My Peru diary, day 5

(diary entry, Dec. 9,  2014)

Ok, FOOD:

Ceviche.  I've eaten a lot of it here.  It's very good.  Whenever I see both fish and seafood ceviche offered, I ask someone else to choose for me and they always choose fish.  So next time you're in Lima, remember:  fish ceviche it is.

There are plenty of places to eat near where I'm staying.

Purée.  I've always thought of purée as something you can do to various foodstuffs, like puréed peas....but here, it's a dish.  Potatoes and corn puréed together.  There may also be some milk added;  I'm not sure.  It's pasty yellowish, but tastes pretty good.

Rice and seafood.  Very tasty.

Befstek (beefstead).  Overcooked, at least where I ordered it.  Avoid if possible.

Vegetables.  Kind of few and far between.

Camoche.  It's sweet potato and comes as a side with many things, including ceviche.  Good stuff.

Avocados.  Gigantic.  Tasty.  Usually stuffed, or chopped and put into other dishes.

A lovely park near where I'm staying:  Parque 7 de julio.

Papayas.  Even more gigantic.  Some have reddish flesh.  Very good, as is the other fruit here.

Italian food.  There's a nice little Italian restaurant near my place with nice little overpriced food.

Chocolate.  There's a museum of chocolate near my place.  (Yes, a museum of chocolate.)  You can watch them make chocolate.  You can read the seven or eight steps involved.  By the end of reading them, you will be totally confused.  You can purchase their hand-made, fair price, expensive but good chocolate.  I still prefer the Lindt chocolate I get in California.

There are 50-100 feral kitties in the Parque Kennedy, next to the Parque 7 de julio.  An organization provides them with food and tries to find homes for them

WATER

Everyone warned me about drinking the water.  Bottled water is the only way to go, they said, and don't even let anyone give you a drink with ice in it.

So on day 2, when I was given some fruit juice, after 3 swallows I thought to ask if it was pure juice or if it had been mixed with water.  I was told it had been mixed with water.  Uh, oh.  

BUT nothing happened.  No bad effects.

So 2 days later, I deliberately drank one and a half glasses of fruit juice mixed with water (chichi).  No bad effects.

A fine-looking church near where I'm staying.

Today, I ordered the freshly squeezed (I asked) lemonade.  I drank 3 and one half glasses.   That was at 4:30pm.  It is now nearly 11pm.  So far, no bad effects but  maybe in 5 minutes????  

(By the way, the lemons here are small and green, and look like limes, but they don't TASTE like limes.)

If nothing happens, in another couple of days I'll try drinking some tap water.

_____________________
(For more photos, go to the Palomino Productions' Facebook page.)

I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.