Peru 2014 Day 7: June 29- Old Peruvian Market and Wine

Peru 2014 Index

A short but potent overnight deluge answered the question, “What happens to the open air patio if it rains?”  Abuelita swept most of the water out of there, plus the bit that flowed its way into the kitchen and was working on the alley when we woke up.

This was another slow and restful day.  This is a rare feature of a vacation for us stemming it from being a trip that was: (1) Long, and (2) Not in Disney World.  Finishing time off more rested than when it started was a new and interesting experience.

The motors inside Abuelita’s stereo weren’t working. With the “electricity as an afterthought” layout of the wiring and outlets, I attempted plugging it in various round and flat sockets around the room, but to no avail. The radio still worked though, and good Latin music stations were much easier to find there than home for some reason.

We did other apartment based stuff as well. There was some cleaning, including packing the glassware Rosa was bringing home to a safer place than the coffee table.  Yes, there was an accident, but honestly, there are far too many dancing genes in the family to have fragile stuff out in the open like that. 

Anabelle’s main dance this trip was to a song of her own creation.  “Oh, Un Bibidi Rojo” translates to “Oh, A Red Tank Top.” She sang it near constantly with full choreography in both Spanish and English.  She’s constantly making up songs. I have no idea where she gets that from.

We wrote the post cards, edited the Disney pictures and had an enjoyable day at home.  Rosa and her mom cooked up Tallarin Rojo con Causa.  (Peruvian macaroni with tomato sauce and a potato based spicy play doh like side that is a favorite of the family when made here, and better with authentic local ingredients.) Anabelle and I used that time to finish the Road Runner disc.  The key to the comedy on those classics is the brief look of triumph on Wile E. Coyote’s face before the inevitable fall.

After our fantabulous lunch, Abuelita cleaned the snails while we went and hide.

I mean, while Rosa took us to the local market we usually couldn’t visit.  Since it was mostly closed on Sunday, we had a chance to see it in person.  It was pretty crowded with most of it shut down, giving us a strong understanding why Rosa didn’t want to have to keep track of us on usual jam packed days.

Some of the mountain residents had come down to the market with a llama and an alpaca…like ya do.  We bought a picture of our confused looking child holding their reins. 

We found out what the kids with the threaded poles were doing, because some street vendors were selling the toys.  They were one to three foot long bolts in decorated boards. The kids would take wing nuts and race to see who could thread it all the way up or down first.  Let it never be said that the United States has the corner on the meaningless competition market.

Speaking of competition, I finally figured out the oddly labeled potato chip cans I’d been seeing throughout the trip. Noticing the soccer ball in the artwork led me to understand Pringles had a World Cup merchandise tie in and were relabeled as:

Prin-GOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL-s

The presence of Disney on clothing and merchandise was everywhere down there. Less stringent copyright laws helped with this I’m sure. One shirt I saw several places puzzled me a great deal. It featured a seated staring Mickey above a single bold word, “OBEY.”

I was unaware Disney had an animated version of They Live in the works.

I wanted to get some pictures of the pedestrian market streets with a disposable camera for reference.  Rosa said we couldn’t, because the people would immediately crowd around to yell at us. Nothing like a little paranoia to snap one out of complacency when a foreign nation starts to feel just like home.

Done with the market, we checked out a small local park Abuelita goes to relax in sometimes.  It featured a statue of some guy who did good things during the war against Chile. (I’m just a fountain of information, aren’t I? Getting all the details is harder without having the SmartPhone to take notes on all the time.)

Before going home we needed to stop at the local Tottus supermarket for waffle ingredients and other supplies.  I believed carrying the pair of seven liter water jugs the few blocks home would be no problem.  

This is because the water volume is about the same as four gallons, and I routinely lug six around Up the Lake.  I did not, unfortunately, take into account the thin, somewhat blade like handles of the large water vessels.  By the first block away from Tottus my fingers were already a dazzling shade of purple.  I got the feeling back in my hands some time after returning to New Jersey.

Again, a large lunch led to a small dinner of Choclo and Cheese…

Plus a turkey sandwich.

Yeah, I’ve never been wired well for the “small dinner” thing.

The pressure allowed another shower conga line, and the rest of the night was filled with Jetpack Joyride, and playing Secret Wars with her Disney figures.

Of course, Anabelle insisted on making up superpowers and hero names for all her Disney figures. Meanwhile with real Super Hero toys, she plays family.  I think her real game is “Drive Daddy Bananas.”

She went to bed and I was able to sample the considerably smaller than seven liter container I picked up at Tottus:  a delightful bottle of Abuelo Porto Peruvian port.

It was definitely a good night’s sleep.

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Peru 2014 Index