Food

My sole occupation for the past three weeks has been filling the stomachs of the team of workers out at the land. I am cook, cleaning lady, and dishwasher. By the time the breakfast dishes are completed, it's time to haul more water from the well and start lunch.

This week, in edition to John, Alex, and Jackson, (who eat like horses), I've also been feeding the Peruvian doctor, the Peruvian chainsaw guy whose name is Alfredo, and Osvaldo, who lives on the land with us. For a few days we provided food for the mechanic and the well drilling guy, as well.

When there are this many people, we run out of chairs, and I sit at the table on an overturned bucket. This experience is a little demoting, as the table then comes to my shoulders, but I wouldn't dare offer the Peruvians a bucket seat, and the SM boys are so much bigger than me that they wouldn't fit on a bucket.

Breakfast is always mazamorra--watery sweet oatmeal that you drink in a cup. We also often have brown bananas and dry bread, which can be dipped in the mazamorra. Sometimes there are mandarins or a pineapple for a treat. Sometimes I boil eggs, which the Peruvians love.

Lunch is usually beans and rice. I sometimes make lentils, and sometimes locro, a thick soup made from orange gourd and potatoes that is spooned over rice. We eat pasta about twice a week, but it is expensive. On good days when there is extra time I make Indian flat bread in a pan, and often a salad of onions, basil, and tomatoes. There is always boiled yucca, the bland starchy staple of Peru.

For supper we dip bread into Ecco, Peruvian tea made from barley. I sometimes make a pot of soup, and twice we've had popcorn popped in a kettle. Often there is more fruit, or we'll fry the leftover yucca from lunch.

I am able to feed the team for less than a dollar per person per day.

We are planning to purchase a four burner stove with a little oven in a few weeks, and I'm very excited to gain baking abilities. All my bread pans are hanging on the wall in the kitchen, waiting.