Comiendo, bebiendo, disfrutando

Eating, drinking and having fun.

I've been receiving text messages and not-too-subtle hints that I've been neglecting my blog lately. Talk about putting pressure on me...:) I guess considering I've been updating every two days, three days do make a difference! But I assure you I have good reasons: I've been busy eating and drinking after work (Cusqueña beer mostly). With time running out, leaving me with only 11 more days in this beautiful country, I realize that I have many more dishes to try. Eating crackers for dinner the first 3 days was definitely a stupid waste of time!

Peruvian cuisine, as I mentioned before, is to die for. The best way to experience it, as I've been doing, is to avoid the expensive tourist traps and eat the way the locals do. I'm lucky I've no fear of buying food from the streets or low-key hangouts. Growing up in Mauritius and eating gateaux frire off the streets will seal you up against potential bacteria and illnesses for good (knock on wood that I´ve been alright so far!). Expensive restaurants can offer meals from 20 soles up, about $9. Cheap you´d say! But not when you can eat round the corner in a family-owned restaurant, paying 5 soles (less than $2) for a full-course typical menu!

Weirdly enough, I've been eating breakfast consistently at home to start the day, sometimes crackers, sometimes toasts with butter (the brand is Dorina - my butter, doubt it?) and jam, and never missing my daily cup of black tea with some soy milk, and some oranges.
As per the daily routine, my next mini-meal would be at about noon, along with the children. Profe Nilda makes the most delicious food (I've tried about 6 different types of soups so far). Volunteers also get to eat a little, not as much of course, if only just for tasting. The food at the centre is also the healthiest I've had during my whole stay and I will sorely miss it. Discovering new vegetables and three new types of potatoes (papas as they're called in Spanish, originate from Peru and exist in more than 3,000 types here) everyday is a delight. Now, peeling them is another matter. Because volunteers also help in the different workshops and seeing how I love cooking, I help in the kitchen almost everyday for abt 30 mins. On Monday, Nilda, the profe-cook, dumped about 8 kilos of potatoes on us and I still have the remains under my nails. No amount of scrubbing and brushing would make them go away...! Today, Nilda made me cry...by making me peel and chop red onions. But the delicious macaroni with beet/tomoato/onion salad was rewarding.





I have settled into some kind of routine here. After my mini-lunch at the centre (we don't have half as much as the plateful in the pic of course) and walking up Avenida del Sol to the city centre (where I hang out during lunch break), I cannot go back to work unless I've had an ice-cream or something sweet. For two days in a row, Maria and I ate delicious tutti-frutti ice-cream. Yesterday, Maria accompanied me on my quest for a windbreaker (needed for next week's trek) and we accidentally stumbled upon picarones. Those who know me well know I don't really have a sweet tooth (save for the monthly cravings) but I've been pigging out on sweet Peruvian treats without any remorse. Picarones are made with squash and sweet potatoes, fried in the form of a doughnut and dipped in syrup. Like Maria said, "it's like eating oil, yet it tastes good!". Eh oui!
Thankfully, I power walk like 3 hours a day...





Last night, Mark, Maria, Sanjima and her husband Leon (new volunteers from UK) and I went to Fairplay. Fairplay is actually an association of single mothers who hold a fund-raising cooking night every Wednesday. These single mums also teach Spanish during the day. It is apparently very difficult for them to find a decent job while providing and caring for their babies. We pay 10 soles for yummy dinner and a beer. On the menu yesterday was causa rellena (kind of like a mashed potato - what else - with chicken salad stuffing). It basically looks like this and trust me, you wouldn't stomach a second helping.
Thankfully, the altitude speeds up your metabolism and makes you burn more calories faster.







Oh and on Tuesday, while meeting Aoife and Aileen here, we went to this Irish pub called Paddy's where they serve Guinness, Cusqueña, organic cider, a hot blonde, blue-eyed barman and curiously delicious fried wantans. Now, hot barman didn´t want me to have a sandwich and insisted I try the wantans.
"Irish wantans? You must be kidding me!, I exclaimed. The Chinese INVENTED wantans!!!"
"Trust me, try them, if you don't like them, then you can punch me in the face...!" oh yeah!:)
Guess what, the wantans were against all expectations, just heavenly: hot, crispy and filled with some meaty stuffing...I wasn´t sure about the guacamole that came with it though. I guess the Irish twist was in serving Chinese food with a Mexican dip! Hmmm I am definitely going back for these wantans, or hmmm, those baby blues...:D



Ok I have to go back to the Inti now. But I must first get myself un helado...guess what that is?!

Lake Titicaca: the islands of Uros, Amantani and Taquile

I remember saying I would have lots to write about. It´s still true, the only thing is: I really don´t know where to begin. It seems as if I spent a weekend in the middle of nowhere, or yet again, that it was all a dream. Then again, it was kind of in the middle of nowhere.

Left Cusco on Friday night for Puno on a 7-hour bus ride. All I remember about the ride was that it was slightly unnerving and mostly had me feeling as if I were in a mightily "turbulenced" and frozen airplane, 6 hours out of 7. Got to Puno at 5 a.m. (it was like -8 deg, bone-chillingly cold!) and was taken to a sort of house where I was told to rest for 2 hrs before the agency people would come to fetch me for the tour that would leave at 8 a.m.

