jugo especial
I know, lack of posting much this week. But then again, not much occurring excpet the same-old dirt, same-old mapping. So here´s a blend of different comments:
Almost every place to eat--from the hole-in-the-wall to a nicer restaurant--has a variety of juices to choose from. They´ve got practically every fruit you can get down here, and many of them sound pretty yummy--guabana, pineapple, orange, strawberry, etc. But one thing that´s on almost every menu is the flavor ¨especial¨. So what exactly is that? Is it a mix of a select few juices (for ex., pineapple, orange, and papaya)? Nope, it seems every place has it´s own blend of exactly what they put in their especial. SO my hunch is that it´s actually the dregs of all the other juices; it always looks super-pulpy and is usually a orangish-tan color. Ewwww.
The site, though still gross and dusty, has an added element of creepiness that I hadn´t realized before. Theer are these rooms that have, in the floor, silos. Silos are these round openings, maybe about 3 ft diameter and usually with little hillocks of dirt piled around their mouths, that go straight down for an average of 3-5 ft until it opens up into a chamber below the surface of the floor. The chambers are huge! They go down for about another 10-20 ft, and it´s hard to tell exactly how much space is down there. It´s often filled with modern trash, but there are some textiles and bones from later burials. I was told they were used to store food--there are some hand-holds carved into the sides of the shaft down. So one room measuring about 20m by 30 m may have as many as 10 silos spread across its floor; their chambers may or may not attach underneath. There are even some little tiny square rooms about 2m by 2m that all they have in it is a hole in the center--barely enough room to walk around the opening. When I´m in one of those rooms mapping, it´s quite creepy because 1) I´m worried about slipping along the sides of the little dirt piles and falling into or dropping something important in there. I would NOT want to go in there. 2) It strikes me as a weird whack-a-mole playing field. I keep expecting some undead fiend to pop out of it. I don´t know if I´d laugh or scream. It´d be great to use for some creepy Lovecraftian Cthullu or Nyarthotep story (hint hint Jeb *grin*).
I´m hopefully going to Barranca tomorrow evening to meet up with PANC. I´m going to try calling Dr. Haas to make double-sure tomorrow morning, and to check and see if they´ll have space for me at the house. If not, I´ll have to ask for someone to go reserve me a spot at a hostel down there. They usually work half a day on Saturdays, so I´ll try to run up to Huacho to go to the museum and reintroduce myself and get some photos of the storage room, if they´ll let me. It´s going to be interesting trying to figure out how to take the bus up there tomorrow evening. And it should be fun--they´ve got a lot of folks there and Keith apparently won some World Cup pool the group was doing (soccer, for those who don´t know, and Italy won) so he´s got 3 1/2 cases of Cristal beer to share. Yes, they´re all borrachos up there.
One thing that Latin America in general has the US simply beat on is chicken. You may think Popeye´s or KFC or other places may have the best, but they´re nothing compared to Guatemala´s Pollo Campero or Peru´s Norky´s or Bembos. Peru particuarly is known for its pollos a la brasa, or spit-roasted chicken. Man, that is some great stuff.
I figured out why everyone in Lima (well, women mostly) dress so nicely. The clothes are cheap! Even in ritzy Miraflores, at a department store, the ¨most expensive¨ jeans are $40. You can get a lovely, good-quality sweater for $10 easy. Everything is so cute and fashionable looking. The women all thend to wear their pants a bit too tight, though. I´m sure that wouldn´t bother any of you guys that I know, but I think it looks damned uncomfortable and tends to show camel toe, unfortunately.
Almost finally done knitting the green purse, then I´ll seam it together. A quarter done with the cat bed already, it goes fast. And maybe 1/8 done on a little cross-stitch piece I brought. The neat thing is that Yachaywasi has been doing a special textile workshop this week. Of course I´ve been working, so I can´t participate, but I´m going to get some of the course document from it. I´d do the workshop they´re having on Saturday, except I´m going to Barranca. But I´ve gotten to check out things every afternoon when I´ve gotten back from the field. The most interesting parts so far have actually been the spinning and dying process--they´ve been using spindle whorls to make the thread and natural plants/minerals to tint the wool. I even got to try it a little bit. I definitely need these notes! Crafty gals unite!
I´ll be back to post again probably Sunday night or Monday; hope I have good luck for my short trip up to PANC. Until then.
Almost every place to eat--from the hole-in-the-wall to a nicer restaurant--has a variety of juices to choose from. They´ve got practically every fruit you can get down here, and many of them sound pretty yummy--guabana, pineapple, orange, strawberry, etc. But one thing that´s on almost every menu is the flavor ¨especial¨. So what exactly is that? Is it a mix of a select few juices (for ex., pineapple, orange, and papaya)? Nope, it seems every place has it´s own blend of exactly what they put in their especial. SO my hunch is that it´s actually the dregs of all the other juices; it always looks super-pulpy and is usually a orangish-tan color. Ewwww.
