randomness

Me at the Tree, with my roommate Maila and in the garden

ah, these bug bites are killing me. I keep thinking, mind over matter but it´s much easier said than done! much worse than mosquito bites.

fruit. everything is imported since we´re in the middle of the jungle. sadly, it is mango season in mexico, and not here where it is winter. mangos are my favorite. there are various bananas. mandarins (not tasty, dry), avocado (which I haven´t been in the mood for), apple, chirimoya (good) and some others. the exotic ones are mostly slimy ones with hard black seeds. I kinda like the ones I am used to most of all, to be honest. common eh!
but lucuma is great--but I only found it in lima. plus there are acidic, not sweet fruits.

food. not like mexico, where you find beans and rice and salsa and guac and chips easy. smoothies and salad and fruit salad easy to find, and vegan. I haven´t had this, but also ceviche and fish and avocado stuffed with veggies and not many veggies to be honest (I think in Ecuador they eat more). IncaKola is neon yellow, this is the only place where a local soda is more popular than Coke. I don´t know about all that they have as far as meat goes because it all seems the same to me--meat. there were some weird things. alligator and organs we don´t eat at home.


spanish. I mostly understand when I´m conversing with someone. someone else´s conversation, forget it. obviously they speak to me so I can get it. they have the cute funny ecuadorian type intonation I saw at work
weird stuff:
aguacate is palta
menu is some kind of soup of the dayor something. carta is the menu.

buying. I forgot you are supposed to bargain with people on the street. So I bought something a bit overpriced and everyone wanted to sell to me! but I was out of money of course. people with little businesses everywhere. so illegal in the us. no licensing, not good sanitation for food, etc. but it´s fun.

people. people are skinny, normal, overweight. more skinny people than at home. I didn´t feel fat though, even with 15 pounds of winter weight, still am normal enough. no one is obese except for american tourists. the tourists are mainly either seeking a mystical experience, or missionaries. most of the obese people are missionaries I suspect, if not all.

homes. lots of shacks. I wouldn´t mind, it doesn´t get so cold and a simple home is best. who cares if it´s wood and tin, you can be just as happy or happier like that. I think the issue is lack of sanitation, water and waste is a big deal. that is a problem.

the 24th they celebrate summer solstice. don´tknow details. should be great. cusco has a HUGE celebration but it was $200 more to go that day or before--everyone goes there. but it will be cool. a guy we met at the curandero´s center in the jungle is renting a place 40mins away from cusco in Pisco, and we´re going to stay there for awhile. also see machu picchu and a totally different partof peru. climate (mountain, high altitude, different climate and cuisine)