Arequipa Day

Straight up, I'm not a parade guy. That said, the folks in Arequipa put on the mother of all parades on Monday to celebrate Arequipa Day, the founding of the town...  I believe in 1540. I honestly found myself enjoying this parade like no other I've seen. We had a rooftop view thanks to Ale, the girlfriend of Jon, who's my neighbor. We watched that parade for at least four hours, and instead of getting bored, I got more fascinated as it went along. The parade had everything: dancing, skits, bands, rock music, pretty women, break dancing, clowns, more pretty women, more everything. The rooftop view certainly helped. The crush of people below isn't for the faint of heart. Ale's friend Luis lived along the parade route in a part of Arequipa called Mira Flores. I had never met Luis and he treated me like family with chicken, corn, cheese as we watched the parade on his roof. We left while the parade was in full swing. I was told it goes on for seven hours or so and the parade route is 6 kilometers. That's a long way to dance and skit. Great time. I know the pictures won't do it justice. I don't know how there were people watching the parade since everyone in town seemed to be IN the parade.
Before we went to the parade we stopped at a store that was frighteningly similar to You-know-what-Mart. Employees wore blue uniforms and the store was bright and polished. Prices weren't that cheap though, or at least not like the marketplace. Speaking of which, I got ripped off AGAIN on change buying bread at the marketplace. You'd think I'd learn.
Went out with some teachers Saturday night and had a Pisco Sour or two. Pisco is a white brandy made from muscat grapes. The pisco sour I had included raw egg whites (no yolk!). It's like a margarita -- but not really. Strong lime/lemon thing going on, and it's a strong drink. Not too shabby.
I'm surprised how many of the English teachers here smoke cigarettes. Just about all of them. Great bunch even if they do smoke. As a former smoker, it's a bit of a temptation, but I'm too old to start up again, and I can't imagine how I'd feel the next day after a night of pisco sours AND cigarettes.
Try this link for a parade video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHsVZKgW1QY