Was on my way to the corner store last night and got trapped on the street covered with over 500 people. There was a huge procession in honor of the “Señor de Milagros”. The thing that made everything difficult was the piece of rope surrounding the statue (foto) of which everyone apparently needed to hold onto. I stood with my arms by my side for 15 minutes as people with candles pushed passed me only to be lost again in the sea of the crowd. Never a dull moment in Peru. 

The last night that I was in Cabanaconde there was a parade/festival in honor of the anniversary of the local university. They had all this brush strapped to the donkey and paraded around the main square, playing instruments and dancing. Then after a couple of laps the brush was laid in front of the school and set on fire. Not a bad way to end a day hiking Colca Canyon. 

The first picture is a guy making wicked cool pictures using only spray paint. Unreal watching it come together. Oh and the pink stuff is cotton candy. 

I miss having an oven. Not saying I utilized the one back in the states on a daily basis, but it’s nice being able to have that option. I’m running out of recipes that call for ‘pan frying’ my chicken. Speaking of food, I have eaten rice everyday for the past 7 months in one way or another. Potatoes come in a close second. Peruvians sure do love their carbs. 

More pictures from the parade. Cute little kid in front of me, so of course I creepily took a picture while her mom wasn’t looking. Peruvian kids are adorable, but I think 10 is the cutoff between cute and obnoxious. 

Captain America in Peru

Captain America is in Perú! Weird seeing that costume in an Arequipan pride parade.

More from the Corso. First is a giant snack cart that has popcorn, chips, and other assorted things that I can’t pronounce. The picture with people huddled around a small grill is quite common. I probably saw 30 of these within 2 blocks. These grills have mini shish kabobs with either chicken or beef, topped with a tiny grilled potato. They cost S/. 1, or about 40 cents. 

Came across a portable flat top grill with some weird looking meat mixture, so of course I asked what it was. Turns out it was grilled chicken gizzard and local corn grilled together with spices and served on a plastic plate. For S/. 3, it was scrumptious. 

El Corso was awesome. Biggest parade I have ever seen in my life. Wore a soccer jersey of a local team today and got compliments from more than 1 old lady, which was a bit weird. Ate some of the best street food I’ve ever tried, although discerning between ‘carne’ and 'perro’ isn’t something I thought I would ever have to do. Stranger things have happened I’m sure. 

It’s crazy here in Arequipa. It’s Arequipa Day and the city is shut down because everyone is watching “El Corso” which is a huge parade throughout the city. Every city / town in Peru and bordering countries comes to Arequipa and performs their traditional dance in the parade, accompanied of course with traditional costumes. It’s pretty wild. More to follow later

Little parade going on outside of my house on a sunny day here in Arequipa. How did I come across such a spectacle? I think it was the blaring music and drums that drew my attention. 

2 big issues with Peru:

The transportation system #isamess. Everyday there seems to be more taxis on the road and more angry combo drivers blaring their horns at passing pedestrians. 

Peru doesn’t recycle glass. Sure you can get a discount if you trade a large empty beer bottle for a full new one, but they don’t cater to the 12 oz variety. Which of course ends up in the trash. 

And last but not least, drinkable water. What a luxury the States have…