Mud Pies in Andahuaylas

August 12-13 District Meeting #2 in Andahuaylas

 We had to travel by car half way again to get to Andahuaylas, only this time we had to share with another man so here is a picture of me hanging on to Lyle during all those hairpin turns for 3 1/2 hours. Seriously the man next to me was a big man so we were totally squished.  Look how happy Lyle is.

This is truly the blind leading the blind.  The blind man in front has his white cane and the blind woman behind just hangs on to his shoulder.  The man next to them is with the bus company helping them get to the gate.

I really wanted to get a full picture of this woman, she was about four foot nothing and had such an interesting face.  I always wonder  about the ancestry of the people here. Her hair is to her waist in 2 braids and she had about four layers of skirts ( the more skirts you wear the richer you are). 

One of the neighborhood streets in town being watched over by this statue.

There are a couple of gambling places in town and this woman and her children are waiting outside for her husband, It looks like she is praying he will really hit it big, or that he will get out of there before the money is gone.

This little boy came in to the bakery and held his little hand between the counter and the cash register.  He had a coin and wanted to buy a pastry.  The bakery girl gave him the pastry and no change.  He waited for the change and she explained that there was no change.  I am pretty sure the bakery girl was being generous in that the coin he gave her was not enough to pay for it as it was.  Well, he was not going to have any of that, no change, so he threw his pastry on the floor and was so mad.  I said, "Lyle all he wants is a little change, can you give him some".  He gave him a 5 centavos piece (which is about a penny and a tenth).  He picked up the pastry and walked off.  Later we come out of the bakery and we saw him with his brother and they are throwing the coin on the ground.  They were trying to see if the coin was real metal.  These tiny coins are so worthless the boys had probably never seen one before.

I just love the children being on the backs of their mothers, they get to see and hear everything their mother sees and hears. This little one is enjoying the Park along with her mother.

Watching the ice cream cart while mom is away.

It is potato harvest time.  On the way in town I saw brightly dressed workers (men and women) working as a large group, digging the potatoes out of the ground and putting them in huge bags. Now they are off to market.

Another first, won-ton soup with a few boiled quail eggs.  They are delicious and supposed to be very healthy.

In every market there is an eatery section.

Every market has a fruit drink section that is really tempting, but we don't dare drink or eat at the Market.

I bought a sweater from this lady and she let me get a picture with one of the hats she is selling.  This hat is pressed wool  and she has a stack of them.  A young man had just bought one for his young wife and she was so happy.  These are very traditional and well made.  They cost only 15 american dollars.  There is a hat shop across the street from this market with such pretty hats, that it makes me wish hats were still in style in the USA, I would definitely bring some home with me.

Sewing, mending and tailoring are common professions here and they can set up about anywhere.  This is in the market.

Lyle was very interested in this motorcyle/wagon.  They have these in every town but this one is new.

There are several little boys shining shoes in the parks of Andauaylas and it is hard to turn them away,  Only about 30 cents for nice shiny shoes - and you need it with all the walking and the dirt here.  

The people that lived  hundreds of years ago in this area were never conquered by the Incas.  To celebrate their unconquerable spirit they have an annual event called the Blood Festival.
A giant condor is caught, captured and held sometimes for weeks before the festival.  When the time for the festival arrives the condor is given alcohol to drink and is lashed to a half-ton bull in an arena.  The enraged bull tries to shake the condor off while the condor tries to gouge out the bull's eyes. These condors have a ten foot wing span and weigh up to 33 pounds, if they get injured in any way it is thought to be a bad omen for the village.  

Lyle was interested in watching this construction site where they are pouring a cement floor.  On one end of the floor the cement is several inches thinner.  It looks like someone forgot to level the forms before pouring.  It is always interesting to watch how things are built here. 

The cheese ladies with hand pressed cheese for sale. Notice the cat underneath the stools waiting for the women to look the other way.

A big rain/hail-storm hit the town just as we began walking to the church to meet the missionaries for Family History appointments. It came and left quickly and the children ran out to hold hail stones in their hands.  There was a mad dash to get everything covered and sweep the water away from the street market stands.

This little girl got stuck behind this pole and her father was gently coaxing her out.  She was stuck like that for a long time.

Wedding Cakes (like this one on display) are about $100 US dollars.  I haven't seen anything like this in the US.  They also have one's like this with princesses and other themes for birthdays.

Okay, we like to check out the bakeries and have found some great treats.  Nothing is as sweet as it is in the United States but I am getting used to that.  Lyle has found apple strudel and I found chocolate/pineapple cake.  Both are delicious.  Cakes are a part of every celebration and as you can see they go all out to decorate them.  Each bakery has it's signature design.  This town was full of bakeries with the white cream peaks as part of the decorations.

 While we were waiting outside the church for meetings to start on Saturday we walked across the street to watch these kids.  It brought back great mud pie making memories.  Aren't they cute?  While I was taking pictures and watching the kids, Lyle was talking to the Seventh Day Adventist leader from the church behind these children.  He had a great discussion with him about Jesus Christ and the need for all men to follow him.  Finally, the big brother showed up took the kids by their wrists and marched them home.  I sure would have liked to see their mother's face when they came in the door.

The district conference that we came for went well.  It was us, the mission president and his executive secretary.   The rest of the presidency needed to be in another town.  So I had to bare testimony in one meeting and talk in the other. It was a little easier this time.

 Lyle did a lot of temple recommends and he told me this story.  This town had just returned from a temple trip and Lyle had ridden all the way there and back (8 hours each way) only a few weeks before to interview people for recommends for the trip.  One sister that he interviewed this time said that she just couldn't afford to go with the rest of the members and it had been years since she had been. She told Lyle that she had a plan, though.  She was going to buy a little plant and it would eventually grow fruit and she would sell the fruit and save all the money, then the fruit would grow the next year and she would sell the fruit and save all that money too.  She would sell the fruit of this plant every year until she had enough money that her family could go to the Temple again.  Wow, how can you take going to the temple for granted after hearing a story like that.