lima

we are here, inhaling the polluted fumes of a city that contains about a third of peru´s population. car exhaust settles as a dark grime on the beautiful colonial buildings in the downtown area. our hotel is half a block from the president´s mansion. it costs $10 a night and we are really paying too much. other places apparently have rooms for $3 per night.

we are collecting pictures of cute dogs that we meet. we are also walking everywhere and eating as much goodness as possible. along the way, we´ve discovered lots of friendliness and cute people.

YUMMY foods eaten so far:
-anticuchos (beef heart shish-kabobs)
-choclo (corn with big white kernels)
-chirimoya (a fruit that is bumpy and green outside and creamy white and sweet inside)
-humintas, although peruvians call them humitas. like a tamale
-empanadas de pollo, which are like turnovers with savory goodness within. ALMOST as good as a salteña.
-chicha morada, which i though was api but i was confused. a purple corn drink.
-seco de pollo con yuca frita: chicken in a savory green sauce, with fried yucca on the side
-arroz a la cubana: rice with fried eggs and fried platanos on the side.
-flan, which is like custard.
-fanta: orange pop

i´m glad we are both ok with eating at the tiny greasy little joints where the locals eat, and where the food and the experience seem much more authentic than in the more expensive tourist-oriented places.

we met alex last night for supper. we are invited to a party tonight....and he was attempting to encourage us to go to the museo de la inquisition. i was resisting, but maybe i´ll give it a chance.