Along the roadside all over Argentina, it’s common to see little shrines with water bottles. Difunta (deceased) Correa (family name) refers to a popular legend. In 1840, this woman’s husband was forcibly recruited to fight in the Argentine civil war. When she received word that her husband was sick, she took her baby child and followed the tracks of the soldiers through the desert. When her supplies ran out, she died. Her body was found days later by gauchos who were driving cattle through the desert. To their astonishment, her child was alive, still feeding from her miraculously full breast.

Correa is an unofficial saint, not recognized by the Catholic Church. The little shrines have a figure of a woman and a breast feeding baby, and the practice is to bring a bottle of water and leave it at the shrine for her as you drive by. Mike and I are standing near the shrine with water bottles in our hands.

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