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You should be ecstatic... Why? Because just for you I pushed my fears of looking like a tourist aside, pulled out my camera and took pictures of my new hometown, Huancayo... and by the way, I would totally fit in otherwise if it weren´t for the camera. ;-) So anyway, enjoy my pics and of course I can´t leave you without giving you just a little bit of information about my new hometown:

Huancayo is the seventh or eighth largest city in Perú, depending on which source you look at. It´s 325,000 inhabitants or so puts it on par with the metropolitan statistical area of Peoria, Illinois. Huancayo is located at an altitude over 10,700 feet up in the Andes and is about six hours by car directly east of Lima. It is my understanding that the name, Huancayo, is actually the spanish spelling of a Quechua (language of the Inca´s) word that means ¨rock.¨ While the town has a long history spanning back to the Inca Empire, Huancayo was not officially established until 1572. Then, it wasn´t until 1820 when Huancayo gained it´s independence from Spain. If you want to try out your castellano and read a little more about the city I now call home I recomend visiting this website: http://www.huancayoperu.info/index1.php

Welcome to La Plaza de la Constitución. It is absolutely gorgeous and if I block my peripheral vision I can pretend like I am in a small town in Spain or Italy (the dome kind of resembles the dome of the Florence Cathedral, a little bit, don´t you think?). ...but don´t let the plaza fool you, this is not what the rest of Huancayo looks like. Still, I love it in this plaza. It´s just a twenty minute walk from home and I will usually come here in the mornings to read, chat it up with the locals or try to spot other gringos (without much luck, might I add).

More of the plaza... above is a statue of Don Ramon Castilla, who decreed the abolition of slavery in Huancayo on December 3, 1854, eleven years before slavery was abolished in The United States.

There are other great plazas/parks to go to in and around Huancayo as well. This is Parque de la Identidad Huanca. It showcases many of the plants that are native to Huancayo along with numerous momuments dedicated to famous Huancaínos, art and music. I came here one of my first days in Huancayo (with a camera that was very low on batteries... I only have this one shot) and what shocked me is how much it looks like Gaudi´s Park Guell in Barcelona, which is my absolute favorate park of all time. This is a place I´m definitely going to come back to.


... and this is home, Jirón Arequipa 1465. This is an absolute mansion compared to the other houses in Huancayo and what I love most about my new home is the gate out front with the flowers that have climbed all the way up to the third floor. Beautiful! The window that is visible on the second floor is Iris´ office window, she is an accountant with her own business. The small window on the side of the house is to our bathroom. My bedroom window is on the back of the house and not visible from the street or to the sun, which means it gets really cold in there.

Anyway, architects (if you guys are reading this... Brian, Mish, Tim I'm totally calling you out), I want you to look at the building in the distance. Somebody forgot to trim the rebar after construction. In fact, somebody forgot to trim the rebar in most of the buildings in Huancayo. Why do you think this is? Is it cheaper to leave the rebar sticking out of the concrete or are the construction workers just lazy? Any thoughts? As far as I can remember in my six years of architecture schooling and however many summers of internships, trimming the rebar is not an option. Please help me solve this mystery.

Lovely picture, isn´t it? During my first month or month and a half here whenever I would go out walking with Iris, she would ask me, ¨Okay Heather, do you know where we are at? Where´s home?¨ (Funny, I have been asked this question in Metamora, Champaign, Versailles/Paris, Chicago and now Huancayo... like I have a problem with directions or something.) Anyway, eventually I got to the point where I actually knew where I was at (thank goodness) and was able to say, ¨Totally know where we are at Iris... and to get home it´s just adelante and then an izquierda at the blonde in the red thong.¨ Like the Eiffel Tower in Paris that always showed me how to get to the train station that would take me back to Versailles or the Sears Tower in Chicago which I could always see from miles away and would guide me a few blocks north to my apartment, in Huancayo I just have to look for my naked gringa friend and I know how to get home. Comforting... isn´t it?

While walking is my favorite form of transportation there are many other ways to get around Huancayo as well. One way is by bus/van. Cram in here with business men, produce from the market, babies, women, chickens, whatever and you can go anywhere in the city for about $0.40. Unfortunately I really don´t fit in these automobiles.... the seats are only spaced about three inches apart and my long german legs just won´t fit. I am happy, though, that the buses employ seven year olds to literally hang out the door and yell out the destination while the bus rambles recklessly at top speed through the streets. Child labor at it´s best... I guess everyone has to do their part.
... and just in case a bus doesn´t sound appealing, might I offer you a ride in a mototaxi. I much prefer this form of transportation (if I absolutely have to chose between a bus and this). It just seems um, cleaner, I think is the word I am looking for although I am sure this is also a bit more dangerous. It just doesn´t have the heft that a bus has.

