Shopping day

Today we went to the black market to get some gifts and to buy his mom a wardrobe. We did and it was quite an event getting it home. It's huge! On the way down to do more shopping we bumped into Joses grandfather (dads dad) and said hi. Now jose is rearranging his parents room for them.

Ceviche

This morning we went down to san jeronimo with Orlando to eat ceviche at his friend Efrain's shop. Jose was very happy :)

Festival for armed forces

Apparently today is a public holiday in celebration of Peruvian armed forces. Santa Rosa I think. So there was a parade and fireworks and such. The Peruvian paso horses were so beautiful but way too skinny. They need to feed them a lot more.

Relaxing and chiriuchu

It was still a bit chilly today. There's been a lot of snow in the mountains and the south of peru is in a state of emergency due to the amount of snow and how cold it is. Weird weather. We had pretty skies here though. Joses family made chiriucho, a typical cusco dish served in June normally. It has guinea pig, egg/veggie tortilla things, chicken, pork, cheese, seaweed, sautéed dried corn, and cooked fish eggs. Very interesting.

Aji de gallina and brownies

Well it rained aaaaaallllll day today. Boring. And it was really really cold. There is a baby or toddler here that wails all the time. Ugh. Anyway after a very lazy day jose and I decided to have a go at making brownies. They don't have butter here for some bizarre reason, only margarine (yuck) and I had to guesstimate amounts and make it up a bit as I went but they turned out really yummy. Just not pretty :) his family made aji de gallina tonight which was nice and I think they liked the brownies :)

Inka grill dinner

We've had a few lazy days and done some shopping and seeing friends and such. Last night we went to dinner at the inka grill where I had my favourite dish there - Andean ravioli. It's sweet potato ravioli with cheese on top in a butter mint sauce. It's to die for. I also had what is basically a passion fruit mojito. Amazing. And them a banana sponge came with Brazil nut ice cream and caramel sauce. Soooo good. Jose got a burger and was disappointed. Silly

Finished the ausangate trek

We made it! One of the hardest things I've ever done. Jose decided we would hike it in 4 days when most people do it in 5-6. No idea what gave him the idea I could walk that much. First day was pretty easy and mellow but the second day we walked almost 30 kms which is ridiculous. Third day was also hard and it snowed a bit. That night we got to enjoy the hot springs which was great. And the views were incredible. All up I think it was 60 kms. I'll post photos when we get back to the states. Got back today and had a shower and some pizza. Yum!

Ausangate here we come!!!

Yay! Finally we get to hike ausangate. We start early tomorrow and will do it in 4 days, returning Friday. It's supposed to be incredibly spectacular. At the highest pass we climb we will be at almost 18,000 feet. Crazy!!! Will post when we get back. 

Cusco school parade

When we finally could get out of bed today we walked down into the center to find that Joses old school Ciencias was holding its annual parade. It was so crowded and so many participants from all the school years and alumni too. It was pretty incredible. Also ate at jacks which was a treat as always. Back to bed for us!

And the party continues

So after lunch we went to a local bar called pakcha with all his friends. It was really fun to see everyone again and they were all so happy to see jose. By then it was late so we all went to the club mythology, a very special place for jose and me :). It was pretty fun but I was exhausted so we took off around 1 am. Very fun night.

La cusqueñita lunch

Yesterday we met about 10 of Joses friends at a new local restaurant. It was really fun and I know jose loved seeing everyone. The place put on local dances which was cool.

Cleaning the ducks

Today I went outside to find Joses dad washing their two very cute ducks. He calls them both Luca. So cute. They will be dinner at some point which is sad but they get treated really well. A bath most days and a little run and he talks to them and feeds and waters them. Precious. They make the cutest quacking noises and answer him when he quacks at them.

Soccer and jacks

Last night we slept well finally! We got up fairly early for us and I watched him play soccer with his friends like we always used to do. Then we walked around cusco a bit. There was a strike today (transportation people) so all the shops were shut and it was hard to get a taxi. We had lunch at one of Joses favourite local places but we were disappointed again. So far our favourite places have been a bust. Had a lovely arvo siesta and went for dinner at one of my most favourite places -jacks. It hadn't changed at all! Yay! Great dinner. Walked around the city a bit and got a bottle of wine. Yum. Last night we met his friend Fredy and his wife for a drink at the crown, which was fun.

Mr pisco bar

We went out (are still out) at a local bar called mr pisco. Jose and his fiends are drinking te macho, a local hot drink with tea, lemon juice, and pisco. Jose is so happy to be home and seeing family and friends :)

Walking cusco

We've had nice weather which has been great. We slept in late today and his mom made us papaya juice for brekkie. I tried to take a shower with the new set up they put in but of course he city turned off the water the second I started to shower. Figures. They are doing a lot of work on the streets I guess. We walked a bit and found out our favourite place to eat (muse) had moved and when we ate there all the food was different. Very disappointing! In fact all my favourite places are gone it seems. They also put a weird inca statue on the colonial fountain which is weird.

Back to peru 2013

Jose has been out of peru for three years too and his family was over the moon to see him again. Our flights were ok, no problems anywhere. Just fatigue from not sleeping on the plane. All is well here too. Not much has changed which is nice.