Visting Maria

Yesterday, Bean and I had a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. We were able to go to a farm house, which belonged to a young Imara lady named Maria. Well, she claimed to be young... she looked about 40 years old, but our tour guide swore she was only 22. "The weather here is not kind."

The structure itself was made of mud adobe bricks, and the floor was packed dirt. We were only able to visit the bedroom, which consisted of two adobe platforms with straw mats on them, and not much else. There were two hooks on the wall for Maria´s skirts (her only posessions, costing a pretty 300 soles each!), and holes in the mud adobe to put her sandals, when she wasn´t wearing them.

For someone with so little, she was very warm and generous in receiving us. We ate boiled Peruvian potatoes with her, as well as some freshly made cheese. So far we haven´t contracted any parasites from this unpasteurized delicacy, but give it time. I am pretty sure I can feel the tapeworm in my brain.