Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Pasteles and Pozos
Last week we went to Poza Verde, an Ayoré village about 1.5 hours away, where Charles planned to dig a well to create a clean water resource for the community. The week was full of ups and downs and lots of surprises! Charles is still there actually.
We stayed with our friends Mirta and Cesar who are Bolivian missionaries to the Ayoré. They have just recently moved into the house that Charles worked so hard on for the first year of our term. (See blog entry "Minor Improvements"). The house is not yet finished but is in good enough shape to occupy it. While we were there Charles connected the hot water heater so that they no longer needed two buckets of warm water to take a shower. Also, with the electricity just installed in the village, Charles was able to get lights connected through the house! When we first arrived they were working with one kitchen light for the entire house. The one light was a step up from what they were use to since they have lived in the village for almost four years and not had any electricity.
Charles, Lilly and I started our adventure out in one of the heaviest downpours I have seen in Bolivia. The streets were beginning to flood by the time we got close to the village and Charles' well project had to be delayed a day.
With the rain came cold weather, so we spent the first afternoon catching up with Cesar and Mirta as with the Ayoré while drinking hot tea.
During the week I helped Mirta with the meals while Charles and Cesar dug the well. It was quite interesting living in Mirta's shoes. She and I washed dishes outside in the cold since the faucet inside had a bad leak. Water is not an easy source to come by there since they have a small water tank for the entire community which must be pumped out using a small generator and a handle that is kept by the chief of the community. Week before last he got angry with someone and skipped town with the handle so that nobody could pump water! It's hard to really picture this life.
Mirta and Cesar recently left their mission to be independent missionaries and therefore do not receive a regular salary. Mirta has been making bread - a staple for the Ayore - to make enough money for them to get by. She bought an industrial size oven and makes 480 pieces of bread at a time. The Ayoré eat it for dinner and breakfast. We spent the entire afternoon making the bread and then she baked in time for their dinner. I knew it was coming but I was still surprised to hear Ayoré yelling at her doorstep at 5:30am the next morning saying to the others "You better come now before she runs out" in their native tongue of course.
We also made other traditional foods like Relleno de Platano, Zonso, Pastel de Choclo and Majadito. Relleno de Platano is mashed platanos with ground beef in the middle, bathed in eggs and then breadcrumbs much like a salmon croquette. Zonso is mashed yuca baked with cheese and butter - it resembles the filling of twice-baked potatoes. Pastel de Choclo is close to heaven! It's ground corn with butter, eggs, salt and milk and baked like a casserole. Pure corn! Majadito is a Bolivian rice and chicken rendition with a few vegetables. For several of these Mirta got out her mortal and pestle that is known as a "tacu" in Spanish - it was about a third of my height! The cold weather and limited resources made it feel like comfortable camping. It was mostly a growing experience to live among the Ayoré for longer than the day. What a blessing!
We stayed with our friends Mirta and Cesar who are Bolivian missionaries to the Ayoré. They have just recently moved into the house that Charles worked so hard on for the first year of our term. (See blog entry "Minor Improvements"). The house is not yet finished but is in good enough shape to occupy it. While we were there Charles connected the hot water heater so that they no longer needed two buckets of warm water to take a shower. Also, with the electricity just installed in the village, Charles was able to get lights connected through the house! When we first arrived they were working with one kitchen light for the entire house. The one light was a step up from what they were use to since they have lived in the village for almost four years and not had any electricity.
Charles, Lilly and I started our adventure out in one of the heaviest downpours I have seen in Bolivia. The streets were beginning to flood by the time we got close to the village and Charles' well project had to be delayed a day.
With the rain came cold weather, so we spent the first afternoon catching up with Cesar and Mirta as with the Ayoré while drinking hot tea.