Day 1, first stop: Uros islands






The Uros islands are man-made floating islands, built using the totora plant that grows in the lake itself. The totora plant serves many purposes as it´s also used to make boats (as seen), hatch the house rooves and if peeled, can be eaten as a fruit. Tastes good actually! This mini island can accomodate up to 8 families that mainly depend on tourism and handicraft for a living. We were given a crash course on how to build an island, should we ever want to build one (suuuuure, doesn't seem complicated at all!). It really does resemble this miniature model. And we also got to ride the Mercedes-Benz taxi...that is the strangely crafted boat. It´s hard to believe we´re actually at some 3,800 m above sea level!


Day 1, final stop: Amantani Island, the oasis of peace and tranquility








Of the three stops we made, Amantani Island is what struck me the most, perhaps by the tranquility and energy-laden atmosphere that reigns there. Upon arriving on the island at about 1, we were dispatched in gruops of 3 or 4 to our guest families. I made friends with 2 Irish sisters, Aoife and Aileen, and we shared a room in Miriam´s family (girl in the pic). There are about 4,000 inhabitants on the island and they are very pious and disciplined. And oh so welcoming! After a delicious, healthy lunch of rice, potatoes, yams (yes we lived on starch for the two days!) and fried cow cheese(was sooo yummy), swept down by a hot cup of munia tea (it helps with the altitude), we got to rest for abt an hour before Miriam would lead us to meet the rest of the group at the stadium. Climbing Mount Pachatata (Father Earth), that´s about 4,100 m above sea level, would be our challenge for the day. The altitude doesn´t go easy on you and we were all seen making "picture stops" a few times. Picture stops actually give us an excuse to catch our breath. ;) It wasn´t a painful hike but a nice warm-up to Machu Picchu. Up on top, we got to make a wish to Father Earth, using 3 coca leaves as offering.
The real treat was the breath-taking scenery and there was something magical about watching the sun set on Lake Titicaca, reflecting on the still water, accompanied by the sound of a man playing the flute. You can see Bolivia far away in the horizon. Soon after sun down, we started making our way down, our body temperature dropping alarmingly quickly. The weather changed so abruptly that by the time we got down, we were trembling like dried coca leaves in the wind. As Aoife said, (imagine Irish accent): "I can´t wait to change me jumper and put on me thermal underwear!". Going back to our house, we napped, listening to the wind howling outside. We would gladly have lain in bed (me in my four layers of clothes and 4 bed covers), no dinner and all but HAD to attend a dance show (it was obligatorio, as told by Agosto, our guide). After yet another yummy dinner of rice and some kind of potato dish, washed down by munia tea, Miriam dressed us up in their typical clothes (see picture of us all, that was pretty funny!) and went to the "disco". We were all so tired that the disco didn´t last longer than an hour. Considering that a song actually lasts 15 minutes, fatigue and boredom settled in... Now, due to a lack of electricity and running water on the island, we uhhhhh, didn´t brush our teeth that night, nor took a shower for the whole of the trip! We did get to brush our teeth the next morning, the three of us sharing what measured like 2 cups of water. Despite the cold and a pasty mouth, I slept like a baby, surrounded by good vibes and utmost silence and woke up to the sounds of flutes. After breakfasting on pancakes and...munia tea again, we were taken down to the port, our boat was waiting for us. We are now to depart for Taquile island, an hour away. Amantani island left me feeling peaceful and I wish we could all be treated to clear blue, cloudless skies and starry nights every day.

Day 2: Taquile Island







More hiking awaited us on Taquile Island, yet another beautiful island. We climbed this island and had a clear view of both Bolivia and Peru far off in the distance, as well as of the Cordillera Blanca (the White Range of mountains, part of the larger Peruvian Andes). Weaving is the main occupation and source of income of the Taquile inhabitants. They can be seen weaving at all times, while walking, chatting, sitting or eating. A funny anecdote I loved is that because weaving is so important, men and women both start weaving at a young age and if a young man and woman want to get married, they are required to pass a test. They each have to weave a hat (they all wear different types of hats, as it is symbolic of their marital status) and the elderly would pour a cup of water in it. If water seeps through, it literally means they suck at weaving and aren´t allowed to get married. Until their woven hats can actually contain water without any leaking out, they can´t marry!
So we came up Taquile on one end and had to climb our way back down, where our boat was waiting us to take us back to tierra firme.
Oh, a picture that Mauritians would recognize! Chopines Coca and Sprite - they´re everywhere in Peru! ;)
And Jo, see how I´m alternating the clothes, really extending their wear, but not of underwear of course! ;)
Caro, unfortunately didn´t get to swim in the lake. We got to the islands either too early or too late. The water is only warm enough to swim at about 11 a.m.! And warm being at about 15 deg!



I was lucky to have made friends with Aiofe (Aoife actually reminded me of you, Eva, and curiously enough, Aiofe is the Irish version of Eva! very energetic and cheerful, chatty girl) and Aileen who graciously invited me back to their hotel for a nice, hot shower. As I had 4 hrs to kill before my bus ride back to Cusco, we had dinner together. They´re coming to Cusco tonight and we´re to meet again for dinner tomorrow, this time, dans ma ville. hehehe
I made it back to Cusco early this morning, safe and sound despite the chill, filled with happy memories of a world that I couldn´t ever have imagined, however hard I may have tried. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

My 2-hr lunch break is now over. :)