Tierra de la Pina

Living in Poroto, I often find myself talking about pineapple. Types of pineapple, prices of pineapple, ways to prepare pineapple… you name it. The majority of the community relies on the income generated from pineapple sales, and our small town of Poroto produces 23% of the pineapple for the entire Peruvian coast. It’s no secret in my community that I love this succulent fruit, so I am frequently gifted pineapple by friendly Porotinos.

The other day I accidentally locked myself
out of my house, so I had several hours to kill before my host family would
return. I decided to go on a walk to one of my caserios about 2 miles away. As I was returning from the caserio I ran into one of my students who happily chased after me, pineapple in hand, as she screamed, “SENORITA KELSI!” I happily accepted my pineapple and continued on my way. Minutes later I hear my name again, as a teenager in one of my youth groups stops me to chit chat and hands me my favorite kind of pineapple, the “pina blanca” (white pineapple), which she jokes is perfect for me because I am also “blanquita” (very white). Now armed with two large pineapples, I continue to wonder along the sugar cane lined road that leads back to the center of Poroto. I pass a family loading pineapple into their pickup truck, and a middle-aged woman runs up to me with the largest, most beautiful pineapple from the pile. She winks and points to her son as she informs me that it is a gift especially from him. At this point, I am literally juggling three enormous pineapples for the duration of my walk.

In Charleston, as well as many places in the US, pineapple is a sign of hospitality and welcome. Pineapple adornments decorate the facades of beautiful mansions in historic downtown Charleston, serving as a sign of Southern hospitality. Although pineapples aren’t necessarily associated with hospitality here in Peru, the dozens of pineapples given to me by friends and strangers have served as a warm welcome into the community of Poroto and continue to make me feel at home here.

Continuing with my pineapple-themed entry, I´ve also been assisting with my host family´s pineapple harvest. The production of pineapple dominates my host family´s time, and they spend large portions of their week in the chakra. I like to join them on occasion, but usually my time in the fields is dedicated to picking fruit to eat on the spot, climbing trees, or generally gallivanting around with my host sister. It wasn´t until recently I had the chance to actually participate in a productive manner in the pineapple production process. My host dad and Max (host brother) took the donkeys to the fields and loaded their backs with huge baskets of pineapple. When they returned my host mom, Joshy (host sister), and I were responsible for unloading and sorting the pineapple based on size. In between the many trips we relaxed under the avocado trees as we ate passionfruit from a neighbor´s field. My host mom commented on my French braid, so we formed a braiding train and before long me, my host mom, and Joshy had matching hair-dos. The pineapple piles continued to grow, and 5 hours later we were ready to load the sorted fruit to transport to Trujillo, which filled every crevice of the combi. Although it wasn´t particularly hard work, I was quite sore the next day, but I did have lots of pineapple to eat in the upcoming days.