Arequipa and trying to be Anthony Bourdain

Cuzco ended up awesome. We stayed Friday night so we would be able to travel relaxed after Machu Picchu, and I wanted to get some nightlife back in my life, and Cuzco turned out to be the perfect place for that. Kenj and I went out for dinner, she got tired and I was itching to do something, so I went to the bar we had previously visited and there were a few more people, so I sat down for a drink. Before I finished my beer, this guy came over and invited me out with his friends because they were going to a different bar. Just the kind of thing I was hoping for! So we went to this place off the Plaza de Armas, which is not only the main square of the city, framed by 2 cathedrals and colonial architecture, but becomes a zombie haven after dusk. Drunk tourists turn into zombies after a few drinks under a full moon, in case you weren´t aware. So we had a drink in this nice little place and chatted for a while, and his friends were really funny. One chick got pretty drunk and kept mentioning that she´s an attorney, and everyone kept making fun of her because she doesn´t really work, she sits in her house all day. Good company, good drinks, then we got up because the group had this collective antsy-ness that made us move on quick. We walked to the other side of the plaza which is full of dancing places, too small to be clubs, but playing music too loud for it to be considered a bar. Thennnnnn all of a sudden the streets exploded with madness, people kicking, screaming, pulling hair, punching... This one guy opened the passenger door to a police car, held on to the roof of the car and started kicking the cop in the face. Then a few more cops showed up, tried to calm everyone down, I waited for tear gas to start flying because it was like a scene from a zombie movie, like a real mob, but then the cops left and never came back. Eventually the people stopped fighting and the night continued, more or less. The thing is, it was other tourists fighting, what´s up with people on vacation fighting each other?? It´s vacation! Must have been the moon. Anyway, the crew I was with decided they´d had enough and went home, but it was still too early for me.

I walked away from the Plaza de Armas and stumbled upon a little street that I hadn´t noticed before, but I could hear music from around the corner, and found myself in another little hub of bars and clubs, no zombies here though, just my luck. So I was really just meandering, listening to everyone yelling at me to come into the club (they hire people just to do that at clubs, restaurants, massage parlors, everywhere) and one kid caught my attention, I don´t really know why. His name is Germán anyway. So I went over and talked to him for a second, wiped my dripping nose (it´s cold) and he thought I was asking for cocaine. He told me he didn´t have any but could help. It was funny because that´s not what I was doing, but I guess I was sort of giving that universal signal. He was a really nice guy anyway, we talked for a while and whatever. Next day we hung out, he took Kenj and I to this great restaurant and he showed us some awesome Cusco things. He´s an artist, so naturally has some hippie friends, one of which makes artesenal woven things and sells them in the street. This kid was hilarious and a hell of a nice guy who had too much love in his heart for his own good, and it was actually touching because he really meant it. Then we went and drank Chicha with them at this other awesome place. Chicha, the Cuzco variety, when stripped down to its essence, is a fermented corn drink. It´s foamy and a little bubbly thanks to the fermentation, tastes just like fermented corn, and is supposed to be really good for your system. They serve it in glasses that must hold a liter and a half and require two hands to drink from. Germán hung out with us the rest of the day, gave me one of his drawings for a keepsake, then we parted ways to catch our bus to Arequipa. I really love traveling and meeting new people all the time, but it´s starting to wear me out saying hello and goodbye in the same twenty-four hour time-span. I really hate saying goodbye!

We got into Arequipa this morning an hour and a half early, after almost missing the bus as it pulled out a while before it was supposed to, then they made us feel like assholes for holding everyone up. Things rarely happen early here, so it came as a shock. Anyway, got in to Arequipa, found a hostel by 6 so we dropped our stuff, found an Argentinian guy that was coming home from his Saturday night out, and hung out til breakfast was served. Another really nice hostel, with breakfast included in the price and HOT water. Met these characters at breakfast...well the one has enough character to outweigh the blah-ness of his friend, and sort of set off with them to sight see. The city´s beautiful, got a little taste of it, then went to see this museum that holds a mummy that was found on a volcano in 95, the last time it erupted. This mummy had been frozen since it was sacrificed by the Incas, so it was in nearly perfect condition when they found it as the eruption melted the ice at the peak. Fascinating. They speculate the Incas sacrificed around 500 bodies every major ceremony, and this was normally done on mountain peaks or volcanoes for spiritual reasons. As the earth is warming up, the ice on these peaks is melting, so they´re finding more stuff like this these days. Looking on the bright side of global warming, archeologists should have plenty of work in this continent.

So that was awesome, I have never learned so much from a museum, and it was thanks to a great guide. The guide then recomended us a place to eat, but told us it was where she brings all her tourists. Red flag, we didn´t really have to desire to over pay for shitty food. So we fell back to the usual MO, went to the central market, and I got ceviche again, along with this stuffed pepper, roasted with ground beef, spices, and cheese. We were just talking, the four of us, and this lady sitting with her daughter interjected as we brought up wanting to eat cuy, a regional specialty more associated with Ecuadorian cuisine, but familiar here as well. So this lady was like, you´re crazy to pay so much for it in a restaurant, why don´t we go buy some, you guys come over, and I´ll cook it. We raced around the market, buying fruits and vegetables, cuy, and crammed in a cab to her house. Overjoyed to have found someone local so quickly, Kenj and I were all smiles in the cab on the way there. So we got to the house, chopped, cleaned, and chatted for a few hours, then lunch/dinner was ready. I haven´t had a big Sunday meal in a while so it really hit the spot. Oh yeah, so maybe some of you had a little cuy as a pet as a kid, but I tore it apart tonight...it´s guinea pig. Prepared simply enough, with salt and lime juice, then fried, there´s not a ton of meat on the little guy, but the crispy skin makes it all worth it. Then we had a couple huge salads comprised of these massive, creamy avocados that were really different than what grows in Mexico or California, or the kind that Dominicans eat for that matter. So that was exciting. The other two guys left a little early because the one didn´t feel well. Turns out he went to the hospital and ends up having eaten something toxic that´s rotting his stomach... he´s gonna be fine though, he got some medicine. We stayed, washed dishes and shot the shit with Mari for a couple hours more and had a great time kicking it, practicing the Spanish a little more. Such a great time with such a warm, welcoming, open-minded Catholic middle-aged woman. Annnnnnnd, next time I eat Sunday dinner it´s gonna be with my own family! Pretty excited about that, actually. Like I said, as much as I love meeting new people all the time, I´m sick of goodbyes, and I actually miss some stuff back home! Guess I got summoned for Jury Duty in New York, which I´ll have to work out. Lucky for me, I´m out of the country, HA! Feel like it´s going to be complicated anyway though.


So tomorrow we go to Lima, to stay in Kendra´s Aunt´s neighbor´s husband´s aparment in Miraflores. How exciting. I hope we have some sunny weather that´s warm enough to hang out at the beach a little bit!