Picture Post

A couple pictures from the past few weeks.. Enjoy!

My first Picaron that came out looking like it should. I was just a little excited!

The Picaron making process. The key is dipping your hands in salt water.

The band that welcomed me when I got to site. And continued to play for an hour while I was forced to dance. The guy in the far corner is my host sister's fiancee. I'll be going to a wedding in less than a year :-)

Part of my welcome crew. L-R: Host sister Bettina, Host mom Bremilda, me, Counterpart Flor, host mom of volunteer Nicole in Zana, El Profesor (dance teacher- don't actually know his name), Gilda and Fanny, two of the youth I'll be working with. Notice the baby face on the sign.

My new 'kitchen'. It has a roof, but it is pretty much outside. We have a fridge. It's in the dining room, unplugged.

The view from my bedroom window of the ducks and cuy (guinea pig). I'll be eating these guys at some point. Note the clothes line- it's barbed wire.

The bathroom. They put a door on for me. In the back right behind the towels is the only sink we have. The animals are to the right and the kitchen to the left, under the thatched roof.

If you were wondering what an incredibly nervous Sara looks like while being interviewed for the TV, you now know.

Some of the youth I'll be working with after interviewing and talking with the director of the Agriculture department in Chiclayo.

View on the way to my site. My town is super FLAT and there are mountains peeking out around it.

My new family in the north. Bettina (24), my pop Juan, me, mamita Bremilda and my brother Carlos (19). Not pictured are my oldest sister who is 30 and lives in Lima with her 9 month old and her other son, Bryan who is 12 and lives with us.

The men taking apart the Pachamanca. This is the only dish that men cook or help with in Peru. You dig a big hole, build a fire and put rocks on it. Then take out the super hot rocks and layer in potatoes, yams, chicken, meat, sweet tamale like things and really big beans with the rocks, cover it all with leaves and wait an hour. Then you dig it all out and feast.

This was a small plate. I had at least 3 potatoes (different kinds) plus the yam.

Kerry and Madeline, the adopted Quispe. Our families wanted to thank us for the luncheon we made for them and so decided to all come together to make a Pachamanca.

Evan showing his Food Network skills while chopping up some aji for Taco Tuesday at Keith's house.

Keith showing his family how to make tacos. He decided to have a taco party for his family and invited us all. They were DELICIOUS!!!

The taco feast. Enough to feed about 40.