Christmas in Peru

A street in Ariquipa, Peru decked out for christmas made us feel a little more in the holiday spirit.
The girls built this little christmasy spot in the hostel the night before christmas.

Un Milagro! We got a kick out of this nativity scene in front of the bank in Mollendo, Peru. There was no baby until christmas morning, and then, complete with white fuzz, which perhaps depicts the miracle, baby jesus appeared!! we had fun looking for the change as we walked by it everytime we went back to the hostal.

After being awakened in the hostel by Maggie tap, tap, tapping on the door at 6am, we proceeded with checking our stockings and opening presents that were nicely laid out on our little christmas shrine or table. Then we walked a couple blocks to a large church and got in on the 7am mass. There were a couple of bars still rocking from the night before and mass was not well attended. We heard later the 7pm mass was a lot more popular.

Then it was off to the beach after a quick stop at the public market and comedor for the best hot chocolate made from scratch and cafe con leche. Here are the girls on christmas day. We were surrounded by Peruvian families enjoying thier day off with thier kids. Really fun. Mery Christmas!

Beach Seining in Chile

Longest day of the year

Hey, we just made it through the longest day of the year... Yep as frances pointed out we get 3 longest days solistices in a row....6/21/07 in pilot point and 12/21/07 here on the coast of Chile and athird in june '08 back in AK.
The girls are all browning up nicely as we enjoy time on the beach here in Arica in the Atacama desert where they have years w no recorded rainfall.We´ve enjoyed sharing photos and fishing stoies w´ fellow fishermen here, I even pitched in on a beach seining operation yesterday...just one last set in '07... Tommorow we plan to prop ourselves up long enough to head into Peru...in search of other beaches then on to...Ariquipa...Cusco and around new years...Machu Pichu. All our love..tb

SALTEÑAS FOR BREAKFAST

SALTEÑAS FOR BREAKFAST

Thought I’d share with you all my favorite breakfast food here. I go across the street and get “Dos salteñas picante, por favor.” For less than a dollar. I think Two Sisters Bakery should make them in Homer. They are a good tasty nutritional calorie fix that will keep you going for hours. The filling is savory and the dough kind of sweet. Although after watching the Utube video of someone making one, it seems kind of labor intensive. Two Sisters would have to charge more.

Leave it to Wikapedia to have the scoop on the name and origin!
Salteñas or Salteña are a type of empanada sold throughout Bolivia, although they are also available in some other countries (such as the USA, Argentina, Brazil and Chile). They originated in the southern department of Tarija.
Salteñas are savory pastries filled with beef, pork or chicken mixed in a sweet, slightly spicy or very spicy sauce, and sometimes also containing peas, potatoes and other ingredients.
Typically salteñas can be found in any town or city throughout the country, but each area has its variations; Cochabamba and Sucre claim to have the best version of this snack, and many will go out of their way to try the variation from Potosí. It is a tradition to enjoy salteñas as a mid-morning snack, although vendors often start selling salteñas very early in the morning. The pastries are sold anywhere from 7am to noon. What is astonishing is how quickly they are sold; many outlets are sold out by mid-morning.
Historian Antonio Paredes Candia states that during the early 1900s, Juana Manuela Gorriti was the first lady to create the current version of this product. This lady later married Presidente Manuel Isidoro Belzu. Gorriti was born in Salta, Argentina and was exiled to Tarija, Bolivia during the Juan Manuel de Rosas dictatorship. The Gorriti family endured extreme poverty, and they came up with the recipe in the early 1900s in order to make a living. A variation of these pastries was known at the time throughout most of Europe.
The product, nicknamed "salteña" (the term for a female citizen of Salta), became very popular. (from wikapedia)

I found this 2 min. U-tube video of someone making a Salteña, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUjkoFPdK6U

Below is a recipe. I don’t think they use the gelatin here as the gravy is runny as all get out. Anyone can tell if you are a true Cochabambiño if you can eat your salteña neatly!!

