I look like a vegetarian in Peru too.

In Canada, I have been mistaken for a vegetarian a great many times, most memorably by just about every person in my Peak class last spring. This morning, in Lima, Señora Cabrera said, " You´re a vegetarian, right?".
This was after I had eaten raw fish, octopus and cow´s heart... in a single meal.

My first and only day in Lima (that is Saturday the 8th) was Señor Cabrera´s birthday, so the family (plus me) went to a buffet lunch to celebrate. The whole thing was laid out beautifully and the food was both delicious and foreign. The only famliar things on my plate that meal were a few green beans and a plain salad of lettuce and carrots. There must have been dozens of seafood dishes; ceviche (fresh, raw fish marinated in vinegar, lime and seasonings with onions), pulpo (octopus prepared similarly), shrimp, different types of fish, oysters... prepared in as many ways as you can think of. Then there was the grill, where you chose a skewer of meat (or fish!) for one of the guys behind the buffet wearing chefs´ hats to cook for you. I didn´t learn ´til later that just because something looks like beef, doesn´t mean it is. I may not sound especially enthusiastic, but the anticucho (cow´s heart with traditional seasonings) was pretty yummy. Milenka was pragmatic enough to inform me what I was eating after I had eaten a piece... though I might have preferred if she told me after I had finished it all (which I did). I could probably describe the food for many pages, but I will spare myself some trouble typing and say that there were also large selections of traditional dishes from the mountain regions, desserts, ice cream, drinks and pasta made to order with (you guessed it!) seafood. I had a jolly time chatting with (and trying to understand) Milenka´s cousins. Later we went back home and played card games (they like rowdy ones, we also did a slightly less fun version of that "The Coo and Can" due to comprehension issues). Oh yes, also when we arrived back home from the buffet they all had me do about a quarter shot of Pisco, "To digest to fatty food and help my cough go away". Pisco is potent stuff and unless I eat a dozen deep-fried Mars bars and have a cough like a Howler monkey I will not be trying it again. Happily, I managed to keep it down (gag reflex going strong!) and my eyes only watered a little bit (okay, maybe one tear fell...).

That night, four of Milenka´s friends from medical school came over and as each arrived I understood less and less of what was going on. After and hour and a half they had decided where to go, so we crammed six bodies plus the driver and a wheelchair into a regular five-seater taxi. We went to a party given by an older colleague of theirs, which was strange for me because he had hired waiters, musicians and bartenders for a party in his house and because the majority of the crowded (and it was crowded) seemed to be over forty or under thirteen. I´m not even sure there was an occasion for a fiesta. We were back just after midnight and then it was off to bed for my nine-thirty a.m. taxi to the airport. The nine-thirty a.m. taxi was very punctual, arriving about ten minutes after nine. So I said a rushed goodbye to Mile and Elda and was off.

This is the part where I explain to my mother who Milenka is and why I was staying with her; There is a website (CouchSurfing) where you can connect with people all over the world and request for them to host you on your travels. It was the perfect situation for me, because I am low-budget, solo and looking to get a not-just-tourist-stuff experience of Peru. Milenka and her family were very kind and helpful, and I am grateful to them for welcoming me and making me feel at home. The reason I didn´t tell you before, parents and people who might tell my parents, is that I knew you would worry. I decided to tell you afterwards so you wouldn´t have to. Check out the CouchSurfing site for all the info about safety, trust etc.

Cusco. ¡Ahhh, Cusco me encanta! I already like it better than Lima in so many ways, not the least of which is that my transportation from the airport cost twenty-one cents rather than forty dollars.  Of course today I was squatting in an overcrowded van with my pack on; lurching and swaying rather than cruising along in a shiny black sedan with air-conditioning and a suit-sporting driver, backpack comfortably in the trunk.

I will tell you all about the joys of Cusco another time, since I am parking my butt here for five whole weeks and I´m sure you are just about ready for me to shut up now. My cold has almost gone, hallelujah! Must have been the Pisco... and I am very excited to begin working with the kids tomorrow! If you have gotten this far in reading, you are just amazing, thank you!

Love and hugs to all!
Julia