Desayuno...?

We got to sleep in today so we decided to try out the local breakfast place two blocks from the clinic. The place was dead empty when we arrived but were greeted by the owner Miguel, as soon as we came into the gate.  We placed our orders of arroz y huevos and café con leche and sat somewhat patiently while nursing our headaches from the previous night of salsa lessons and pisco sours. We realized breakfast might not be primary meal served by the restaurant when we see the owner sprint out the back door, only to come back with supplies from the neighboring Mercado. The meal was served in the usual fashion with the coffee being instant powder, the food coming 30 minutes after ordering and the price being less than three U.S. dollars. Although the food wasn’t the best it was good to check out a new place and know that we should search for a better breakfast spot.

 

The rest of the afternoon consisted of trying to wrap our heads around the research project and what the goals really are. Luckily we do have some data from the past week of campaigns, but I’m realizing that the goal of 5,000 surveys for the summer may be a little ambitious.

Tonight we headed downtown to check out a festival. No one was quit sure of what to call it but it seemed to be an Incan celebration of the city of Cusco. We stayed downtown for a while after and checked out one of the more famous coffee and pastry shops and it didn’t disappoint. Much better than the instant coffee that seems to run so rampant in the country known for its great whole bean coffee.  The bus ride home proved to be one of the more crowded I’ve experienced thus far, with the roof being built for the small build of Peruvians and not the tall lanky gringo. The windows fogged up within 15 seconds of entering the bus and the smell wasn’t too far behind. We made it home safely but not before talking with the group of women in the back row of the bus about the importance of a Papanicolouae. Ha!

Tomorrow. Andes Mountains. Single Track….