Peru-ness

There are lots of things about Peru that I love. I love the culture and even though sometimes I get somewhat annoyed, I really enjoy the people. Here are some stories…

The other night I was coming home kind of late. It was between 10:30 and 11 pm. I found a taxi and he was taking me home (he only ripped me off a little bit…). When we got into my neighborhood there were 3 guys just roaming around and it was highly likely that they had been drinking (they had bottles in their hands and not walking straight). When the taxi driver pulled up to my apartment building he told me to wait and not get out yet. The guys were coming up to him and wanting his taxi. He told them no and that I wasn’t done. The man then told me to wait in the car until they were out of sight. The guys stumbled away so I began getting out of the taxi. Then the taxi driver said he would stay there until I got in the gate.

Normally, this might not be a big deal but here it is! I’ve never had a taxi driver be so protective nor caring. It was very comforting! Taxi rides can go a number of ways… either they try to kidnap you, hit on you the entire time, ask you to go out with them, or they’re super nice, caring, and even protective.

Another story… We have a good friend here named Omar. He has by far been the most helpful person here in Cusco. I met him my first day here and he’s done anything to help us since then. Well the other night we went to eat and we were talking about various things. Either Mandy or myself must have said something about coming back to Peru or something along those lines. Then Omar says, “You won’t come back. You’re going to go back and have babies.” It was hilarious and completely out of nowhere! Neither of us has ever said anything to him about going back to the States, getting married, or having babies. Ever
And this one might be borderline inappropriate but it's really funny! A different friend, Ernie, gave Mandy and I some type of food for our birthdays. Mandy got something that kind of resembled nutella (but not). I got manjar blanco (I dont know how to explain it). We asked Ernie what we are supposed to do with them because they are spread type and we weren't sure what to put it on. So Ernie tells us, "It's good for spooning." - he meant to just get a spoon and eat it straight but that's not how it came out... ha!