Momentitos

A lot of "little moments" have happened over the past couple weeks. While some moments were a bit longer than others, each has stayed with me through our 2 week travel vacation to now... and I'm sure they'll stick around for a while longer:


Memory Trail: My mom and dad traveled through Peru in 1973 on their honeymoon (quite cool, I must add) and the kids have been hearing about the stories that were made for years. The trip Brian and I took to Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes made all those stories come to life. We saw the hotel by Machu Picchu where Dad famously smashed his lunch bill into a fruit cocktail to make an angry point to the waiter and stormed out of the building. We also hiked the trail where Mom almost divorced Dad for trying to drag her up Wayna (Huayna) Picchu. It's funny how the government, politics, inflation, tourism and so much more in Peru, has changed drastically in the recent past. At the same time, so many things here have stayed exactly the same.

Wheelbarrows: In Aguas Calientes all the men we saw were working in manual labor. The town is built essentially on a hill and cars don't seem to go into town so all goods are delivered by wheelbarrow. Machines are a luxury in Peru. All this work was done by hand. These people were amazingly hard workers.

Anita: In Huaraz, Brian and I spent our last night around our hostel's dining room table, drinking homemade Pisco Sours and telling stories with our Peruvian hosts (Anita and Teo) and two French couples. Now I don't think Brian and I wrote about it before, but in 1970 a massive earthquake hit Huaraz, killing about half of the 30,000 inhabitants and destroying 80% of the city. The town of Yungay, just down the road, was erased by a landslide. Anita was 8 years old when this happened. Here are some of her memories (I'll quote as accurately as possible):

"Our neighbor was leading her sister and her kids through the streets, away from the falling debris. After a few steps, she turned around to see if everyone was still following her, and they had been swept away."

"Fue terrible." (it was terrible)

"My mother's boutique was new so we were safe inside of her building. We ran to find my brothers. In these moments, all you think about is your family. My brothers had dug a hole out of the rubble to climb out of. There are 10 of us in my family. We all survived."

Pisco Sour: limes, Sprite, sugar, Pisco, and an egg white. Blend it all. And don't worry, "the alcohol kills the salmonella".

Anticucho: I looked this work up in the trusty Lonely Planet and it defined it as shish kebab. We'll, yes, it is meat on a stick... but it's not just any meat: it's heart. I can now add cow heart onto the list of strange things I've eaten. Right up there with cow tongue.


We've met some amazing people and seen amazing things so far on this trip, and it's crazy for me to think that we still have 3 more months!