Fruit and Friends

Fruit

Mattias (the birthday boy from Saturday), Jimmy (Blanca's son), y Sandra

Rocky

Yesterday we went to the mercado again. Heather was in search of monkey supplies. The monkey saga continues. We have not solved the cage dilemma. The poor monkey is still stuck in a small cage with no hope of a larger abode any time soon. He did escape yesterday, which provided much amusement for all, including the monkey. Unfortunately for the monkey, he was recaptured and placed back into his cage, but not before some much needed exercise and consuming a few bugs. In the process, it was apparent the monkey is definitely a boy. His name? George, of course! I can’t think about him too much, because it makes me sad. I will do whatever I can to see that he gets better quarters soon.

I have tried two new fruits. The first is tuna, which is cactus. The vendor is holding the tuna in his left hand and Heather is holding a peeled version in the front. It is red. It actually tastes quite a bit like watermelon, complete with seeds. According to Blanca, the seeds are edible, so I ate them. This fruit is supposed to be good for your tummy. The other fruit is a pepino (in the vendor’s right hand) tastes like cantaloupe. It was okay, but since I am not a huge fan of cantaloupe, I can live without this fruit.

We had dinner with Blanca’s son’s family last night. Sandra cooked chifa, known in the US as fried rice. For some reason, Chinese food is big here. I will have to do some research as to why that might be. For desert, there was a dish that I can only describe as a custard. It was made with different fruits, and then thickened with sweet potato starch. It was delicious! Jimmy, Blanca’s son, had put together “goodie bags” with sweets from the birthday party for Heather and me. Yum! I have not tried any of it yet, but I am looking forward to tasting it. One of the most enjoyable experiences on this trip has been tasting new things.

Rocky. What a sweet pooch! Jimmy and Sandra had a break in a few days before I arrived in Peru. They lost nearly everything of any financial value. Because of this, they have been reluctant to leave home, preferring to stay and make sure they are not robbed again. According to Heather, Christmas is a time of increased robberies (which makes sense) and if you are robbed once, it is very likely that you will be robbed a second time (which does not make sense, after all, what do you have left that is worth taking the second time around?). Because of this, the family has acquired a dog. His name is Rocky (as in Balboa) and he is 3 ½ months old. I enjoyed many puppy kisses. This morning, Blanca asked who I liked more, her grandson Mattias, or Rocky? After thinking for a little bit, I acceded that Mattias was dearer, but only by a little!