Bolivian Recipe for Salteñas

Its better if you make the dough and filling one day before and keep in the fridge. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and keep the filling covered to stop it drying out.
The dough:
6 cups flour

6 tablespoons lard

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups cool water

1 teaspoon salt
Sift the flour into a bowl, add salt and sugar. Melt the lard and add to the flour, add the remaining ingredients and mix well and knead for 5 mins.
The filling:
3 tablespoons lard

2 cusp white onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups gelatin

1/2 cup of red chile sauce

salt and sugar to taste

cumin and oregano to taste (2 - 3 teaspoons of each)

1 pound finely chopped meat

1 cup cooked peas

1 cup cooked potatoes cut into medium-sized cubes

1/2 cup raisins

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

5 black olives (watch out for the pits)
Gently fry the onions and when soft add the cumin, oregano, salt and sugar. Stir and fry for a couple of minutes then add the meat and continue frying. When the meat is browing add the chile sauce and cook a little while longer then remove and let cool. When cool mix the gelatin, potatoes and peas into the mixture. Refrigerate until the next day.
Making the Salteñas:
Roll out the dough into a sausage and cut into pieces large enough to roll into circles about 7 to 10 cm (2 1/2 to 4 inches) in diameter and 1/4 cm (about 1/8 inch) thick.
Add filling to each circle, top with raisons, egg and olives as desired. Brush the edges of the circle with egg or milk and fold over to seal the Salteñas shut. Make an edge by pressing your fingers along the seal.
Place onto a well greased baking tray and glaze the Salteñas with milk or egg.
Cook for 20 to 30 minutes in a oven pre heated to 300C/572F- until golden.
Leave standing on a cooling tray for 10 mins before eating. Keep refrigerated if not eating that day.

The plane papa the plane

Tom here....The stories from the orphanage Solomon Klein are plentinfull and this one warrants retelling. It was a scorching afternoon and the kids and I were seeking shade beneath the high roof of the covered court in the park, playing with jumpropes and balls.

From the treadworn fenceline comes Wilson with a request. Wilson is a 5 year old version of a prizefighter ,wideset eyes , pushed in face, scars and scrapes both old and new, and teeth too few to count. In his blunt hands he's holding two crossed matchstick size twigs and a yellowed piece of grass. His eyes pierce me, his arms outstreched as he begs, "Avion papa, Avion"

Beyond the need for verbs or more words of any kind, I can see he wants me to make him a plane. My fingers set to work. Wilson gazes on, cocking his head with every turn of the grass. The grass ...it holds up, not too brittle, not too short. Macrame style I attatch the wing, finish it off with a couple of half hitches, and spin the fuselage so that the nub at one end resembles a tail. As I pass the plane to Wilson, his eyes light and the engine starts and in his grip it banks and turns away.

Soon a line forms, other boys with other sticks and grass. For half an hour my figers weave, engines start and planes bank against the cloudless sky. On my way home that night I walked the cobbled street back towards our apartment, amazed by the creativity of Wilson and the others at SK. Humbled by the rich life they make with so little, and while not ideal it is so much better than a life on the street.

Frannies Sweet Sixteen

First time Frances has had a warm birthday since she was 2 in Costa Rica. Didn't Tom do a nice job on the cake? I jokes, its from the local grocery store. We are proud of our little girl and enjoying this year with her.

Sisterly Love

Maggie expresses birthday wishes while we wait for our duck to arrive at the Taquina beer factory resteraunt overlooking Cochabamba. I know, you might not automatically go to a beer factory for a nice fancy lunch with beautiful grounds over looking the city, but hey, theres a surprise around every corner here. By the way, a pitcher of tap beer is called a "chop".

Heading out for the evening

Here are some of Frannies friends from her grade who came over to our apt. on her birthday to study for finals this week, from left to right; Maria (or Bernie, as there are too many Marias) She has grown up in the US, but her Bolivian folks sent her down to live with grandma and grandpa this year. Anna is from St. Paul, Minnesota and is down here with her folks for the year, her mom grew up in South America and has been involved with the Mano a Mano NGO for years. Her dad grew up in Waconia, Minniesota. Will is from a family with 5 boys. Dad is Belgian, mom is from the states and works for the peace corps. They travel between Maine and Bolivia each year. Frances. Sam I believe is from France. Henry, Will's brother.

Tension in Bolivia

The top photo is shot from our kitchen window. If you look closely you can see how the road is blocked with tires etc.

The next photo is the front page of the paper, a funeral of someone who was killed during a protest.

