Intestinal Warfare

Lately, I´ve been pretty wreckless about what I eat in favor of cultural experiences.  It caught up to me today, but it wasn´t so bad.  We have a betting pool going and the last one to poop their pants gets the pot.  It´s only going to be enough money for a Saturday night out, but those victory Cuscuenas would be extra delicious. 
Here they call diahrrea ¨bicycleta¨because when you have it, you sit like you´re riding a bike.  Our primary doctor coined the lovely term ¨tandem bicycleta¨for when it´s coming out both ends.
There is an incredible market in the nearby city of Chosica.  I love to wander around and look at all the fruits and vegetables I don´t know. 

Most of the owners of the tiendas are friendly and answer my gringa questions.  There are meat stalls splattered with chicken blood, squash too big to lift, and purple corn.

Last weekend, I ate some of a friend´s street food without asking what it was.  It turns out that anticucho is cow heart on a stick.  It wasn´t bad and was better accompanied by fried rings of dough dipped in honey.  I also had my first ceviche, which is raw fish with lime and sauce.  It was delicious and I can´t wait to find more. 
On Wednesday, I brought a fellow aspirante to a birthday party of a Peruvian aunt.  We ended up hanging out with the kids playing hide and seek and Peruvain truth or dare.  Kids think gringos are super interesting and it was fun to be so entertaining.  A tradition in Peru is to pass around a bottle of beer with a glass, pour yourself a bit and drink, then salud the next person and pass it on.  We had a bunch of passes of beer and fig wine with the glass everyone used then had a dinner that I assume was not cooked for weak foreign bellies.  We had all that and went to bed at 1:30 and I was pretty sure we were done for.  Como un milagro, we showed up to class at 8 the next morning with all our fluids in the right places.

Then, the next day, we had language class at an aspiratne´s house and cooked cuy (guinea pig) that my Spanish teacher raised in her yard.  She is a really sweet and hilarious mamacita. 

It was pretty graphic to see them, but we sucked it up and chopped and fried them.  I ate a side, a head, and some organs.  It was pretty good, but nothing I´d seek out.  The liver was the best part.  Please notice that the little piece of meat is the top of a head flipped upside down.  You can see the little teeth.

Here is my Spanish class, my teacher, and a host mom enjoying our almuerzo.

Yesterday, we went to Lima for class.  We explored the nice sections and had to ask passerby for information and haggle with cab drivers.  It gets tiresome, but that kind of cold approach is good practice.  There was a sexual diversity exhibition/concert at Miraflores, so that was neat and unexpected in a machista culture.  I suppose part of it is being in the rich part of town.  But still, progress!  I am jealous of how skinny Matteo stays with such a starchy diet.

After official school work, we ambled around, spent money, and ended up at the ocean.  We ran into some health volunteers who are training at a different center and it was really nice to see them.

It´s funny how regular life feels already.  I´m still deeply appreciative and in awe of the opportunity I have here in Peru.  But it feels normal to duck mototaxis and blow out dirt boogers at the end of the day.  I´m so lucky and am looking forward to the next day.