Quiero ir al Camal...Si...Si...Si, yo se

I got up earlier than usual, around six thirty, so that I could get to the camal, or local slaughterhouse, and back before breakfast. Got directions from Patti, and took a wrong turn as soon as I got to the bottom of the hill, so I ended up at least a kilometer off in the wrong direction. It was fun though, I got all sorts of help form the local little old ladies. They loved telling La Gringa that she was WAY off from where she wanted to be. So I hiked back to the square and caught a moto-taxi, which is essentially a dirt bike with the rear wheel removed and replaced by an axle, upon which sits a canopied two person seat. Very interesting. It took me several minutes to convince my driver that, yes, I did know what a camal is, and yes, I really did want to go watch animals slaughtered. Not a typical tourist attraction, I gather. He asked for 3 soles, which I agreed to, unfortunately, because when I got there, three blocks later, I realized that I should have, first, walked, and second, only paid about 50 cents. It's ok though, all in a good day's learning. The slaughterhouse was very interesting. Absolutely no smell, though it was early in the morning, and really clean, but also not, not in a western sense. There were four hooks that they hung the carcasses up on and a grated drainage ditch along the center of the room where they washed all of the "stuff" away with hoses that were always running. I definitely got some strange looks when I walked in and asked if I could look around, but one of the ladies was really nice. She posed for a few pics beside her sheep, and then answered what questions I could get across. I watched her prepare sausage casings, which I won't write about, for those of you with weak stomachs, but it was...very...organic. Took a second moto-taxi up to the casa, since I was running late for breakfast, which of course they saved for me. Patrick eats a lot though, I was a tad concerned! The second moto-taxi was even more interesting, since the poor thing had to make it up the steep hill. He did well, I think we only stalled three times. There is a huge black spot on the road though, where some unfortunate moto-taxi died. At ten, after me breakfast, Pocha took us on a tour of her gardens, which ended up being a long talk about life philosophy and the environmentalism, which was fantastic. I love her, I think she's a really amazing woman. Post almuerzo (lunch) four of us (Kate, Ambra, and Claire) took a combi to Tarica, which is halfway to Huaraz and has a reputation as THE ceramics village in the area. It was completely empty when we got there, rather like a ghost town. We had the address of a potter there that Pocha and Patti know, so we asked the few people we saw at the corner store where his house was and then hiked up, only to wait on the woman who had answered, who ended up being his wife. Turns out the whole town is closed down as the potter's are on holiday (from going to market) for the rest of the month. Who knew? He was very kind though, and showed us around his shop at home, and then took us over to the center, where the association that he is part of works. It is beautiful. They make their own clay mix, with clays from a nearby village. They must have over ten wheels, two of them electric, and a really nice electric kiln, which was bought for them by a Canadian mining company that is working in the area. I think it was a bribe...Ambra and I tried our hands at the kick wheel, but it's hard! Centering is very difficult when you're either taking your hands on and off the clay or kicking the wheel around with hands on. I made a totally pitiful little vase, but I did get that. Ambra's clay came off the wheel into her hands and wouldn't stick again. We thanked him profusely for a wonderful afternoon, made a date for the following Thursday, and squeezed into a combi with 20 other ppl in it for the ride back to Carhuaz. Spent a bit of time on the net and then started walking back. The soccer field (of cement) below the bullring was packed with people so I went to check it out, and there was a traditional dance competition going, which was really cool!I watched two dances. The first was about courtship, so that was really funny, and it ended with flower petals and doves being tossed into the air. Flashy. The second was an INcan ceremonial dance with flaming hoops and human pyramids! Really impressive! Hiked up the stairs (on day they'll kill me) and home, meeting Antonia, a really sweet old Quechua woman herding sheep and Irena on the way, and watched the sunset fade from the clouds on my way up. What a wonderful day. I could happily live here if every day was like this. Oh, and we had musical sing-alongs this evening, in Kate's room. Patrick is fab!

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