There was a civil strike "paro civico" last Wednesday as 6 of the 9 departments (states) of Bolivia officially protested the first signing of the framework of the new constitution. The political party that is in power now wants to make changes, and the opposition wants status-quo. You have to understand that the governors of 3 of these states have run for president and lost to the current president, so they may not see eye to eye...major controversy. Hot topics include; more autonomy for indigenous people, the ability to be re-elected for more than one term as president, land reform, and moving the capitol.

During "paros" strikes, roads are blocked and businesses closed. (depending how close you are to the city center and how you feel about the issue) At crucial spots of transportation, like bridges and major intersections, there are usually crowds of people and if there are two sides to the feelings in that area, there are two crowds of people, one putting rocks and bricks and old tires in the road, and the other taking them out. (Depending on what side of the argument you are on.) And then there are the police to keep the two sides from getting too aggravated with each other. This paro was pretty peaceful, although of the 4 or 5 we have experienced since we got here, this was the most serious in our neighborhood, with the local intersection below the apartment blocked off . Its a great day to get out on your bike as there is no traffic, as long as you steer clear of the hot spots. I rode through one fairly major intersection on my bike and witnessed lots of national police standing around, and lots of loud firecrackers being shot off through large cardboard tubes in the middle of the intersection. About 50 people were hanging out to enforce the blockade? Hard to tell.

So now we will wait and see what the next move is on the constitution. I think if they get more assembly members to sign off on it, certain parts of the framework will go to the people for vote. Or the opposition may be able to continue to block it from going to a vote in which case the voices of the people might come out on the streets.... all is quiet for the moment and it is a great lesson in constitutional reform and how difficult it can be. Just try to imagine if the US were re-writing its constitution. It really is a big deal to change those basic rules that run a country.

Orphanage Work

Maggie here....

You walk in through the laundry room, washing room, and the place where they isolate sick babies or have preemies, wash your hands and tie a apron around you, then step into the larger room and start the work. The big room has 35 cribs and 35 fussing babies, either on a mat, set on the ground, in walkers or in cribs. Their ages range from newborn to 1 year, the younger ones on one side, the older ones in larger cribs on the otherside of room reeking slightly of disinfectant and baby. Above each crib is a name tag with the babies name and birthday tied to the crib with a ribbon, or taped above it. You walk in and either just start propping bottles up with blankets and calming fussy babies, or you ask one of the two ladies, that work there full time, "como puedo ayudar?" how can I help. We come at 8 in the morning every Sunday and leave around 11 or 12. When we first get there, the babies are finishing bottles propped up on blankets and you just walk around readjusting them and waking up the sleeping ones. Then the older babies get fed with spoons and then every baby gets a bath. This is done with an assembly line and alot of happy wiggly naked babies, then everyone goes outside and sits on the patio in either walkers, playpen or car seats lined up in the shade. After the floors are washed everyone goes back inside and its bottles again and spoon feeding. The time each child gets with another human to just cuddle or be held is patheticaly small, with 35 babies and 2 care takers it is unrealistic, so the babies will cry, but the moment you pick them up they are happy... they could have a dirty diaper, be hungry or needing to be burped, but as long as your holding them, they are the happiest thing in the world... its too bad I don't have 35 hands, but the last time we did bring snugglies, and that way you can be hanging up wet bibs and diapers to dry and still be able to keep one baby happy and just let them feel your heart beat for a few minutes. (Note: it is against policy at the orphanage to take photos, so this little girl in the photo is not from the orphanage)

Cate gets her bird

I wanted a bird as soon as I got here, but with all our travelling, thought I'd wait till we slowed down a bit. I scoped out all the possibilities, even visiting a friend of a friend who has 70 birds as pets. The pet isle in the huge market is a little sad. You have to have a strong stomach. Crates with turkeys, chickens, kittens, puppies and even two little kestrel hawks. The smell is not the worst, but pretty bad. I spotted these loroitos (parakeets) that looked really healthy and decided to get one. It is officially a Canary-winged parakeet, even though we think of parakeets as the "budgies" from Australia. Parakeets are slimmer and have a long tail compared to real parrots. Their native range is about 1/2 of South America.
I named him/her Vientioch. Which is short for the number 28 in Spanish. In the market, the venders are so cute in that they shorten the words of numbers. For example, if something is 5 bolivianos, which are also called pesos, a vendor may say: "Solo cinco pesites". Like, its not that much! only 5 "small" pesos! Once the gal said vientioch instead of vientiocho. Shortening the word. So that's what I call my bird as it cost about that much. (which is $4. this same bird would cost $300 in the states.)So his name is pronounced, phonetically; benty-och. Here is the nice cage I got. He really likes mangos and bananas. We are trying to get him tamed up and he will eat out of our hands and soon will sit on our fingers.