But, like I said, I prefer to walk. Here´s a picture of my walk to my Spanish class at 7:30 in the morning. It is rush hour in the photo and traffic can get pretty nutty not to mention that everyone uses their horn to its full extent... Driving too slow? HONK! Red light not turing green fast enough? HONK! See a dog three blocks ahead? HONK! Thinking of potatoes? HONK! See a white girl? HONK, whistle and make kissing noises. Rush hour´s a little bit different here...


Continuing on my walk to class, I pass over El Rio Shullcas, which has to be the most polluted river I have ever seen in my life. The picture just doesn´t do it justice. In fact, a couple times a week the river will flow red. Seriously, red! The first time I saw this I was a bit nervous that it might be a sign of the apocalypse but as it was not followed up by a swarm of katydids blocking out the sun, I knew I was okay.

A typical neighborhood... The landscaping that is in front of these houses is very rare to Huancayo and if you could zoom into this picture you would see that there is a fence of barbed wire around the grass. Just like in France, grass here is for looking and not touching. Usually plots of grass are only found in parks and most houses are simply surrounded by dry mountain dirt.


Another view of the same neighborhood. People tend to do their laundry on the roof here and if you are up high enough you can see lines of drying laundry for miles and miles. I think all the bright colors are beautiful and it very much reminds me of strings of prayer flags in Nepal.

The same neighborhood again but looking a bit more desolate without the grass and colorful laundry.

Huancayo is naturally very beautiful. Here´s one of the many pastures that surrounds the town.


Victor and Iris own several properties all over Perú, like the eucalyptus forest above. Everytime I hear about an additional property that they own, it reminds me of the history books I´ve read where much of the theme is centralized on the grand disparity between the wealthy and poor and how something like eighty percent of the land in Perú is owned by fifteen percent of the population. Victor and Iris, although they came from extremely humble beginnings (both their parents still live in the country without plumbing or electricity) have managed to make themselves part of the elite.



But on a lighter note, hidden in all these properties, and roaming the streets of Huancayo really, are types of farm animals like this cute little contortionist lamb.



... and this calf that made me want to yell out ¨It´s Norman from City Slickers!!!¨

And let me finish with a picture of Iris and Victor, standing proudly in front of their trees.

Huancayo really is a beautiful area with its mountains, trees, wildlife and kind people... a little maintenance and clean up could go a long way but I have a feeling the people of Huancayo have more to think about than where their trash is going or what is going on with the building that is crumbling down the street. Next week I begin working at PROMYPES, a small grass-roots micro-lending organization and am looking forward to getting a different, more internal viewpoint, of the city around me.

Música y Baila

At last count I think there were 628 different styles of music in Perú and a different dance to go with each one... salsa, reggaetón, merengue (just to name a few) and I can´t forget the music style dejour, cumbia. Each type of music has its own dance whether it´s a few rythmic steps or an entire choreographed performance and it seems as though everyone knows exactly how to move to them on the dance floor. I would love to learn at least a couple of these dances before I leave and I´m hoping to take a class or two (one that would teach me a traditional dance from Huancayo and maybe a salsa class as well). Still, probably the best way to learn the more popular shake-your-thang-on-the-dance-floor dances is just to get out there and obvserve. So a few weeks ago when Faviola, Iris and Victor´s 19 year-old daughter, asked me to go out with her and her friends what else could I say besides, ¨Music, dancing and a beverage or two? Sign me up! I´m all over it!¨ And so the night commenced...


As you can see in the photo, I quickly put on my fancy, I´m-actually-leaving-the-house, Peruvian clothes (new US$7 Peruvian shirt and ridiculously expensive, for Peruvian standards and US standards for that matter, J. Crew match stick jeans). Next to me is the adorable and brilliant Favi. How cute is she!?! During the latter part of July/beginning of August she was home for a few weeks from the University of Lima where she is studing psychology. This photo is also great because it actually shows a bit of the house I live in and for those of you who still think I live in a cave (((shaking my head at you))) you can see that that is not the case in the slightest. If you were to walk in the front door of my Huancayo house this is what you would see. The living room is to the left of the picture. The dining room is behind me. Through the arched doorway is the kitchen and the glass door that is perpendicular to the wall with the arched doorway leads out to the carport. Outside the frame of the picture to the right are the stairs that lead to the second floor and my bedroom.


