I thought it was time for catchier headlines. Actually, I've gotten into the habit of eating meals from street vendors now that I live in the old part of Arequipa (girls at the college say it's the barrio). I'm eating antichuchos -- in all likelihood it's beef heart -- nightly. It's usually about four pieces of thinly sliced beef on a long thin stick, and has one or two potatoes on top. I'm hooked. It's a good balance to all the fresh fruit I'm eating. And the ladies cooking it are kind enough to take the cigarettes out of their mouths while they hand it to me. Well, some of them do. This is one of the real plusses here ... good food almost falls out of the sky. And it's soooo cheap .... one of those wood skewers costs a sol (27.2 cents).
I've noted many of the positives, but there are clearly some drawbacks. I live right off the main drag and the air is awful. Bus fumes, car fumes, taxi fumes, people fumes, everything. While I'm whining ... walking is part contact sport and part chicken. Who will back down as we approach on the sidewalk (and the sidewalks are very, very narrow)? No one? Then we'll collide. There may be a Spanish word for excuse me, but it's never spoken. On the little buses called combis, which are a cheaper and better way to get around than taxis, it's no shock to have some stranger's arse in your farse. Forget personal space here. If you need your three feet, leave town for the day.
Teaching grammar is a bit of a challenge. Applying terminology to phrases that are instinct for me isn't so easy to do for students who don't speak English. But the teaching is going better as I settle in -- I'm able to lesson plan. The student I tutor has just arrived so I'm signing off. After class, some queso helado. Look it up.
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