Greetings once again, and welcome to Peru! I am staying with a host family once again, in a similar fashion to my stay in Trinidad & Tobago. The Ramirez family, a mestizo upper class family, is housing me during my stay. Mr. Ramirez is the CEO of a mining company that is located just outside of Peru’s capital city, Lima. Mr. Ramirez also works for one of the few service groups that goes out into rural Peru and works with native Quechuans. Mr. Ramirez began my Peruvian experience by taking me to the national bank of Peru. I exchanged my U.S. dollars for Peruvian Nuevo Sol, and one Peruvian Nuevo Sol approximetly is equivelant to 35 cents in American currency. The rest of the day was spent exploring the massive capital city of Lima. The city is home to over 7 million citizens, most of which are of mestizo heritage. Following my stop at the bank, Mr. Ramirez took me too a construction site on the beach front, and he told me about the major impact that El Nino, one of the Pacific Ocean’s largest currents, had on Peru. The El Nino hits Peru in no specific pattern, but when is hits, Peru’s coasts are ravaged severely by the tropical storm, causing millions of dollars of damage. El Nino also influences the agriculture of Peru specifically around the coastal region. Mr. Ramirez and I explored this construction site, and the Peruvian government apparently was paying construction buisnesses to rectify seawalls in preparation for the next El Nino strike. I ended the day by experimenting with a famous Peruvian dish called cuy. This dish is beloved by many Peruvians, and it is fried guinea pig. I am beginning to notice an increasing rate of exotic dishes as my travels continue!
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| A Devastated Favela after El Nino |
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| Cuy: A National Delicacy |
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