family’s house. It was a special occasion, because they were roasting several cuyes on their outdoor spit/firepit, when we arrived…! Uly/Gavin was an adventurous eater and followed in stride with our host-family, eating practically every part of the cuy (I meant EVERY part) until there was just a small mountain of tiny bones on his plate. I ate more cautiously, no cuy head for me, but enjoyed the taste and experience nonetheless! Cuyes are a big part of this culture, they are not only proud owners of their cuyes, but they take great care of them, and believe they are the most sano “healthy” and sostenible “sustainable” of all meats, since all they eat is hierba “grasss/herbs” and they are native to this land/the Andes.

-Elena

Carlos, selling fruit at the Paute market (Amanda and Elena’s host-dad)
Carmen selling clothes at the Paute market (Zacharias/Elijah & Felipe/Felix’s host-mom)

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