The clouds lay heavy on the mountains surrounding Macchu Picchu. A light rain falls feeding the waterflow in the stone carved canals that course from the top of the village to the rivers below- the Vilcabamba and the Urubamba. She picks up an olla to get water from the cistern and climbs the rock steps from her stone house where her mother prepares the morning fire. The sounds of the early morning float and mix with the drip of water off the thatched rooftops;birds calling from the treetps and other families starting their morning routine.
Her llama sees her coming and walks up to nuzzle her hand looking for treats and is soon disinterested as none are forthcoming and rejoins the other llamas quietly grazing on the grassed terraces. She meets her friend at the well and they look out at the river valley below starting to peak through clearings in the clouds. She fills her olla with water and carries it back to her mother who has the fire ready to make mate de coca tea and a corn tortilla ground on the metate and cooked on a hot stone in the fire. The day begins.
Her father and older brothers leave to tend the crops in the stone terraced field that climb geometrically down the slopes of the mountainside. She straps the baby onto her back in a multicolored blanket made from llama wool and dyed with plants picked from the mountain. Her mother and she shells the corn off the cob as the big kernels of Inca corn fall into a carved wooden bowl for meals later in the day.
The whole village is preparing for the summer solstice celebration that will come in a few days based on the predictions of the Inca priests, who use the stone pillar at the top of the village to determine the date of its arrival. It is a time of much celebration of the bounty from the gods in crops and good fortune for the village. Days and days of prayers, dancing and rituals will be performed in honor of the solstice. Each year with each celebration she learns more about the gods that protect her and the village and provide for their well being.
Her llama sees her coming and walks up to nuzzle her hand looking for treats and is soon disinterested as none are forthcoming and rejoins the other llamas quietly grazing on the grassed terraces. She meets her friend at the well and they look out at the river valley below starting to peak through clearings in the clouds. She fills her olla with water and carries it back to her mother who has the fire ready to make mate de coca tea and a corn tortilla ground on the metate and cooked on a hot stone in the fire. The day begins.
Her father and older brothers leave to tend the crops in the stone terraced field that climb geometrically down the slopes of the mountainside. She straps the baby onto her back in a multicolored blanket made from llama wool and dyed with plants picked from the mountain. Her mother and she shells the corn off the cob as the big kernels of Inca corn fall into a carved wooden bowl for meals later in the day.
The whole village is preparing for the summer solstice celebration that will come in a few days based on the predictions of the Inca priests, who use the stone pillar at the top of the village to determine the date of its arrival. It is a time of much celebration of the bounty from the gods in crops and good fortune for the village. Days and days of prayers, dancing and rituals will be performed in honor of the solstice. Each year with each celebration she learns more about the gods that protect her and the village and provide for their well being.
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