Guinea Pigs (Cuy)

Cameron and I woke late, and exited the house in rubber boots, basket in hand in which to place greens from the garden to go with our eggs. I knew something in me had adjusted when at the sight if my neighbor with a tub on her hip and a bloody steak knife in her fur covered hand, I didn’t balk or even raise an eye. “¿Que están haciendo?” I asked of R. and her daughter D. She showed me the three white skinless guinea pigs they had just killed, and asked if we wanted to go with them to her brother’s house for almuerzo, after the cemetery. I was very happy to be invited to participate in the holiday, and to try cuy for the first time. It was salty and tasty. Luckily I was having a pretty hearty day and did not feel squeamish about watching my friend C. who works in the kitchen at the hacienda, gnaw at the head. She asked me how we remember our dead in our country, and was surprised to hear that there is no special day. One of the younger girls thought this was good- better to live and forget, but I disagreed. C. gave me a little lecture on how I better get on it if I want to have kids because my change of life is coming (menopause?). I promised we would get on it and have four before we left. They told us we better go take some lessons from the guinea pigs that live in R’s house. For desert there was Molado Colorado, made from blueberries gathered from the mountains and traditional herbs. It is a sweet hot liquid in which chunks of fruit, in this case pineapple, are placed. Yum. Soon after we wandered back to our little neck of Zuleta. The roads were still full of people, full of cars, which is unusual. I realized that for the families who are not together anymore, those who have moved to the cities, this is probably a day of return, a day of travel. If we had this holiday, where would we go? To which grave, to which ancestor. They are so spread out, there is no definitive homeland for my family. I entered my house ready to be there, ready for the quiet of my husband and myself. I felt very full and fortunate to have been included.