The next day of our homestay fell on one of Raqchi's three festivals of the year. Sunday was a big celebration in honor of one of Raqchis Patron Saints. We woke up, had breakfast and headed into town where he festivities had already begun. The dancers danced their way onto the chapel and we plowed close behind. The Catholic mass was in Quechua, te local language, so I didn't understand a work, but it ran pretty similar to church services at home. Same order and everything, including wishing peace to your neighbors. After mass the whole congregation files and had a dance festival in he square that lasted all day into he night. After a couple hours, we headed back to our house for another huge meal.
In the afternoon we tried our hands at an ancient ceramic wheel. It was pretty difficult, but we all managed to make items that looked roughly how they were suppose to.
This epic homestay concluded on our third morning when we packed up and headed to the fields. After sorting beans, we went with the grandma, son, granddaughter to learn how to plan seeds. It was awesome. Before we started, we sat down next to the family plot and he grandmother busted out a bottle of wine and did a ceremony to Mother Earth to help the seeds a healthy life. Once again we drank and poured some out.
The actual labor of planting seeds is HARD. We all tried it out, but of course, the brother was much faster and more efficient. We took to throwing in the seeds to the holes that were made. In all, we planted 4 snaking rows, that definitely stood out from the others! Ha. When we called it quits, we sat in the first and finished the bottle of wine with grandma.
We headed back to the house, backed up and said goodbye to our awesome host of ladies. We loaded into the bus for our 4 hour ride to Puno on Lake Titicaca.