So you want to know about the food....

I thought I´d write some details about food, culture, my town, host family, etc. here in Peru to give you guys a better understanding of what things are like for me on a daily basis. I´m sorry if I repeat somethings that I might have already posted or just ramble on for too long, but bare with me. Since there is a lot to say about each topic, I´ll spread them out over a few different entries and combine it with a story of what has been going on with my life (so you don´t get too bored).

FOOD
You know how much I love talking about food so this will probably be a long one..... The food here is really very good - much better than when I was in Chile. They use a lot of herbs and spices in their cooking so it´s very flavorful. When I arrived at my host family´s house, I decided to tell them that I´m a vegetarian, but I eat chicken because that´s what they think a vegetarian is down here and then I knew they wouldn´t try to force me to eat red meat or seafood. I really lucked out with my family because the kids don´t really like red meat so they rarely eat it anyway and they´ve only had fish once since I´ve been here (they made me chicken). They keep telling me I have to try "cuy" (aka guinea pig; pronounced coo-ey) because it has the highest protein and lowest cholesterol of all meats. They said it´s white meat so I´d like it. Oh boy, I can´t wait for that day to come....

Of course no meal here in Peru would be complete with white rice and potatoes (great for my IBS), but luckily they don´t force it on me that much. We were told before we came that Peruvians eat a lot and will give us enormous portions. I told them from the beginning that I can´t eat such big portions and I´d rather start with a little bit and get more if I want it rather than waste food. They´ve had 6 other "gringas" before me so they are very understanding about that. They love to tell me what the other gringas liked and ate a lot to see if I like it too. I heard stories about the other girls every night at dinner. Their dining room table is covered with glass and they pictures of all the other girls under the glass. So when they tell me a story about one of the girls, they always point out which one it is. By now though, they know that I know so they wait for me to point out which girl is it before they continue on with the story. They´re so funny.

Sometimes we eat lunch at the training center and you wouldn´t believe the amount of food some of the other trainees get. My host grandma asks me everyday what everyone else gets so she can get some ideas. I don´t usually tell her about the students who get white rice with mashed potatoes on top. Talk about carbohydrate overload! I´ve heard they grow 600 different varieties of potato here though so that explains the presence of potatoes in every meal. Peru grows a lot of it´s own food so they don´t have to import much, but my host family told me they don´t export that much either. Everywhere you go there are mercados on the street overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables, but I don´t understand where they all go. My host family eats very few fruits and vegetables (more fruit than veggies though), but luckily I get a lot of them since I said I´m a vegetarian. I heard one of my friends say the other day though that she hasn´t had anything green in 4 days! We do eat a lot of avocado though because they grow them here. They are HUGE though, I didn´t even realize they were avocados at first because some of them are almost the size of my head! They also have these weird bananas that are a pale orange color. They are harder than regular bananas and a little drier, but still sweet. They also aren´t ripe until the skin is practically black and covered with bruises. I would never eat a banana like that in the states, but when you open them, they are perfectly ripe. They have regular bananas too, but the orange ones are more common.

I have already found some favorite foods of my here. My host grandma cooks 99% of the meals and is a very good cook. She makes these things called tortillas that sort of resemble pancakes. They are made out of flour, egg, and bananas, spinach, or vegetables depending on what meal we have them with. The kids eat the spinach ones for breakfast and put strawberry jelly on them! I tried it - not so bad. The tortillas are so good though! I also have this stuff for breakfast everyday called "quacker" that is mostly milk, but it has little chunks of very fine oatmeal in it. She seasons it with cinnamon and cloves and it´s really good. There are lots of different ways of serving it and for some people, it´s much more thick and they have to eat it with a spoon, but mine I definitely drink. Anyway, it´s really good and I kept wondering what is was because I had never heard the word "quacker" before. I finally realized the other day that it´s really Quaker (the brand we have in the states) and that is just how they pronounce it. Haha. I also get a lot of fried eggs served with my meals. The other day I had one on top of lentils and while rice (of course), but they also serve it on this dish called "arroz a la cubana" that is delicious. It´s fried plantains with rice and a fried egg on top and it´s delicious. The kids and I love when we have it. The chicken here is good too - always served on the bone with the skin, but very flavorful and moist. And man do they know how to get that chicken clean. There is not an ounce of meat left when they are finished. They must think I´m such a waster because I don´t get it nearly that clean (not to mention it freaks me out a little bit to eat it off the bone like that).

I could go on and on, but I promise I´ll end this soon. I had a spinach salad the other day and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. We were told that we should really avoid lettuce at all costs because it´s so dirty unless you know it´s been cleaned really, really well. If not, it´s one of the things that could cause diarrhea because of all of the bacteria on it. My host grandma told me that she soaks it in water, washes it by hand, and then does it all over again so I figured it was safe to eat. It tasted amazing and I was so excited to be eating it that I didn´t think about the repercussions. I had it again the next day and asked her if she washes it in boiled water (because she knows I´m supposed to have boiled water for everything and she told me she uses boiled water in all of her cooking), but she said no she uses tap water because the tap water here is "really clean". Uh oh. I knew I was in for it, but all I could think about was how delicious the spinach tasted.

On Friday we had a presentation by the doctor about diarrhea and bird flu. We found out that we have a 122% chance of getting diarrhea while we´re here in Peru and that we can actually get it just by shaking hands with someone! If that person has the bacteria on their hands, and you don´t wash your hands well before eating, you have a 40% higher chance of getting diarrhea. He also said the most common reason is by consuming contaminated food or water and the only safe thing is to cook your food or wash it really well in boiled water. Sure enough, on Saturday afternoon it hit me and I was going to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes with a 101.6 fever. WELCOME TO PERU! The doctor told me to take this pill we have in our medical kits for it and drink lots of liquids. Lindsay, Brad, and Joy came over last night with 3 bottles of Gatorade for me and Hana and Lindsay both visited me this afternoon. My host grandma made me drink this weird remedy from the "campo" this morning that looked like watered-down, dirty milk. She said they drink it in the mountains if they have a stomach ache and diarrhea and can´t get to the doctor in time. It was all blended together, but it´s made of rice, carrots, the pit of an avocado, cinnamon, cloves, and a little sugar. It was weird, but I drank it since I couldn´t think about drinking any more water. She gave me some noodle soup for lunch and that was the first thing I´ve had of substance since 7:30 yesterday morning. I´m feeling much better than I did yesterday, but still not 100%. Hopefully I´ll feel better soon....