Pucallpa

Bueno, I made it safe and sound to Pucallpa yesterday at 5am. My friend and his dad picked me up from the airport. I then crashed until about 10am and awoke in a pool of sweat. It must be 190% humidity here. After taking a shower (from which I never quite dried) we feasted on ceviche. It was a version I´d never had before, which I didnt think was possible as I have partaken in a whole lot of Peruvian ceviche (far superior than others in my humble opinion). It was a version of ceviche called Chinguirito from Chiclayo with strips of dried fish, and of course tons of delicious lime juice, tomato, cilantro, chili, and onion, and served with choclo (big kernals of corn), cancha (choclo fried and salted), and yucca. Yum. I ate it with several glasses of camu camu juice, which is a fruit from the jungle here.

Then I played soccer with 7 Peruvian dudes for almost 3 hours, which was amazing except for the fact that I did not have adquate shoe-age, and now have enormous blisters on the bottom of my feet which makes it hard to walk. Hilarious since one of the guys playing literally had only one shoe on, so how could I get so effed up? Ah, such a gringa I am.

Things I had forgotten about and am so excited about:

• My simple little Peruvian cell phone with a flashlight on top that stays charged forever


• Fresh squeezed orange juice on the corners


• SO much fresh fruit and vegetables


• Rice and lentils (the food in general, it´s so fresh!)


• the smell of the air...which is really a lot of pollution, but it´s somehow soothing


• riding motorcycles


• the simplicity of life here and the calm presence of the people who are so damn good at living in the now


• the lack of mirrors