Can we eat it?! - Blogabond

So, thus far I have described my chaotic pre-plane mouth cancer adventure. Now for the flights themselves. Fortunately, I have this uncanny ability to sleep on planes (no doubt obtained from 4 years of flying back and forth between New York and California)...therefore, I was asleep the vast majority of the time, including during the take-offs and landings while poor Amy, who cannot sleep on planes, looked on with envy. Somehow the little Spanish that Amy and I know got us through immigration and customs in Mexico City, and we were deposited on the other side of customs hungry, tired, and wondering what we could possibly eat. Before I left home, I was warned by my doctor, my vaccine administrator, and Lonely Planet that I should not eat/drink anything that had not been boiled, cooked, or peeled in Peru so that we did not end up with typhoid/hepatitis/world´s worst diarrhea ever. Food we ate should be served hot (as in having just been cooked immediately before we consume it) and fresh, uncooked produce should be avoided. We assumed the same would be true in Mexico. Given the fact that the majority of airport food consists of fast food (which may or may not have been reheated), cold sandwiches chock full of uncooked produce, candy bars, and buffet-style Chinese food that has been sitting out forever and ever, we had no idea what we could eat. After wandering around for about an hour, we finally stumbled upon a restaurant that looked expensive and thereby reputable (according to Lonely Planet) and bought some quesadillas and bottled water. We put grapefruit seed extract (courtesy of Amy´s homeopathic, hippie mother) in the water to kill any pathogens just in case, meaning that our water tasted incredibly bitter. We also turned down the fresh guacamole (which killed the avacado-lover inside me) in case it was made of fresh produce. Then we cried over the fact that we would not be eating fresh produce or drinking water that did not taste like ass for the next two months. Our check came out to 274 pesos, which scared the crap out of us, but it turns out there´s about 11 pesos to a dollar. At that point, we were just happy to be fed. After finishing up our 6 hour layover, flying to Lima, and boarding yet another plane to Cusco, we finally arrived at our destination about 24 hours after boarding our first plane.

At the airport, we were met by Mimi, a member of the host family that Amy and I would be staying with courtesy of our program, Fairplay. We all took a cab to the homestead, only costing us a total of 4 soles (about $1.33!). From the street, the homestead just looks like a ten-foot pink wall with a door and some tinted windows in it. Once you walk through the door, however, you walk into a cement courtyard that belongs to the Huanac Cabana family, the family we are staying with. The courtyard is surrounded on three sides by rooms, kind of like at a motel, and one of these sides is four stories high! Mimi showed us to our room/bathroom on the second story, which is good because the fourth floor is very high up and looks slightly unstable. The entire homestead is this random conglomeration of colorful tile, wooden planks, and metal spiral staircases, non of which match. Compared to the other homes I have seen in Cusco (many of which have sheet metal for walls/roofs)however, it is quite nice. We live there with John, the program director of Fairplay, his wife and kids, and the wife´s sisters and mother, Manchi, and their husbands. There are also a couple of other students like us (Brittany, an American with a penchant for cake, and Arne, a Belgian with a penchant for hallucinagins) living in the homestead. That is good because almost none of the Peruvians we live with speak English...I´ve been smiling and nodding a lot, haha. Fortunately though, I have also been picking up on Spanish pretty quickly out of pure necessity. I make awkward and stilted conversations with Manchi, who cooks the Fairplay students breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. She knows how to cook so that we don´t contract any diseases!!! :D Our room is very nice with bright green walls, orange curtains, a wardrobe, table, and a double bed. Amy and I have been telling people/acting like we are just friends, however, because Peruvians are pretty uncomfortable with the whole homosexual thing. It´s been interesting walking around without holding her hand or giving her little kisses, but it´s bearable. We get to cuddle once we are locked away in our green and orange room. We also have a bathroom with a toilet you can´t put toilet paper in (apparently all toilets in Peru are like that...they clog easily so every toilet has a trash can you can deposit toilet paper into next to it) and a shower that dumps freezing cold water onto us whenever we feel brave enough to turn it on. Overall, it is a very nice set-up and I am very pleased.

Ok, computer time is up...more about Cusco and Spanish classes later!

written by

kfox on June 8, 2010 from Cusco, Peru

from the travel blog: Peru Adventure!

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Proud of you sis. This ain't no in n out Costa rica pamperd ass trip. You're there in the nitty gritty. To be honest i'm jealous. I want some immmersion some day to work on my Spanish that while suits me fine at INO ... Is a waste of good Spanish otherwise.

I would say to hell with all that don't eat it don't drink it bullshit and realize that those people survive just fine on it and join in!

Enjoy your trip! I love you!

Nick

written by Nick fox on June 8, 2010

Thank you bro...I´m feeling very lucky to have these experiences and it helps to have support from my loved ones...I don´t think people always understand why I run off to such random places all the time, and I´m glad you do. :) I also hope you get the opportunity to do something like this someday! You should come down while I´m here and we´ll party in Peru. ;)

written by

kfox on June 11, 2010

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