Blog Post #9 Observations and Leftover Scraps of Stuff-Cusco

Nothing screams “American” quite as much as the shrieking baseball caps worn backwards on the heads of young men walking the streets of Cusco. These guys haven’t a clue as to how ridiculous they look, standing out like swollen thumbs just hit by a phalanx of giant hammers.

There are over 3,800 varieties of potatoes grown in Peru, with more than 600 available for purchase in the markets.

Men wear leather shoes, requiring an industry of shoe shiners manning stationary and mobile shoe shine stands.

I never felt unsafe.

Prices start about 70-80% of what I would pay at home, and then go down from there.

The police were plentiful and everywhere for all celebrations, including military types carrying assault rifles for the 24^th celebration in the main square. I was later told that show of force was because the president of Peru was among the dignitaries.

Shopkeepers scrub the sidewalk outside their shops every morning, yet a short distance away bags of garbage are left out for days until someone disposes of them.

Dogs roam the streets with abandon, but posed no danger to me or others.

I ate street food one time, a tamale, but only after a guide I trusted suggested I do so. It was delicious and I did not get sick.

Peru has a seemingly endless variety of fruits to enjoy, many of them from the tropical jungle. Corina, one of the school’s owners, held a “las frutas” night for us where we sampled over 20 varieties of fruit indigenous to Peru. To my palate some were delectable hits, others tolerable, with a small number landing in the one-small-taste-is-enough-for-a-lifetime category.

Las Frutas Night

As a group, the students and Koen went out for dinner for each of the three Tuesday nights I was in Cusco and once on a Saturday for lunch. I chose Alpaca steak, pizza, and enchiladas for each of the three nights, with all being fabulous meals. The Saturday lunch was one of Ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime juice and served with a mixture of slivered raw onions and tomatoes. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in a foreign country.

Ceviche!

People giggle when they read my first name and love to make jokes about Donald Trump.

Only the very rich eat at the local McDonald’s. The food is much more expensive than what the general populace can afford.