August 30: ok it was just two cows, but they ran right at us…..

              Tuesday was the Dia de Santa Rosa; who is either the saint of the nurses or the police, depending on who you ask. There was no school so I went up to Tumpa, one of the other towns in Huascaran. Vero is the PCV there and I went to help make masamora morada and arroz con leche with her and the staff from the health post. They were selling these desserts at the town festival as a fund raiser. I wasn’t able to stick around for the selling, but I helped them get started cooking and then walked around to see Vero’s site. The ride up and down the mountain was its own adventure too. I think if the road was paved it would only be a 15 or 20 minute drive, but right now it takes about 45 minutes. Sort of feels like your teeth might rattle out of your head, but the view is unbelievable!

                I got back Tuesday afternoon just in time to go over to the fiesta for the police in our town. There was a band and all the older ladies I’m friends with were there. It’s a little silly, but it felt great to walk into a room and see familiar faces instead of lots more strangers. Paula and I danced a bunch. It’s sort of a bummer that she lives so far away because she and I get along really well. It’ll be nice to have a friend my own age come into town once a week. While Paula and I were walking back to the house….which, btw, isn’t even 100 yards from the party and just means walking the length of the black top in front of the school…..a dog came racing around the corner followed closely by two running cows. We were exactly in their path so Paula and I had a matter of seconds to run sideways and stand between the pillars of the school. Once the cows ran past we scurried the last 50 feet or so to the house. Only the farmer, who we hadn’t seen at first, had scared the cows back the other direction; so they were now running back in our direction! Paula and I fell through the door laughing. I let her explain what had happened…..my Spanish level doesn’t cover stampeding livestock yet :-P