I just had to put in this picture too... mostly to show you that I´m wearing flats. I was told that I wasn´t allowed to wear heels that night. Can you even imagine me without heels!?! Man, I´m roughing it down here. Anyway, Favi wore heels... I´m only slightly jealous. Also, please note the golden box along the wall behind Favi and me. That is a huge box full of I don´t know how many cans of evaporated milk... because why drink real milk when you can drink evaporated milk. It will help your kids grow tall and strong just as the commercials say... but I´m getting off topic.


After getting dolled-up Favi and I met up with her friends. Here are my adorable companions for the night. From right to left is Favi, her boyfriend Frank and a friend of her boyfriend´s whose name I have sadly forgotten.

Favi and her boyfriend. Cute cute.

Me and Favi´s boyfriend´s friend. I am a little upset that he kind of looks um... dead inside in this photo. I´m not sure if it´s me that made him look this way or if it is just another Peruvian quirk. I assure you that people do smile, laugh and have fun here but when the camera flash goes off they have a way of looking... well, like my friend above.

The second or third bar we went to had live music... LOVE IT! Does it get any better than that!?! I´m really not sure it does... so I was inspried to try a little salsa dancing. It turns out (as if I didn´t know this before) I am horribly uncoordinated... and to make matters worse I tend to contort my face when I dance (my deepest apologies to those of you who have had to dance with me before). Anyway, in the following pictures you can see the many forms my face takes on as I try to produce a little rythm. Oh well, at least I´m having fun, right... although I´m pretty sure the Peruana in the background is looking at me and thinking, ¨Pobre blanquita!¨

This is apparently what I look like when I can´t dance or speak Spanish. I think I just finished saying something like, ¨Sorry, I have absolutely no clue what I am doing.¨ Oh boy...

Finally a move I can do! Thank you Lois and Paige Wahrenburg for teaching me at a very young age how to kitchen dance, aka put one arm in the air and spin in a circle. It is my signature move nowadays after all. Unfortuantely, while spinning in a circle is huge here, putting your arm in the air is not... but really I can´t control it. Ask me to spin in a circle and my arm automatically goes up (and from this picture it looks as though my tongue comes out of my mouth as well). What is a girl to do...

Now Favi and Frank really could dance. I wish I would have taken a video of them but it totally slipped my mind. I mean seriously, there were all types of spins going on I could barely keep track of where the cute couple was on the dance floor. Adorable!

The night finally ended at 4am after a lot of music, a lot of dancing, and a lot of drinking... I was even able to use new phrases such as ¨No me toces!¨ and ¨No me beses!¨ The above photo was taken while I was slumped down on the couch trying not to fall asleep, thinking to myself ¨I am way too old for this,¨ and Favi and her friends were trying to convince me that 6am is a much more respectable quitting time than 4am. Turns out I won the discussion and we went home. Sorry to disappoint.

Either way, my night out with the youth of Perú taught me many things but most of all I have decided that I am more of a comedic dancer than a suave latina dancer. Give me some disco and I can mimic John Travolta perfectly (at least it´s perfect in my mind). 80´s music? Even better! I´m all over it. The only thing I am lacking here are my friends who, without question, will get up and make complete fools of themselves with me. It is why I am friends with them afterall. I need Amy to do the robot or John to bust out his Michael Jackson moves. I need Paigie, Erin or my cousins, Timmy and Chad here with me to do the sprinkler or better yet, why not cross the dance floor doing a little grocery shopping. Need a ride on the bus? Hop on. These moves I can do... easy. Perhaps next time I go out I´ll showcase some of my favorate dance moves taken fresh from um... the privacy of my own home and revolutionize dance in South America. Just maybe...

Una Leccióncita Sobre Perú

Lately, toward the end of my daily Spanish lesson, my teacher, Luz, and I take time out to discuss current events, politics, people and places in both Perú and the U.S. This has become my absolute favorite time of my lesson, if not my entire day. Afterall, this is a large part of the reason why I am down here in the first place; to get a different point of view of the world around us.

To be honest, our discussion can probably be more accurately described as Luz telling me about the woes of her country and me answering questions about the U.S. and other places I´ve been. At this point I don´t have 1.) the language skills to describe things exactly as I want; and 2.) the depth of knowledge about Perú to comment much on what Luz is saying. Nevertheless, I try my best and enjoy teaching Luz about the United States, which I assure her to her disbelief has all the same troubles as Perú - poverty, crime, drug abuse, alcoholism, unemployment, etc. - just on a smaller scale.