Climbing Tunari, A mountain above Cochabamba

We heard you could do it in a day.... too tempting. So we and some other interested folks talked around until we found guides to go with us, and they arranged a bus and everything. $10 or so a person to climb the highest mountain that is above Cochabamba. The girls were off in another city at a school soccer tounament, so they didn't get in on the fun. They were really bummed. Not.
This photo is of our traditional lunch we had. Boiled eggs, potatoes, the bowl holds large boiled corn kernels, fresh cheese, apples (and other goodies, not so traditional, like my snickers bar! )Usually there is meat as well. We had good weather and drove from 8,000 ft in Cocha to 14,000 and started the hike there. It took about 4 hours to get to the top at a slow pace. This pace is enforced by the fact that there isn't a lot of oxygen to be had. Although the guides didn't seem to have any trouble and would literally run up and down between us handing out excederine. (great for immediate relief from minor altitude symptoms). There was only one steep part right before the summit, so I just didn't look down! Someone saw a condor fly by when I was 100 ft. from the top, but I was so winded that I couldn't hurry up the rest of the way to try to see it. darn! The bus ride was about 2 hours back home and my dramamine had worn off, so by time I got down off those switch backs and through the diesel of the city, I was done in. Tom had to go to the airport to collect the chicas from thier big soccer trip. Great day, beautiful valley, good to look down on the city. And now as I watch the sunset from our veranda I can say to myself.... I was on top of that peak!

Tom taking a breather

Almost above llama-line

OK, I can't help myself...got to throw in some natural history facts. Llamas are in the camelid family, have soft feet that don't ruin the fragile grass and were domesticated like 6,000 years ago. The animals they were domesticated from are now extinct. The Bolivian llamas are rather uppity and proud, as they should be.

Climbing Tunari, tallest mountain above Cochabamba

At the top. 16,600 feet. I am facing the valley where Cochabamba is nestled. I'm feeling a lot worse than I look in this photo! Going down was fast in the scree.

Funeral Mass

So, our landlady, Maria Luisa, lives downstairs on piso tres, just lost her husband to emphezema. Because of his serious illness for so long, many family have passed through and stayed in the building during the last few months, so we have gotten to know the whole family. One of the sons lives here with family full time, piso uno. It was Maria Luisa's birthday the day after she buried her husband and they had an intimate lunch downstairs out on the back porch. The last minute, Marie Luisa decides we should be invited. Tom already had a commitment at the orphange, so I went by myself. It was embarassing to be there as it was close family and friends. 4 people got up and made speaches and there were a lot of tears. I sat by awkwardly wishing I had thought to wear black like everybody else there. To make things worse, Maria Luisa had me sit next to her. I think she was afraid I would feel excluded. Anyway, I made it through the 3 hour lunch, noticing that all the old aunts and Maria Luisa were drinking beer, so it was fine if I did too. Two days later we recieve a petite envelope with a tiny invitation to a special mass for the deceased, on the main plaza and cathedral. It was gorgeous. Her husband had been a general in the Bolivian military, so there were like 30 military men if full uniforms and regalia, about 30 more in fatiques and the church was full of well dressed Cochabambinos, all freinds of Arturo. Live music in the cathedral included "the sound of silence" in spanish and Ave Maria, acapella (incredible acoustics in the cathedral). Long recieving line for family. I just now dropped off boquets of flowers for each family and hope things won't be too tough on Maria Luisa (married to Arturo for 53 years). Families are really tight here and kids show so much love and respect for thier grandparents. Anyway, it has been cool getting to know this family and through them, more of Bolivia. (This photo of our apt. building named after grandma, Maria Luisa. Top floor apartment is ours.)

