Driving north through the countryside…

Through this last stretch, coming down from the mountain, we have snaked through the hillside. Small clusters of huts appear now and again, and I wonder what has made these people settle in this particular location? What has drawn them here? What interactions do they have with the world outside of their immediate surroundings? Young children pop up suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, to call to us and wave frantically, calling “you!you!you!you!you!” or shouting “hi!” their curious eyes bigger and rounder than usual as they hope for some sort of interaction. Many of them can whistle like there’s no tomorrow. Pretty cool trick they must have learned herding their animals.
We stopped for a bathroom break in a small grove of eucalyptus trees and decided to walk a short distance of the road. The bus drove up ahead and by the time we reached it, children were running to join us. They came from all directions: some from up and down the road; others from the surrounding land, racing barefoot down rocky embankments to be sure to reach us before we would drive away. Within minutes an entourage of over a dozen kids assembled. Their bodies were dusted with a thin coat of dried mud, giving them a silvery sheen. They wore no shoes on their leathery feet that must be rugged and strong, barefoot on the rocky soil. Elise interacted with them most naturally, crouching down to their level to speak with them in animated tones and pantomimes, relaying that she heard them coming due to their running and panting. Soon, she was playing with a small boy who clutched at his mother’s skirt as Elise tried to circle her in order to reach him. He laughed and giggled and played along, always peeking around his mother to find Elise again and again.
The landscape has transformed once again. Here the soil is much drier and rockier, a lighter shade of brown, making me wonder if it is as fertile as the lands we have seen in other areas. The trees are scrubbier, with the acacia prevalent, its branches turned upward as if giving an offering to the sky. Other plants remind me of the creosote, sage, and scrub brush found in the desert landscapes of Big Bend or Arizona. Different forms of cactus or succulents – century plants, aloe, and __________ (the tea plant) are mixed in.