Sunday I had my first plate of ceviche! (Told ya so, Mom!) My host parents, Susan and Cesar, drove me in their little Volkswagon Bug to Chosica, one of the biggest towns in the area. There we met Susana's father, two younger sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew. Together we made our way through a market packed with people selling everything from cheap plastic flip flops, to cell phones to every kind of vegetable and fruit you have ever sen and many you have not.
After a short walk we came to a small restuarant (I don't think I would have known it was a restaurant on my own) set up more like a bar with stolls full of people eating what I called lunch and Susana called breakfast because it was so early (11:30am). After Cesar ordered us seven plates of ceviche and seven glasses of chica morada, we went up a small staircase to an arrow dining room lined with stools. Seated together in a row on the side of the restuarant overlooking the market, we could see through the gaps in the tin roofs below, below moving busily from one shop to the next.
The ceviche was delicious although I was a bit concerned about how my stomach would take it considering the million reminders we've received that we can and will get sick at some point during our time in Peru. The chicha morada was also pretty good- a drink made with choclo morado, a kind of corn with big purple kernels. A mix between gingerale and grape soda, it eased the sting when I accidentally ate a tin piece of super hot pepper. "Se pica," they say of anything spicy.
After lunch, we went to Plaza Veia which is something like a Kmart selling clothes, shoes, electronics, and food of all kinds. Sunday must be a big shopping day in Peru...like payday at the Walmart in Gallop, New Mexico. "Un mar de gente," they say - a sea of people. There was standing room only in this mega-grocery store, not to mention (Lu, I knew you would appreciate this!) a line of maybe 50 people waiting for pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. It seems that some things are the same worldwide. Yum.
I myself did a little shopping hoping to supplement my current diet full of bologna sandwiches for breakfast and potatoes and more potatoes for lunch and dinner. I bought some fruit, some veggies, a few yogurt drinks, and yes, cereal!! Keep in mind that cereal here costs about as much as it does in the US which, in comparison to the prices of every other food here, is completely unheard of! Ceviche for all seven of us cost about $20 so a $5 box of cereal is a bit excessive. Everyone teased me that I must have tons of money to buy a box of cereal but it'll be worth it if I don' t gain 20 pounds like I did in Chile...and South Africa. haha.
Anyways, I'm off to bed. I have hours of Spanish class and tons of potatoes awaiting me tomorrow. But I hope everyone's enjoying my little blog! I'll try to keep it interesting!
I miss you all sooo sooo much and hope to talk to you soon. Dad, Happy Father's Day again! Hope you had a great day.
So much love!
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