Saturday, July 17, 2010

Last night we had a huge group go into Chosica to sing some karaoke, which was absolutely hilarious. Our group was somewhat overpowering, but I think the locals were quite entertained by both our English and Spanish singing skills. We passed around the microphone all night, and the combination of the Backstreet Boys, Journey, the Beatles etc. was ridiculous enough for everyone to join in.

Today we left for Field Based Training from Lima. We departed Chaclacayo early so as to have the day to enjoy Lima. Mario, Beth, John William, and I were loaded up with our overstuffed backpacks and looked like true Peace Corps volunteers. We had to go through Jockey Plaza, a huge commercial center/mall complete with every American store you could imagine, and we were definitely a site to see- “climbing” up the escalators with our backpacking gear. We dropped off our stuff at the Peace Corps office and asked Sandro, one of the staff members, where we could find a good Ceviche restaurant. Not only did he suggest an awesome place, but we piled in his classic 1960 Volkswagen Bug and got a tour of Lima as he drove us to his favorite Cevicheria, Punto Azul.

An outdoor patio offers seating to enjoy dining Al Fresco and enjoy the bright ambiance. We ordered a Ceviche Mixto and a Ceviche Punto Azul, which featured raw white fish, squid, shrimp, and other seafood “cooked” in lime juice with onions and juicy choclo accompanied by glistening sweet potatoes and a spicy red sauce. We somehow managed to inadvertently claim another table’s tacu-tacu in addition to our mixed seafood Chaufa, so we had an overwhelming amount of food. None of could stop smiling as we sipped on our frozen marcumbya juice and devoured the incredible food, and we all decided that life as a Peace Corps trainee was pretty tough.

After lunch we made our way to the center of Lima and entered Polvos Azules, which sells thousands of pirated DVDs, mountains of counterfeit jerseys, and just about anything else you could ever want. I don’t think you can go there without being completely over stimulated; thousands of vendors, endless options, and people throwing tons of things you really don’t need but begin to think you might after being there for more than a few minutes. Afterwards we wondered around Lima for awhile and caught our bus for FBT.

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