During the week I helped Mirta with the meals while Charles and Cesar dug the well. It was quite interesting living in Mirta's shoes. She and I washed dishes outside in the cold since the faucet inside had a bad leak. Water is not an easy source to come by there since they have a small water tank for the entire community which must be pumped out using a small generator and a handle that is kept by the chief of the community. Week before last he got angry with someone and skipped town with the handle so that nobody could pump water! It's hard to really picture this life.
Mirta and Cesar recently left their mission to be independent missionaries and therefore do not receive a regular salary. Mirta has been making bread - a staple for the Ayore - to make enough money for them to get by. She bought an industrial size oven and makes 480 pieces of bread at a time. The Ayoré eat it for dinner and breakfast. We spent the entire afternoon making the bread and then she baked in time for their dinner. I knew it was coming but I was still surprised to hear Ayoré yelling at her doorstep at 5:30am the next morning saying to the others "You better come now before she runs out" in their native tongue of course.
We also made other traditional foods like Relleno de Platano, Zonso, Pastel de Choclo and Majadito. Relleno de Platano is mashed platanos with ground beef in the middle, bathed in eggs and then breadcrumbs much like a salmon croquette. Zonso is mashed yuca baked with cheese and butter - it resembles the filling of twice-baked potatoes. Pastel de Choclo is close to heaven! It's ground corn with butter, eggs, salt and milk and baked like a casserole. Pure corn! Majadito is a Bolivian rice and chicken rendition with a few vegetables. For several of these Mirta got out her mortal and pestle that is known as a "tacu" in Spanish - it was about a third of my height! The cold weather and limited resources made it feel like comfortable camping. It was mostly a growing experience to live among the Ayoré for longer than the day. What a blessing!
Here we are - the five of us!
Mirta is unable to have children of her own up to this point so she is always willing to help out with Lilly as if she was her own. 
Charles is in serious work mode.
Lilly is one week older than her friend Rosario and a few pounds lighter I might add. 
This is Lilly's only sweater - so we wash it often!
Charles was trying to fix the electricity so we didn't have to duck from this wire every time we walked through the kitchen.
Making the Bolivian baked dishes with a gigantic 'tacu.'
It was a funny experience eating at the counter in regular chairs - they don't have stools and I could barely reach my plate!
Here's me grinding the fresh-picked corn
Mirta gave it a go as well.
And more bread ...
She said she wears the headpiece as not to get her hair in the mixture!
Washing clothes by hand is not easy nor was it warm that day.
Here's Cesar siphoning gasoline from Charles' car for a motor to run the generator to pump water from the well. Cesar got a mouth full of gas!
Guess who had to wash those clothes?
This is facing opposite of Charles on the other side of the pulley.Full of Character
Lilly Cruz is forming into quite a little person. In most of these pictures she is about 3.5 months old. Here are some shots we've taken of her lately. We're excited that so many of you will meet her soon! 
This was taken in Barrio Bolivar, a village close to town, showing the benches Charles just built for the children to sit on in the classroom. Until a few weeks ago they would only stand as not to get dirty - quite an oxymoron for them.
Little Chicho can't believe my baby is so white - he wanted me to take a picture.
Josedate (Jose - da - te) is the one who named Lilly. My Ayore name is Acadedate (A - ka - day - da - te) meaning teacher and now Lilly is known as Acade (A - ka - day) meaning little teacher. The mother always gets the 'te' suffix of the child's name. And this is how the older women would carry their babies - I use the same method.
This was taken in Barrio Bolivar, a village close to town, showing the benches Charles just built for the children to sit on in the classroom. Until a few weeks ago they would only stand as not to get dirty - quite an oxymoron for them.Little Chicho can't believe my baby is so white - he wanted me to take a picture.Josedate (Jose - da - te) is the one who named Lilly. My Ayore name is Acadedate (A - ka - day - da - te) meaning teacher and now Lilly is known as Acade (A - ka - day) meaning little teacher. The mother always gets the 'te' suffix of the child's name. And this is how the older women would carry their babies - I use the same method.
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