Food, Illness, and The OC

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One thing I have forgot to mention about this trip is the food, and people getting sick. This was a major theme to the Africa trip, but here it´s not really a big subject.
The food is boring. That´s about the only way I can explain it. Not bad, not good, just food. For example, last night we had white rice (which we have with every meal), some veggie dish, and this potato-based dumpling with some kind of meat and egg white in it. Eatable, but definitely not delicious. A lot of nights there is only vegatable dishes, and on those nights I find myself at Magic Negra ordering a Calzone with Ham, Charizo, and Cheese. Not too bad.

The stable dishes here are meat (cow or alpaca) which tastes a little gamey, chicken (which we don´t have often enough), gunina pig (still haven´t tried, it´s really only for special occasions), fish (which wouldn´t be bad if they didn´t bread and fry it with onions), rice (which is plain, but is alright with this spicy ahi sauce they have), and cooked veggies. We also have a fruit basket that comes after every meal. All kinds of fruit is in season here all year round. I like the Kiwis, so of course, there haven´t been Kiwis in a week!

As for people getting sick. I would say half the people have had some type of illness. But most of them have had nothing worse than a cold. Probably brought on by all the dust in the air. One has the flu right now, and one did have to get hooked up to an IV for some reason. But nothing major like malaria or dysentery, like in Africa.

(on a side note, as I sit here, about a hundred people are walking by protesting something on the streets)

So, the new girls are different. I don´t really know how to explain why, but they are. A perfect example is that the television has not been on since I´ve been here. But now it is always on. And I as I was getting ready to go out last night (we went to Magic Negra because it was Jessica and Brandi´s last night), I heard The OC playing downstairs. And while I´m a big fan of watching rich kids deal with their problems in SoCal when I´m at home, it just seems a little pathetic to spend your time doing that in Peru.

But then again, how pathetic is spending this time on the internet...so I guess I better run.

I spent the day at a boy´s orphanage today...but I´ll tell you about that and post pictures later...

Talk to you soon,
Kevin

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