Photos - Part 1

Ive done it! Ive posted photos from the first part of my trip - the two weeks with dad. There are many more to come and now that Ive found a computer that actually reads my cds, I will be coming back here and catching up. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054348&l=864eb&id=5901703

Im still in the campo and planning to spend New Year´s here before heading South to meet up with German and Víctor (our REI guides). Life just gets more and more interesting by the day. For a small taste, I learned how to make ricotta cheese from milk that we took straight from the cow and stood in complete amazement as Vanina´s father carried two young pigs that had recently been slaughtered into the back yard and hung them from a peg to let the blood drain. While I dont eat beef or pork, I eat chicken fairly often but never see the animal in it´s recently slaughtered state and there was something just captivating about the whole scene. Especially since the pigs were raised by her aunt and her young neices who were there with me didnt think twice about the fact that two small dead pigs were hanging from a peg on the patio. And, really, why would they? This is nothing new to them. In fact, the strangest thing to come into their lives is actually me with my weird name (they told me "que raro nombre") and funny accent. And in a way, I found it almost beautiful (I realize this may very well come across as demented...). But there is something quite grand about knowing exactly where your food came from and how it was prepared. VIVA!