Arequipa is a one of the most popular cities in Peru and it became our home for a little while – about a week and half, which is a substantial about of time when living on the road. Arequipa brought us several new adventures:
1 – DELISH restaurants and dessert spots. This little café had, quite possibly, thee BEST carrot cake I’ve ever had in my entire life. Ever. We also sampled several different types of crepes at this cool restaurant called Crepisimo; went to bars with a wide variety of strange and interesting mixed drinks (If ever in Peru, never, I mean NEVER order the “Machu Picchu”. It’s absolutely horrible); and tried the famous “adobo” which is a traditional Peruvian meal of slow-cooked pork in a chili-type sauce (that’s the best description I can muster). It is only served on Sundays and is the thing all the locals talk about. Rob said it was pretty good. I ended up eating a loma saltado meal which is pretty much stir-fry chicken served on a bed of french fries. Ah, I love traveling! Speaking of adobo…
2 – So this guy (named Carlos, dressed in professional soccer gear, aged in mid 40s) at the adobo place was sitting in a booth across from us, noticed us whities and struck up a conversation. It was awesome to try out our Spanish with a local!! He spoke some English and we spoke some Spanish - communication was rough, but somewhat understandable, which led to us understanding that: he was a lawyer, on business from Lima in Arequipa, a member of a Lawyer Country Club, was going to play soccer post-adobo, and wanted us to join. Here’s one of those situations you encounter while traveling that makes you test your instincts. Everyone tells you to never go anywhere with a stranger, but this guy seemed so legit and friendly. Rob and I tried to have the silent conversation that couples have w/o saying anything to figure out what to do. It went something like: Eyebrow raise = “What do you think?”, Slight shoulder shrug = “I don’t know, you?”, Pursed lip pulled to one side = “Hm.”, Weak smile = “I guess we could go??”
In the end, we decided to trust the guy, and hit the club with him. Of course, I have never played soccer and Rob hasn’t played since he was 10, but hey, we could figure it out, right? Right. We left the eatery with him, while the main waitress flagged me down and in Spanish said to please be careful, watch my stuff, and come back to the restaurant (to make sure we were okay). One of the lessons we’ve learned in travel is to have faith. People will take care of you!
So we got in a cab with Carlos, and his girlfriend Marilu joined us. They were speaking quite fast, and we were trying our best to understand. We were a bit on edge, but just decided to go with them. Sure enough, the cab dropped us off at the lawyer Country Club where we got to hang out as special guests and Rob revisited his youth playing some pretty awesome soccer (in Teva sandels, mind you!). All was well and we had a great time with our new friends. See, sometimes you just have to have faith in people.
3 – Colca Canyon, which shall be my next blog topic….read on my friends!
1 – DELISH restaurants and dessert spots. This little café had, quite possibly, thee BEST carrot cake I’ve ever had in my entire life. Ever. We also sampled several different types of crepes at this cool restaurant called Crepisimo; went to bars with a wide variety of strange and interesting mixed drinks (If ever in Peru, never, I mean NEVER order the “Machu Picchu”. It’s absolutely horrible); and tried the famous “adobo” which is a traditional Peruvian meal of slow-cooked pork in a chili-type sauce (that’s the best description I can muster). It is only served on Sundays and is the thing all the locals talk about. Rob said it was pretty good. I ended up eating a loma saltado meal which is pretty much stir-fry chicken served on a bed of french fries. Ah, I love traveling! Speaking of adobo…
2 – So this guy (named Carlos, dressed in professional soccer gear, aged in mid 40s) at the adobo place was sitting in a booth across from us, noticed us whities and struck up a conversation. It was awesome to try out our Spanish with a local!! He spoke some English and we spoke some Spanish - communication was rough, but somewhat understandable, which led to us understanding that: he was a lawyer, on business from Lima in Arequipa, a member of a Lawyer Country Club, was going to play soccer post-adobo, and wanted us to join. Here’s one of those situations you encounter while traveling that makes you test your instincts. Everyone tells you to never go anywhere with a stranger, but this guy seemed so legit and friendly. Rob and I tried to have the silent conversation that couples have w/o saying anything to figure out what to do. It went something like: Eyebrow raise = “What do you think?”, Slight shoulder shrug = “I don’t know, you?”, Pursed lip pulled to one side = “Hm.”, Weak smile = “I guess we could go??”
In the end, we decided to trust the guy, and hit the club with him. Of course, I have never played soccer and Rob hasn’t played since he was 10, but hey, we could figure it out, right? Right. We left the eatery with him, while the main waitress flagged me down and in Spanish said to please be careful, watch my stuff, and come back to the restaurant (to make sure we were okay). One of the lessons we’ve learned in travel is to have faith. People will take care of you!
So we got in a cab with Carlos, and his girlfriend Marilu joined us. They were speaking quite fast, and we were trying our best to understand. We were a bit on edge, but just decided to go with them. Sure enough, the cab dropped us off at the lawyer Country Club where we got to hang out as special guests and Rob revisited his youth playing some pretty awesome soccer (in Teva sandels, mind you!). All was well and we had a great time with our new friends. See, sometimes you just have to have faith in people.
3 – Colca Canyon, which shall be my next blog topic….read on my friends!
