Some Interesting Things

Ami here,

So South America has certainly had it's fair share of odd/interesting things that we've come across so far. Rather than blog them separately, I figure I'd keep one post that captured all of these moments.

So here it goes:

1. Toilets - the lack of toilet seats and appropriate plumbing. I understand that there are areas in the world where toilets are not available, but why have a toilet and no toilet seat??! That is the most awkward thing in the world. It's like having a plate of spaghetti, but no utensils to eat it with. To top it off, you can't flush toilet paper down the toilet as it'll clog up the system...so instead you're forced to throw your used toilet paper in a garbage can next to you. Needless to say, the bathroom facilities do not smell great here.

2. Random Cabbie in Lima - So we took a cab last Wednesday from the Museo de la Nacion to Pachi's work (Renzo's mom). The guy was speaking to us the whole way (in Spnaish of course) about booking a trip with him to see the Pachacama ruins (These are Inca ruins that are IN the city of Lima). Of course we had no idea what he was saying and ended up saying "Si" to everything (that's our standard answer when we don't understand people, actually not the greatest strategy, but whatev). It ends up that this Cabbie waited for us to call him the next day, which we only found out when we saw him again the day after (on Friday) in a completely different area of the city. What are the odds of that? 1 to 8.2 million (that's the population of Lima).

3. Mate de Coca - to get over altitude sickness in Cusco, they recommend that you drink Mate de Coca, which translates to Coca Tea...and yes, it is THAT coca from which a famous white powder is made...not cocoa as I originally thought. I was a little nervous to try this tea because I wasn't sure what it do to me, and if it was safe...like really, you want us to drink a tea made of that??! My fears were completely unfounded though, the tea is made from the leaves of the coca plant and does nothing in terms of altering your mood/perception. It actually tastes a little like green tea. I'm now wondering if I should bring some back home with me and spread the love haha.

4. Museo Larco - so this Museum is in Pueblo Libre, which is a section of Lima. The description in the guide book for it is "ancient pottery and one of the most historical collections in the world"...I read it and thought BORING. We went anyway and to my surprise they had a temporary exhibit of "erotic pottery". The exhibit was basically like 1700 year old porn, and quite explicit at that. The funny part is, things really haven't changed after all those years. Oh those Incas...

5. Shah Rukh Khan - when we arrived in Cusco and were leaving the airport, one of the first things were asked was if we were Indian...which always brings up the confusing point that we're Canadian but yes have Indian roots. When we confirmed we were Indian, the security guard immediately started saying "Shah Rukh Khan", "Kal Ho Na Ho", oh we love him here....wha??? Bollywood has made it to Peru?
To our surprise, we've continually had people come up to us to ask if we're Indian, to which we get the same reply..."Shah Rukh Khan"!!! We also got "Hrithik Roshan" the other day. Apparently, Bollywood is big here, and the locals love hindi flicks. We even walked past a store that was playing hindi film songs, so of course we had to go in and there were pictures of pictures of Krishna and other gods on the walls. Even thousands of miles away, we're getting a taste of home.