June 11: ¿Puedes ayudar a tender el horno? (Can you help set up the oven?)

This afternoon: 

Martha - ¿Puedes ayudar a tender el horno?

Yo - Perdón, no estoy segura si yo entiendo. 

Martha - Necesitamos tu ayuda para construir el horno. 

Yo - Oh...ok. Sí, les ayudaré.

Martha - Pónte ropa mala y tu sombrero. 

Yo - Uh, ok. 

Over the next half an hour, we worked to assemble an oven made of rocks that we would later (after heating it with a wood fire for about 2 hours) collapse on top of a bunch of potatoes and oca (type of root vegetable) to cook them for lunch. This form of oven is called pachamanca and is traditional to the Incan communities. Just like an American cookout, where we sit near the grill and hang out as lunch cooks, we sat and danced near the pachamanca while our potatoes cooked. 

Once the potatoes were cooked and all the family had arrived, we dug them out of the pile of hot rocks, and took them inside to the table which also had some sauce, cheese, pork, and stuffed peppers to accompany the potatoes. We all stood around the table, eating with our hands for the most part. The way you eat the potatoes is by brushing the dirt off a little with a napkin, breaking it in half, spooning some sauce on it, and topping that with a chunk of cheese before stuffing it in your mouth, all while trying not to burn your tongue or fingers off. Sounds fun, right?! It was!

This weekend has been amazing--filled with good surprises and surely God-worked "coincidences." I was blessed by a visit from dear church friends, as they passed through Cusco on their way home from a mission trip. We enjoyed walking through the city, catching up, shopping, taking pictures, etc. Friday night, I was blessed by some great conversations with Cuscaneans and my American friends. Though we talked about problems in this world and even our own lives, there is so much hope in simply uniting with others, and I had the privilege of experiencing that.
 Still, Cusco does not fail to go above and beyond my expectations. I cannot wait for all the adventures to come!