46 kids who call me papi

Tom here ... I started this blog deal and Cate has done a great job keeping it up, its been awhile since i've piped in.... Today was my second day volunteering at Solomon Klein orphanage(ages birth to 6)...its part of Amanacer (dawn in spanish), a outreach to street kids and orphans here in Cochabamba. SK is a wonderfull place, in that these kids have their physical needs met and they are not on the streets... Its a shocking place in that the 27 5-6 year old boys in sala 5 have one Mama (employee) and when I show up 3 x /week I'm the Papi (and so is any other male voluteer, visitor, or passing pedestrian) there are 17 girls in sala 5 and they have a mama too. I help out however and wherever....wake-up,help dress, tie shoes, breakup fights, sling hash, wipe, carry , hold, retrieve balls off the roof, monitor swimming( if i'm an orphan next lap...please let there be a pool) wash dishes, encourage, say good job, and today cradle a little girl with a double nostril nose bleed from a slide assisted impact head injury ( read blood bath ) ....the play ground is a gaunlet of conibears....but these kids have navigated it their whole lives and all have all limbs and fingers,,,,thats all for my attention span.... we go again on sunday with Cate and Mag it'll probabaly generate another Blog....

Stencil on the streets of La Paz

No, not that bush!

Maggie as always, protecting the underdog.

Condoriri and Choro Trek

We went on a guided trek for 7 days from the high Andes NE of La Paz, to the Yunga Mtn. where the water drains to the Amazon. This was some high excitement as the photo shows. Here we are taking a "short cut" along a 70 year old water canal that traversed the mountain for 2-3 kilometers before we clambered over a pass and down into greener pastures. Thank god for trekking poles as they gave Cate a bit more stability. Looking past your boot toe to a 2,000 foot drop can sometimes throw your balance off! Needless to say, no burros for this part of the trek. We had 4 of Marcella's (guide) family to help carry the gear. They were foot sure and fast even though 2 of them had blown out tennies for footgear.

Hey! Thats our bus!

No Bridge? No problem. Just put it on a barge with an outboard on the back. This is part of Lake Titicaca we are crossing to get to Copacabana to start our acclimatization.

Isla del Sol, an Island of Lake Titicaca

To acclimate for our trek in the Andes north of La Paz, we took 3 days to see this area. Old terraces from the Inca days, friendly villages and cool nights were a treat here at about 12,000 ft. The girls and Tom hiked to a high point on the island for the sunset. No motor vehicles are on the island so burros abound to get supplies up to the village where we stayed in a hostal.

On the Way to School in Copacabana

These Aymara school girls were beautiful as they walked to school at 8:30am in the morning on the shores of Lake Titicaca! We passed as our family headed out of town to hike to Isla del Sol for 2 days of sight seeing and acclimitization before our Condoriri Trek. Copacabana is a beautiful town and gets a lot of tourists who are close by in Peru checking out Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca. (the highest navigable lake in the world). There has been some debate in the family as to what "navigable" means. Maggie thinks it means the lake of highest altitude with duckie paddle boats on it.)

The Hardworkers of the Group

For the first 3 days we had these two burros to carry most of our gear. Our family had just light day packs and even then we couldn't keep up to these gals. They chose the traditional bundles over back packs. Always laughing and cheerful, it was delightful to hear our guide and the burro guide chattering away in thier musical Aymara language. I'd love to know what they were saying about our sorry white asses!

First 16,000 ft. Pass

Here we are, the morning of the second day after spending a couple hours climbing up this pass. Our guide Marcella is there between us. She is one of the only women guides and grew up in a village that we trekked through. She used to cook for the guide company on trips and after a while, approached the owner and asked if she could guide. She was great. She speaks her native Aymara and spanish, but no english. We only had one communication problem the whole week. She always wore the traditional heavy petty-coats and skirt, blouse and hat. No back-pack, she used the traditional striped cloth bundle across her back. Nontheless... she kicked our butts going up these passes! She did have a pair of hiking boots someone must have given her and a fleece jacket you see her in here.

Preparing the Evening Meal

Marcella, our guide is working hard to tempt our altitude supressed appetites here. Food was very different than the average camping fare we are used to. Soup, meat, potatoes, and hot drinks for dinner. This stove ran on gas and was packed, along with the food by burros or porters. Breakfast was hot drinks, bread, jam and instant oatmeal. Lunch was precooked (in the morning) meat and rice, served cold on the trail. Marcella did all the cooking and dish clean-up. She had a majic pink towel she wiped the cutlery and plates with that must have had incredible disinfectant properties as we never got sick, even after the towel had been used for 7 days without a washing!

