This weekend a bunch of were invited to go spend Fiestas Patrias (Peruvian Independence Day) with Drew’s family camping in Chin Cha. You can’t pass up an opportunity to hang out with those guys because you just never know what is going to happen, and its always an adventure…..
Seven trainees decided to get away for the weekend and its about a 3 hour drive away so Alejandro (drew’s dad) arranged for a combi to drive our whole group there. The Combi (mini-bus) showed up and we started loading in our tents, sleeping bags, day packs, then we started piling in. The vehicle is made to seat 12 Peruvians. Now remember, the average size of a full grown adult Peruvian is about 5’6’’, 140 lbs. Well, the car took over an hour to load because somehow we ended up shoving in 18 people and their luggage. 7 of those people were Americans who you can consider abnormally large on the Peruvian scale (one who’s nickname is Baby Grande). Granted, we had one kid, one baby (mind you it screamed the whole ride) and Drew’s really old Abuelita (little grandma). Needless to say, we were smashed in that thing. So squished, I lost feeling in my feet, then my right leg, and shortly after my left. When my butt fell asleep I tried to re-adjust to let blood back to my extremities but there was no where to move.
The car was so packed and heavy, the drive refused to drive at the speed limit. We went soooooo slow, a 3 hr trip turned into a 7 hr painful drive. Half way there, we got pulled over by a couple of corrupt cops. Not to worry though, Alejandro paid them off and we were on our way.
It wasn’t until we woke up the next morning that we realized that the random combi driver actually stayed and was spending the weekend with us so he could drive us back on Sunday. How strange….. yet at the same time, how Peruvian….
There are a lot of vineyards in Chi Cha so we spent the next day cooking out and drinking wine. We roasted a bunch of chicken, and cooked some fish on the fire. I toasted some bananas over the fire for dessert. In the afternoon we went wine tasting and lets just say it was a little different than I’ve done before. They line everybody up and give you a shot glass. As you walk by one of the workers, they fill up your glass, you chug it down while you keep walking to the next one, fill up, chug, walk, repeat. In about 3 minutes you’ve downed about a full glass of wine. The worst part is they don’t have any kind of order to the wine they serve you, we got super sweet ones followed by really dry ones and the abrupt change in a matter of only a few steps is literally hard to swallow.
On our way home from the vineyards, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up ingredients to make French toast for breakfast. I made a quick phone call from a pay phone to say Congratulations! to Nomi and Roland because they were getting married on Sunday. I was sad to have to miss my first Jewish wedding of the coolest couple from Delaware but it was great to talk to them. I haven’t seen any pics yet, hopefully someone will send me some soon. My quick 5 minute phone call cost me 10 soles (I only make 8 a day) because I used my phone card with a pay phone. What a rip-off, I really hope I have a phone at my site.
Anyway, we all packed back in the combi and as we went to drive away……… the engine wouldn’t start. I’m not sure what was wrong but it wouldn’t turn over. The driver tried again and again and again and again. Finally we all insisted on getting out of the damn car and the guys started to push. They rolled the car about 20 feet backwards and then went forward and gave it a running start into the middle lane of coming traffic and…… it still didn’t start. Crap. What the hell were we going to do with our combi stuck in the middle of traffic, not able to move? Push again of course. After about another 50 feet, it finally started up. Now we had to sprint to catch up and one by one we piled into the thing. As if it wasn’t hard enough to squish into while it was still, we crammed in with our fresh bread, 3 dozen egg, and somehow made it home.
Sunday we took a walk down the street to a dry river bed where we got to see and play with cows, donkeys, chickens, goats, and sheep. Some lady came over to us and handed Drew, Tiffany, and I three baby goats that were only 2 days old. They were so young they still had part of their dried up umbilical cord dangling from their abdomens. Other than that part, they were the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. We played with them for a while and then walked over to where they make “fresh” goat cheese. By fresh I mean, recently made, not fresh and clean. I don’t much about making cheese but I can’t imagine this is very sanitary. The photos of the little sacs – they are made out of some kind of animal inside and are full of cheese (in the making). And the photo of the lady in a hat – she was handing Drew’s mom a kilo of cheese that we all ate for lunch. Interesting, I always thought cheese had to go in the refrigerator. Apparently a shelf made out of sticks, covered in a mesh cloth, and sitting out in the sun is sufficient.
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