so as it turns out, the reason i haven’t been able to upload photos is because they’re too large –  it is not due to our internet, which moves slower than most farm equipment. but tonight rob showed me how to compress them, so I can finally show you guys all the things I’ve been doing for the last six weeks! so here we go!

 

our welcome cake! 

me trying to get tan at the office

my green bedroom!! it’s simple but clean. the bare walls make me feel like i am a buddhist monk in a dorm. 

my terrace!

the patitos (ducklings) that live at my house

my eating house, in old town

the cuys that live at my house

in the same room as the cuys…. what i am assuming is a sacrifice to the gods of the andes. yes those are skulls. and yes those are petrified llama fetuses. 

 

the view of chaupi calle from my eating house

calle rumi ñahui, with the awamaki office on the left, and mountains beyond!

the other side of the awamaki office… the red bag on that pole means that chicha is sold there (chicha is fermented corn beer that’s made here… i haven’t tried it yet because i’ve heard it’s hell on your stomach) 

you can only see half of it, but that is a giant pile of pig carcasses in kelsey’s kitchen, which her host mom was cooking in their giant oven for a wedding a few weeks ago. 

this is the market, where you can buy everything from fruit to toilet paper to various animal parts. pretty much all you can buy in ollanta you get at the market. 

fruits at the market. here you can find both the largest and smallest avocados i have ever seen!

tiny avocados! 

cactus fruits! oddly enough tuna (the fish) is called atún, and these are called tuna. makes no sense to me. 

view of the plaza de armas

other side of the plaza

 

and, for my grand finale……

view of ollanta and the mountain beyond, with the inca fortress. maravilloso!

 

more to come tomorrow!!!!