in the aforementioned post i mentioned that it is common for volunteers to peru their pants (fyi, it still has not happened). this is commonly due to food and water consumption and getting used to the bacteria in peru. my diet consists of rice. every. single. day. for two of my meals. for breakfast it is commonly bread with some jam and cheese, and vasa of hot milk (peruvians due not believe in cold drinks…i am not exaggerating, this is a real thing) and a cup of freshly made juice (read: my mom put some fruit…typically papaya in a blender and then poured it into a tasa for me). though this morning was different, i was really excited because she told me that we were having yogurt with cereal, and in my head i thought plain yogurt and some oatmeal, which made me super excited. i came downstairs and it was choco flakes with dehydrated marshmallows and liquid hot pink strawberry yogurt. just a little different than i was anticipating.
typically what i eat for lunch is also what i eat for dinner, but sometimes i can get away with no dinner or some fruit or some bread. notice a pattern yet? tons of carbs. my mom’s family is from cusco, and her brother recently returned from a visit. he brought back around 100 lbs of potatoes, which is in a large pile on our roof, and some really delicious bread and cheese. i am really lucky in that my household eats dairy. other volunteers have yet to have milk or any other form of dairy, and i seem to have too much of it.
anyways, back the topic of lunch: rice, which is sometimes accompanied by lentils, and normally a type of meat….but really just chicken…or a fried egg. the highlight is always a fresh salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and avocados with fresh lime. though, last saturday was a rough one. my family had chicharrones, which was accompanied with raw red onions mixed with vegetable oil. lets say i was really grateful for the raw onions that accompanied the chunks of meat scraps that still had veins and tendons. it was a rough go, but i survived. my mom also made some delicious chifa earlier in the week.
a yummy grenadine.
anyways, the highlight to all my meals are the fruit. i eat tons of mandarins and apples and some grenadines, which is similar to a pomegranate but you eat the whole seed and is bigger.
overall the food is delicious, but i really miss froyo, chips and salsa, peanut butter, and hummus…and it is only week two….
perusing peru... 