Wherever I lay my hat

"A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it's the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it's the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat."  ~ Martha Sliter

This card, dated 1998, comes from Piura in north west Peru which claims to be the oldest Spanish city in South America.  Centuries before the arrival of the Spanish, it was a base for the Quechua people.

Now one of its claims to fame is that it is a centre for handmade woven straw hats like the ones shown on the postcard, and the more traditional style of Panama hats.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Selling onions in the Andes

"Nada menos, no sale mamita"

I don't buy my onions like this, but I wish I did.  It looks much more fun than the suspiciously sterile and uniform ones on offer in our shops.  These ones are being sold in a market in Peru in the Andes.

I don't know how much fun the baby is having though.  I suspect he or she will be awake soon and complaining loudly about a stiff neck.

This is a post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

One potato, two potatoes**

If I'm honest, I had no idea what this card was showing until I read the back:
Señor pelando papas, Cuzco (Perú).  Then I had to go to Google Translate to discover that means "Man peeling potatoes in Cuzco, Peru".  The few words of Spanish I know don't stretch to peeling potatoes.

It may seem a little strange that a man peeling potatoes would be the subject of a postcard but potatoes are enormously important in Peru.  They were first grown in southern Peru 7,000 - 10,000 years ago and there are now 5000+ different varieties worldwide.  Of these varieties, 3,000 are found in Peru and nearby Andean countries.  Potatoes, the third most important crop in the world, after rice and wheat, could be considered the first modern convenience food. 

The International Potato Centre is located in Lima, Peru and there they hold the largest collection of potato varieties in the world.  They have a page of facts and figures worth reading.

**When I was a child we used the rhyme

One potato, two potato
Three potato, four,
Five potato, six potato,
Seven potato, more.

as a way of choosing who was "IT".

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Peruvian tapestry

A typical tapestry from the Andes, this one from Peru.  The card indicates that it's part of a series from the area.

Weaving and tapestry have been part of the way of life in the Andes since the beginning of human occupation there.  They are almost a means of communication, indicating age, gender, social status.