Huancayo

As a side note, this past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to visit Machu Picchu! I'm desperately trying to catch up on blogging so I can share the adventure with you all.

Monday

On Monday morning, we set out from CIP in one of their trucks. It took about an hour to get out of all of the districts in Lima, but I suppose that much urban sprawl is expected for a city of about 8.5 million people.  It was so refreshing to get out of Lima, and I could finally see green vegetation on the mountains and sunshine!

About halfway to Huancayo, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch.  Walter Amorose, one of the other researchers on the trip, recommended the river trout.  I decided to try it even though I’m not much of a fish lover, and I’m glad I did. It came out cut mouth to tail and the fish had been pan-cooked, it was delicious, but I must admit I’m glad it came out face down on the plate!

After lunch, we continued driving through the mountains, and the scenery was beautiful.  The mountains reminded me of all the family trips to Colorado when I was younger.  On the way, we passed by the highest point in all of Peru.

First llama sighting!

Afterwards we began to descend slightly to Huancayo, but the scenery began to change.  Unlike the abundance of flora and fauna in Colorado, the landscape was filled with large mining operations.  Mining is one of the largest industries in Peru, but next to these huge operations and massive equipment, the roads were lined with shack-like houses that were a testament to the continued issues with development and industrialization in Peru.

Late Monday afternoon, we made it to Huancayo and the CIP research station.  Benny and Walter gave me quick tours around the campus and greenhouses before we left for our hotel.  

For dinner, Benny, Walter, and I went to a local restaurant where I had lomo saltado (a traditional dish of sliced beef and potatoes with some tomatoes and onions) and limonada (limeade).  The food was delicious, but I couldn’t finish all of it as it was a huge portion, as is common in Peru. 

Tuesday

We got up bright and early for breakfast at a small restaurant before going to CIP.  Once we got to CIP, Benny showed me how to do crosses in one of the greenhouses.  First, I emasculated the potato flowers that had not quite opened by carefully opening the flower and removing the anthers with tweezers.  Those flowers were then ready to pollinate the next day.  The process of emasculation is important because it prevents the accidental self-pollination of the plants.

Emasculated flowers

Next, I helped pollinate the flowers that had been emasculated the day before according to the crosses that were desired.  The pollen used for crossing was stored in small, empty medicine gel capsules that were labeled with its identifying number.  The CIP researchers try to pollinate about five flowers in a stem with the same line to better the chances and results of successful pollinations.  After pollinating the flowers, I attached the printed tag that had the parental lines and pollination date.

The chart and pollen capsules for crossing

Afterwards, I also helped collect anthers for pollen collection.  I followed all the steps of emasculation, but kept the anthers in a small, labeled parchment paper envelope.  The envelopes were allowed to dry for a day.

For lunch, Benny and I went to a small restaurant for soup, a main dish, and Jell-o for dessert (Jell-o is surprisingly common in Peru).  Again, I it was way too much food, but it was very cheap and tasty.  

When we returned to CIP, I learned how to collect the seeds from the ripened berries in storage.  First I macerated the berries into a beaker of water, and then after waiting for about a minute for the seeds to settle, I carefully poured out the water and rinsed the seeds several times before straining them off.  Then I packaged the seeds into parchment paper envelopes for drying and processing. 

Then, Benny showed me how to sort seeds that had been harvested and processed.  She explained that some of the plants are pollinated with the desired cross and the next day are pollinated with a plant that has a distinctive dark purple mark on the seeds, in order to determine how successful the cross was.  So I worked for the next few hours on sorting the seed packets with the help of a magnifying glass because the seeds were so tiny. 

Under the magnifying glass

Late Tuesday afternoon, Carolina (one of the researchers at the Huancayo station), Benny, and I went to Bajo la misma Estrella, which translates to “under the same star”, which confused me until the movie started and I figured out it was The Fault in Our Stars.  The movie was pretty good, and it was in English, not dubbed in Spanish, yay!  Afterwards, Benny and I went to this coffeehouse/café where I had the caprese sandwich which was wonderful. 

Wednesday and Thursday

In the morning, Benny and I went to the same coffeehouse/café for a small breakfast and to pick up a sandwich for lunch.  Once we got to CIP, I continued to help with the pollinations and then collected the pollen from the dried anthers we collected the day before by taking an electric toothbrush without the brush head and using the vibrating metal piece to separate off the pollen that was then put into the gel capsules. 

Afterwards, I helped harvest the berries that were ripe enough (60+ days after pollination) to be processed later.  Then I returned to the seed sorting for several hours.  

While I was taking a short break, I got to snap a picture of this sweet puppy at CIP!  She was adorably spunky and the picture is terrible because whenever I tried to get down on the ground for the picture, she would charge and try to lick me.

After work, Benny took me to a local park, called Parque de la Identidad Wanka, which had large statues and decorations representing the cultural heritage of the area.  It was fascinating to see!

Benny and me

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Detrás de la Catedral because it was behind the huge cathedral in the main square of Huancayo.  I had a really good chicken dish, but the best part of the meal was this fruit cider that we ordered.  It reminded me of apple cider with the cinnamon and warm fruit juice, but it also included some Peruvian fruits that were delicious!

After dinner, Benny and I went to the artisan market to look for souvenirs.  It was overflowing with vibrant colors and materials.  We spent several minutes walking around to different stalls, but I was absolutely amazed by one woman and her wares.  She was selling colored, carved gourds that depicted all aspects of Peruvian life, culture, and scenery, but what impressed me the most was her talent – she was hand carving all of the gourds in front of us without a pattern or guide for her intricate designs! It was stunning!

Then late that night, Benny and I took a huge bus – complete with comfortable reclining seats and personal movie screens – from Huancayo to Lima.  However, we had some problems…The bus trip was scheduled to take seven hours, but a combination of bad traffic and snow caused it to take a full fourteen hours. So I returned to Liliam’s house Thursday afternoon and relaxed for the rest of the day.