What really gets to me is how little I know about South America (and Africa, Asia and the Middle East for that matter). Did I miss that day at school? Was it of so little interest to me that I didn´t pay attention? Or were we never taught anything about those regions of the world? When I try to think about what I learned about South America, I´m brought all the way back to Mr. Denison´s 7th grade class, in which he taught us the countries´ capitals... that´s it. At least, that´s all I remember. So I´ve been trying to educate myself about the country that is now my home. Here´s what I have learned so far...

In the early to mid 16th century Peru was invaded by Spain. Already wrecked by civil war, the Quechua speaking Inca empire fell and Peru became one of the two core regions in Spanish America (with Mexico being the other) due to it´s rich silver mines to the north.

The Spaniards spent the next few hundred years imposing their culture and belief system with partial but not total success that has led to the rich Catholic/Indigenous culture that exists today. By 1800 Peru´s population reached approximately one million. According to ¨The History of Latin America¨ by Marshall Eakin, ¨the descendants of the Incas probably accounted for 60 to 65 percent of the population. Mestizos (people of European and Inca decent) probably accounted for about 20 percent and black slaves less than 5 percent. About 10 to 15 percent of the population was white.¨ Currenty, descendants of the Incas still account for 45%, Mestizos 37% and whites 15%. The remaining 3% is composed of people of african decent, asians and the mysterious ¨other¨ group.

Peru did not gain it´s independence back from Spain until July 28, 1821, nearly 300 years after the initial invasion. Since then, according to Eakin, Perú has forcused more on ¨war and maintaining elite control¨ than implementing ¨the political ideals of the founding moment¨ as the United States has done. I believe that this is just one of the many reasons why Peru is what it is today despite its abundant natural resources and potential. Following are current statistics and a quick comparison of Perú to the U.S. sourced from the World Bank´s 2007 database.

Peru is approximately three times the size of California with a population that is equal to Texas and Oklahoma combined (about 28 million). Of the 28 million people who live in Peru approximately 39.3% live below the poverty line, compared to 12.5% of the population in the United States. Peru is considered a developing nation and their gross national income is only $3k per person opposed to the U.S.´s $46k.

Despite Peru´s perpetual poverty, life expectancy is 71 years at birth, just eight years less than U.S. citizens. HIV is slightly less prevelant here at 0.5% than in the U.S. where it is at 0.6%. Furthermore, literacy is at 90% in Peru, much higher than I expected for a country in which micro-finance organizations are so common.

Peru´s GDP (in billions USD) was 107.3 in 2007 with a growth rate of 8.9%. Furthermore, they managed a cash surplus equal to 2% of their GDP. In 2007, the U.S. had a GDP of 13,751.4 with a 2% growth rate.

To give you a little market information, in Peru it takes an average of 72 days to start a business. According to the World Bank it only takes a person in the United States an average of 6 days although that seems ridiculously quick to me. Furthermore, 55% of people in Peru have a cell phone (85% of people in the U.S. have a mobil phone subscription) and a much lower percentage of Peruvians, 27.4%, are internet users in contrast to 73.5% of the population in the United States.

Perú employs a constitutional republic government. Currently in office is the seemingly very unpopular president, Alan García, of the Popular Revolutionary Party Alliance. He was elected in June of 2006 and will be in office for the customary five years. García was also president from 1985 to 1990 and was reelected this term with ¨promises to improve Peru's social condition, balancing economic stability with increased social spending,¨ according to the U.S. State Department. Furthermore, the U.S. State Department goes on to say, ¨During his term, García has overseen a robust macroeconomic performance, including strong GDP growth and declining poverty levels (39.3% of Peruvians were “poor” and 13.7% “extremely poor” in 2007). Despite this broad success, however, global inflation has pushed up prices for basic goods consumed by the poor, causing a steep decline in García’s level of public support.¨

Perú has a long way to go economically and socially but I have high hopes for this country. Never have I ever traveled to a more naturally beautiful and diverse country and one or two more visitors from the United States (hint hint) will most definitely help this economy. For more information on Perú please check out the following links:

http://www.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/p/101838.htm

http://www.worldbank.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru

Field Trip to Huachac

Just about everyday there is a festival somewhere in Perú. For most Peruvians life is hard (approximately forty percent live below the poverty level opposed to thirteen percent of people who live in the United States) and they simply need a reason to celebrate and forget their troubles if only for a moment... and what better excuse to have a party than to celebrate the Catholic saints. Apparently there are over 10,000 saints according to http://www.catholic.org/ and I totally believe that Perú takes time out to celebrate each and every one of them. This past week I went to such a festival after my spanish teacher, Luz, invited me to come along with her family on a field trip to Huachac, a small town about thirty minutes outside of Huancayo. Here are some pictures from my day outside of the city:





Above is a picture of my Spanish teacher, Luz, and her family (she is recently divorced from her husband who apparently drank and smoked way to much, was a professor at the local university and um, maybe had an affair with one of his students... although I´m not sure if I heard that part correctly. Plus, when I moved to France, I remember learning that infidelity is something that is expected to happen in a marriage, at least in French culture, and it is not considered to be a big deal. I kinda of figured it would be treated the same way in Latin America but who knows... Luz seemed to dwell on how much her husband drank so perhaps that was the problem... or at least one of the many problems). Anyway, from left to right is Sammil, he´s turning 6 next week, Luz, Sharron - 12, and Sherlli - 15.

Sammil, Luz and me. I completely adore Sammil, mostly because I can understand everything that he says. This is because he usually only talks about wanting someone to buy him this or that toy or something to eat. That´s usually all I talk about too. We get along perfectly.

At Huachac´s festival there was tons of food, bands, dancing and things to buy from cheap plastic toys to various crafts made by local artisans. Usually in Huancayo, these vendors are littered along the sidewalk just in case you are walking to the market and think to yourself, ¨Man, I´d like to buy a ceramic pot/fruit/rug/hula-hoop.¨ It´s all right there at your disposal.

Above are a few women in what I think of as traditional dress. This style hasn´t caught on with the younger crowd, but if you´re of a certain age and social standing (I think), this is what you are expected to wear. Those who are younger or in the professional world dress just as we do in the United States. They even have a lot of the same brands.

After tasting some of the vendors´food, Luz chose a tent and we sat down. I´ll give you one guess as to what we ate...

First course, papas... or something like papas. I thought I was eating sweet potatoes in gelatin (gelatin is HUGE here) but I was told it was okra. I´m not so sure about that. I think something was lost in the translation. It totally had the texture and taste of potatos. Anyway, the dish was sweet so it was okay with me.

Sharron showing off course numero dos... más papas.

Here´s an upclose look at the second course - spicy potato with a side of more potatoes mixed with spinish. Seriously, when I come home I never want to eat another potato again.

After lunch we wandered around a bit. A band started playing somewhat spontaneously and people gathered to dance. There are about a gazillion different styles of dance in Perú. This is a very mellow traditional style of dance. You have to look very carefully at the video to even see which people are dancing because they pretty much look like they are just marching in a circle.

We then met up with some of Luz´s family. While she has five brothers and one sister, only one bother and her sister showed up. From left to right is Luz, her mother, sister Betty (Who I adore. She is tons of fun, outgoing and loud. Gotta love it!). Next to Betty is her husband, they were just recently married. Next to him is Luz´s daughter, her father, brother and two other children.

Betty´s husband asked me to dance. It wasn´t a difficult dance, just the traditional marching in a circle but it was still hard for me. Man, I wish I were coordinated! Anyway, the second I started dancing several video cameras came over to tape me. I am not even kidding! I suppose I should enjoy my few minutes of fame but it was so odd... and it got old fast (video cameras kept popping up for the rest of the day)! And don´t get me wrong, I am a Rink after all, who loves being the center of attention but after a while I found myself making faces in the camera. I should probably play along better but it´s just very strange to be the exotic one for once.

Luz joined in on the dancing fun.

Betty and her husband dancing some simple salsa. Sorry the video is sideways. Anyway, we spent literally hours dancing in the hot, hot sun. I loved it! We ended up dancing with a huge group of people. Soon after more people joined in, gianormous liter-sized bottles of beer appeard and we spent our time dancing in a circle and passing the huge bottle of beer around (and drinking out of the same plastic cup... not so sure about that). Anyway, except for the incessant video cameras it was a blast!

Before we left the town´s main square I had to sneakily take a video of these cute ¨abuelitos¨ dancing. I mean, seriously, when I´m 100 years old I want to be dancing like this... just maybe with better clothes and a taller husband. ;-)

Later that afternoon we took a mototaxi (basically a motorcycle with a bench seat attached) to a Corrida de Toros. Mototaxis can comfortably fit two people, maybe three. Above is how you fit six people into one Mototaxi. Lovely! Anyway, when I was first told that we would be going to a ¨Corrida de Toros¨ I thought that we were going to see bullfighting. I told Luz that I really didn´t want to see anyone kill a bull... it´s just too sad. She then assured me that the people were just going to ¨play with the bull.¨ Fine with me. Let´s go!

