We went to Willkhuain and stayed with a family. The family was made up of: Cristian, his parents, his brother Nelson, and his sister. His uncle came to visit and helped with farming. | On our first day we had a hike to an archaeological site of Ichik Wilkawain, where the pre-Incan Wari culture had tombs. I played hide and seek inside the maze of chambers and I probably was hidden for half an hour before Sam found me. While I played, Mama (Cristian’s mom) cooked guinea pig, I only managed to eat one bite. |
Our last activity was adobe brick making. First, Cristian’s dad added water to a pile of loose dirt. Then, Sam and I stomped around in it with bare feet. The mud felt cold and rocky on my feet. Then we added straw and stomped some more. We did this process about three times. Then, we used an open wooden box as a mold and poured the mud in. You stepped in the mold and then you slapped it like you were playing the drums. The last step was to lift the mold up. Sometimes the mud stuck to the sides making it hard to pull up. I learned that the advantage of adobe is that: the material is cheap and easy to get, its preparation doesn’t require machines, it effectively insulates from temperatures and sound, it doesn’t burn easily or get attacked by insects, and finally it's a breathable material. We only made 10 bricks, but it takes 300 for a small house. One person working hard could make 100 bricks in a day.