Cohorting Scavenger Hunt #2: Apthapi

So, I came to regret the assignment I handed out as our Scavenger Hunt item #2. It never seemed like I was eating those meals I find most "evocative" or "emblematic" of my fieldsite -- as I so imprudently invited us to post over two weeks ago.

I carried around my camera, ready to capture that special meal. But it didn't happen. Some friends ordered the always crowd-pleasing Pique Macho at a nice bar, but that version looked nothing like the mounds of thick-cut fries, oily hot dog slices, and mounds of beef, onion, egg, and hot peppers you get at, say, Dumbos with your godkids. I thought about trying to capture the extent to which starches comprise most meals here: piles of rice with a side of noodles (usually a little burnt, because they are often toasted first), several boiled potatoes and/or rehydrated chuño with a helping of boiled chicken or pan-fried meat. But now that I am eating less with my compadres (due to my research schedule), I have fewer opportunities to capture our (and most Bolivians') carb-driven meals. I was at a loss for something satisfying.

And then, Todos Santos (All Souls) happened. And I was reminded of that meal I do find most evocative of my fieldsite.

It's not so much a particular dish as a WAY of eating: the apthapi.

Sure, the apthapi usually has common food elements: boiled potatoes (lots of them), rehydrated chuño and tunta, ispi (deep fried Lake Titikaka minnows), roasted bananas, sweet oka, puffed corn, fava beans, oranges, bread. But the point of the Apthapi is the act itself -- that everyone brings a little something, spreads it out on big aguayo blankets, and gathers 'round to share, often inviting each other to glasses of beer in order to ch'allar the pachamama. And that meal is often followed by time to open the ch'uspa and invite each other to pichar (chew) coca while offering more libations.

The below photos are variations on my most recent apthapi experiences while celebrating Todos Santos -- first with my compadres de rutucha (I'm the godmother of their daughter's first haircut) in Viacha and then with friends in their rural community, Quieskapa.

Above: Prepping bananas, sweet and plain potatoes for roasting in the huge oven the Rojas family uses for baking bread. Present: extended family members, compadres, and a few neighbors.

Above: On Tuesday's celebration of Todos Santos in the campo (countryside) I got served two full dishes -- as always seems to happen every time I visit the Altiplano's rural hamlets. My friends had prepared boiled pork in a spicy aji sauce (which we also had for breakfast at 8am!), boiled potatoes, puffed corn, tunta (white dried potato). Their extended family brought roasted pork (initially placed at the head of the mesa for their deceased loved one during the prayers for Todos Santos), salad, the sweet, pink and yellow oka potatoes, and roasted bananas. Everyone contributed bread, cases of beer, sugar cane to the kids. Anytime a vecino (neighbor) would appear, they would be called over to partake.

Finally after sharing a sleepy, joke-filled meal (jokes usually at my expense), we gathered around to invite each other to coca and to ch'allar (pour libations to the Pachamama) and pass around cups of beer.