Creative Homework Style

Heres Maggie in her room doing homework. Possibly this position moves more blood to the head? or her feet needed airing? Theres no saying for sure.

Burning the Midnight laptop

The computer is in almost constant use when we are home, between 4 people. It's the way to stay in contact with friends in the states, e-mail and skype calls; we use it to call friends here in Cochabamba who have cell phones, (our phone line has cell phones blocked); have an urge to make cookies? Google a recipe; our best dictionary; organizing the hundreds of photos we are taking, (this digital photo era makes it too easy to take too many!). So there is almost always someone looking north over Cocha and the laptop screen.

Everyday life in the apartment

Its not all blue skies and stunning treks... These two items were all I was concerned about for 3 days during a bout of stomach trouble. Toilet paper and Cipro. (a miraculous antibiotic that makes diarreah a 3 day journey instead of 10). If I wasn't on the john with this view, I was in bed looking at the ceiling.

Cate's Pirhana

Cate's been jammin' on her project for Faunagua

Mass begins at San Miguel, Jesuit Mission in eastern Bolivia

In the late 1600's Jesuit missionaries came to what what then Spanish and Portugese territories, now, Paraguay and Bolivia. There were many native peoples here and they were being rounded up by the europeans and enslaved to work in the mines north of thier home. (have you seen the movie, The Mission, with Robert D'Nero? that explains all this)
Anyway, the Jesuits protected the native people from the slave traders and so were fairly popular and had the opportunity to try out some of their utopian ideas and influence them with Boroque music, carving and painting. The result was a large area with these missions sprinked in the jungles. Then the Portugese and Spanish decided the church, and the Jesuits especially were getting too powerful in the old and new worlds and kicked the Jesuits out of south america. The missions were abandoned... but wait! not really! years later folks realized that some of the native people had maintained the churches, still made violins, still knew some songs ect. Sooo...in the 1970's some churches were restored and the area is a world heritage site. We toured 6 of the pueblos that have some of these churches. Very cool. (actually it was really hot) Very incredible. Very long way in a bus, cant' imagine how they got thier supplies in the old days!!!

Altar in one of the churches

This is typical of the incredible altars in these Jesuit Mission churches. Carved from wood and then lots of gold leaf and natural pigments or mica. Usually there are carved statues of the saints in nooks, but this in this church they were burned or stolen over the years, so this one has paintings instead.

Misa (mass) in San Miguel

Just happened to hit San Miguel on the patron saint's day. Church was packed and not a person was not sweating. Man, was it hot. No big fans running either! Notice the yellow and white windows in the back. These small round panes of glass were made in a fire locally 300 years ago. The pillars are all out of one tree and beautifully carved. The benches are a modern addition, otherwise it was on the tile floor with you!

Frances in the pulpit, say what...?

Most of the churches still have a pulpit sticking out about half way down the chuch. This was for the sermon, before microphones. The round thing above Frannies head helped amplify the sound. This pulpit has gold leaf and natural mica glued onto the carved wood. Each pulpit had its own character and style. Some had carvings of objects, like mermaids, from the underworld, or hell, underneath the pulpit to remind you to listen, or you'd end up there!

Awaiting sunday morning mass in San Miguel.

Most of the churches are painted inside and out with natural pigments. Red from the red earth, green from leaves, ect. The natural pigments were, and still are mixed with palm oil for the base. It is thought this is the secret why the paintings still exist. This artwork above, has been refurbished since the 1700's, but some we saw was original. The original work is done with tiny dots, not long strokes of a brush. the syle is a mix of boroque/european influence and indigenous geometric shapes.

Organ and player in choir loft of church.

Who knows how old this organ is. This young guy played us a hymm while we looked around the church. He was very shy about the camera.

September is burning month

There was tons of smoke for the 5 days we traveled east of Santa Cruz. This area is one of the prime agricultural areas and it is common practice to burn off the grazing land for cattle and the old stubble from crops. The photo above is a typical home. Walls constucted of a lattice of small poles filled with mud mixed with straw. Roof is thatched of palm leaves. Dirt floors and swept yards are the center of subsitence plots. Pigs, dogs, kids, cattle and burros for transport all share the yard.