The site, though still gross and dusty, has an added element of creepiness that I hadn´t realized before. Theer are these rooms that have, in the floor, silos. Silos are these round openings, maybe about 3 ft diameter and usually with little hillocks of dirt piled around their mouths, that go straight down for an average of 3-5 ft until it opens up into a chamber below the surface of the floor. The chambers are huge! They go down for about another 10-20 ft, and it´s hard to tell exactly how much space is down there. It´s often filled with modern trash, but there are some textiles and bones from later burials. I was told they were used to store food--there are some hand-holds carved into the sides of the shaft down. So one room measuring about 20m by 30 m may have as many as 10 silos spread across its floor; their chambers may or may not attach underneath. There are even some little tiny square rooms about 2m by 2m that all they have in it is a hole in the center--barely enough room to walk around the opening. When I´m in one of those rooms mapping, it´s quite creepy because 1) I´m worried about slipping along the sides of the little dirt piles and falling into or dropping something important in there. I would NOT want to go in there. 2) It strikes me as a weird whack-a-mole playing field. I keep expecting some undead fiend to pop out of it. I don´t know if I´d laugh or scream. It´d be great to use for some creepy Lovecraftian Cthullu or Nyarthotep story (hint hint Jeb *grin*).
I´m hopefully going to Barranca tomorrow evening to meet up with PANC. I´m going to try calling Dr. Haas to make double-sure tomorrow morning, and to check and see if they´ll have space for me at the house. If not, I´ll have to ask for someone to go reserve me a spot at a hostel down there. They usually work half a day on Saturdays, so I´ll try to run up to Huacho to go to the museum and reintroduce myself and get some photos of the storage room, if they´ll let me. It´s going to be interesting trying to figure out how to take the bus up there tomorrow evening. And it should be fun--they´ve got a lot of folks there and Keith apparently won some World Cup pool the group was doing (soccer, for those who don´t know, and Italy won) so he´s got 3 1/2 cases of Cristal beer to share. Yes, they´re all borrachos up there.
One thing that Latin America in general has the US simply beat on is chicken. You may think Popeye´s or KFC or other places may have the best, but they´re nothing compared to Guatemala´s Pollo Campero or Peru´s Norky´s or Bembos. Peru particuarly is known for its pollos a la brasa, or spit-roasted chicken. Man, that is some great stuff.
I figured out why everyone in Lima (well, women mostly) dress so nicely. The clothes are cheap! Even in ritzy Miraflores, at a department store, the ¨most expensive¨ jeans are $40. You can get a lovely, good-quality sweater for $10 easy. Everything is so cute and fashionable looking. The women all thend to wear their pants a bit too tight, though. I´m sure that wouldn´t bother any of you guys that I know, but I think it looks damned uncomfortable and tends to show camel toe, unfortunately.
Almost finally done knitting the green purse, then I´ll seam it together. A quarter done with the cat bed already, it goes fast. And maybe 1/8 done on a little cross-stitch piece I brought. The neat thing is that Yachaywasi has been doing a special textile workshop this week. Of course I´ve been working, so I can´t participate, but I´m going to get some of the course document from it. I´d do the workshop they´re having on Saturday, except I´m going to Barranca. But I´ve gotten to check out things every afternoon when I´ve gotten back from the field. The most interesting parts so far have actually been the spinning and dying process--they´ve been using spindle whorls to make the thread and natural plants/minerals to tint the wool. I even got to try it a little bit. I definitely need these notes! Crafty gals unite!
I´ll be back to post again probably Sunday night or Monday; hope I have good luck for my short trip up to PANC. Until then.
posted by archaesmd at 9:42 PM
3 Comments:
It´d be great to use for some creepy Lovecraftian Cthullu or Nyarthotep story (hint hint Jeb *grin*).
When you return, I recommend trying to rent a movie called The Resurrected. It has a scene in it that is VERY similar to what you are describing. And it is a faithful adaptation of HPL's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward."
I was wondering if there was any chance you were working in privies, until you mentioned how each room had multiples, so that is obviously something different. When you are writing this up and preparing for future research design, I'd recommend taking a look at what has been done with chultunes, underground storage pits in the Maya lands. Some were used for food storage probably, while especially in the arid north of Yucatan, they were used for water storage. You may find some methodological aid there.
Hey! Reguarding the tight pants statement, for the record not all of your male friends are pervs. 95-99% of us probably are but not everyone. :)
On a more serious note, I'm curious as to your reactions/thoughts on both the Mexican Presidential Election (I realize that's not exactly your field of experise in the world but you probably know more about what's going on than I do since I generally only follow the Anglosphere and the Far East with any regularity) as well as the US/Peru Free Trade Agreement that Bush and the GOP on one end and Toledo and Garcia on the other are evidently trying to ram down everyone's throats.
Anyways, hope that your weekend up in Barranca goes well (or went well by the time you read/moderate this comment). Talk to you later.
What is PANC and how far is Barranca? I hope you had a good time even though they are all borrachos! I'm enjoying your blog even though I have to fight my motherly over protectiveness... I'm going to pass your blog site onto a few of my friends.
Love, Mom
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