07 July 2008

Peru: Day 1

Five things I didn't know about Peru until today:

1. People eat guinea pigs to celebrate festivals and special occasions.

BEFORE:














AFTER (the facial expression doesn't inspire much confidence that the "roasting" was humane):














2. There are something like 300 types of potatoes in the area around Cuzco. Not sure how many this lady sold while napping.


















3. The Inca flag is a rainbow-esque flag, but not the same as the gay pride flag. But it's still fun to pretend (the last time I saw a rainbow flag that big I was standing at 18th & Castro trying to decide if I should succumb to the hot cookie taunting me from the window).














4. The Southern Cross is easily found next to the bright stars representing the eyes of the "llama constellation." Somehow missed that one in astronomy class...

5. Vicuñas are related to camels, have the softest wool of the Andean animals, were never domesticated, and refuse to have their picture taken directly in the face (trust me, I tried).

2 comments:

Panda!!!! said...

I may have actually eaten a guinea pig on my trip to Peru years ago. Cuy, I think it was called? It had disappointingly little meat for a "meal."

Peripatetic Life said...

Cuy is right. I tried some reluctantly yesterday and had trouble finding the meat myself. I don't think this is the start of a guinea pig consumption habit...