Pilli is a Celebrity

Somehow I knew when I woke up this morning that today was going to be a great day. I got dressed, made my bed and walked outside to the kitchen for breakfast. I got quakel (the Peruvian form of oatmeal), strawberry juice, and fried yuca. That´s not even the best part. While packing my backpack for school, my older sister ran into the house all up in arms about how she forgot that today was Jeremy´s class´ ¨show your pet day.¨That means, yes folks, Pilli went to school. For all of you not following my blog, Pilli is our household dog. However, my sister deemed that Pilli was fairly dirty, and since she didn´t have enough time to bathe him, she did the next best thing- spray him with men´s cologne. Next thing I know, Pill is walking around with God knows what scent on him dsespite the fact that he looks like he has not bathed in epochs. That´s not all. Somehow Pilli had to get transported from my house to Jeremy´s school, so logically my mother put him in a black plastic shopping bag with his two front paws and head hanging out. I don´t think I have ever laughed harder in my life. Don´t worry, I took a picture and when I figure out how to upload photos on the internet, you will get to see Pilli in all of his glory.



For all of you food lovers out there, we learned about popular Peruvian food today. The main delicacy here is ¨cuy¨or in English terms, guinea pig. It is served almost everywhere in all different styles. Up until about a month ago, I was a strict vegetarian. So needless to say, I have a sudden urge to vomit everytime I look at a restaurant menu and browse my options. My real question about cuy is- why it is served with the head still attached? Chickens aren´t served with beaks and last time I ate a hamburger, it did not come with hoofs attached. Don´t worry, my spanish professor was happy to enlighten me. She told me that when fried, you can eat the entire dish, HEAD, EYES AND BRAIN included. It´s completly normal. And apparently, delicious and crunchy. I realize that I am here for another two years and am supposed to learn as much about the Peruvian culture as I can, but in the cuy department, I am a no-go. Count me in for arroz con leche, quinoa, or chachipapas, but never will I be experiencing the wonderful world of vermin. Period.



To conclude my day, I had the best dinner ever invented. Maple Brown Sugar Quaker Oatmeal (sent from the US courtesy of mama kane), and a peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was awesome. My family and their friend that was over for tea thought there was something seriously wrong with me (because I didn´t want rice or potatoes with my meal, heaven forbid), but I relished in my American-ness. I then explained to them that Elvis Presley loved the PB and B sandwiches, which then eased their doubt about my absurd eating habits. I could eat that for every meal.

Tomorrow I am going to the Peac Corps center to cook some type of Peruvian dish for spanish class. I forget what it is, but I´m excited to do something different. Hopefully it will turn out, because it´s my lunch for tomorrow.