The corral located up on a hill about ten minutes from the main square.

The ¨Corrida de Toros¨ started off with people from different towns, in different forms of dress, marching in. Most of the people were carrying red velvet pillows with various items, from Barbi dolls to coffee makers, on them. Later these items were thrown into the audience along with candy while the pillows were tied to the backs of the bulls.

Bands also marched in and played music as they circled the corral.

Then the bulls and toreros (apparently they´re not called matadors... can´t really figure this one out but I asked two different people and both told me these men were called toreros) made their appearances.

It was tons of fun to watch the bulls and toreros and squeal with Luz everytime it looked like a torero might get trampled or come in contact with the bulls horns (can´t have this type of fun in Chicago!!!) Anyway, I had a great time in Huachac and it was nice to mix things up for a day. Wish you were all here to share my experiences with you!

La Vida y la Muerte de un Cuy en Perú... WARNING: Slaughterd Fuzzy Creatures Below

Saturday morning I was sitting in my Peruvian family room watching a Spanish-dubbed U.S. movie on HBO, taking it easy, when Nati, Richard and Faviola´s housekeeper in Lima, walked in with a bag (obvious full of um... something) after shopping at the market. Nati went directly to the kitchen and started talking with our housekeeper... about what? ...CUY! Oh yes, on Saturday the day finally arrived when I was able to try this authentic Peruvian guinea pig dish.

Nati and Vicki, our housekeeper, hung the bag on a shelf in the kitchen and for the next couple hours the cuys squealed about, waiting for the inevitable, as the family´s dogs ran in and out of the kitchen barking and jumping at the bag. Then Vicki announced to me, ¨It´s time to kill the cuy!¨ To which my only response was, ¨I don´t want to see! I don´t want to see!¨This absolutely cracked Vicki up and she took the bag and a very sharp knife out to the car port to slit their cute little cuy throats (Seriously... it´s enough to make this meat-eater go vegetarian. I prefer my meals pre-killed in some far away magical place that I don´t have to think about.) Still laughing at me, Vicki then yelled out, ¨There´s so much blood!¨as I continued to plug my ears like a child in order to not hear the rodents squeal their last squeal.

... but then of course I had to go out and take a picture. Sorry it´s not a good one. I´m pretty sure I was looking away as I was taking it. Also please note that the red bucket filled with hot water and cuy blood is usually up in our shower. I´m pretty sure that Iris puts hot water in there to bathe with when she´s showering. Hmm... I´m definitely questioning how sanitary that is but it is now Monday and that bucket hasn´t been back in the shower yet.

Poor little cuys hanging out on some newspaper.

Next step in preparing cuy is apparently chopping them up into nice portioned sized bits. The little hands and feet reaching out of the bowl is enough to give me nightmares but I was happy that I wasn´t going to be served an entire cuy, head and all, like I´ve seen on TV (for Travel Chanel lovers both Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern have eaten this Peruvian delicacy and I was lucky enough to see them do it before I came down here).

Next, of course, you boil the cuy. I´m really not sure if any meat should be boiled but cuy should definitely not be boiled. It filled the kitchen with the aroma of a dirty fish tank water or a pet store. Not a good sign for how they would taste...

Then add a little flour to their hindquarters. Their little patas (paws) are still attached.

Fry those babies up!

... and serve with what else but papas and arroz.

I wish I could tell you that the cuy was delicious... it´s rare that I ever come across food that I don´t like. Seriously, I´ll eat anything. Before we sat down to eat I asked Vicki if cuy would taste like chicken. It certainly looked like chicken (except with paws) and once in sixth grade I went to a friend´s house where I was served frog for the 4th of July... it tasted like chicken. Why should cuy be any different? Vicki misled me and said, ¨oh yeah, sure, it tastes like chicken.¨ Let me set the record straight. Cuy tastes NOTHING like chicken... or at least unspoiled chicken. Cuy has a very strong, distinct taste that is somewhat reminiscent of the dirty-fish tank water smell that had filled the kitchen while it was being boiled. ...and the aftertaste lasted all day.

Anyway, I´m glad I was able to experience cuy (even if it´s something I don´t care to ever have again)... and it just so happens that I ate it on my one month anniversary. Yay! Time is flying and many more adventures await!