Lotions and Potions

21 March
Arequipa

We arrived mid morning in Arequipa and shared a taxi from the bus terminal with a very paranoid German, Juliana, who was convinced the taxi driver was going to rob and rape us, and then dump us on the side of the road naked. We are not quite ssure what the source of this paraonoia was as the thought never crossed our minds, and unsurprisingly we arrived safely at Bothy Hostel. On arriva we were "meeted and greeted" by Raul on the the Peruvian owners. He told us about various activities in the area, and when he found out it was Gayle´s birthday the following day, he put the wheels in motion for a braai/barbeque on the terrace.

We wondered around Arequipa, which is described the dude who discovered Machu Picchu, this is the prettiest town in Peru due to its architecture and it being shadowed by volcanoes.

That afternoon we went to the local market with Raul where we tasted Maca, a yellow milky drink made from corn (which the locals drink daily and is supposed to enhance your libido). We then moved on to a ´potions and lotions´ seller where we discovered various Peruvian superstitions:

• a little wooden man which 3 times a week you are supposed share a smoke with by putting a cigarette into his open mouth and discuss your day and thoughts and concerns etc. This little man wears numerous little objects eg fake dollars, miniture llamas, popcorn, model of a car which all represent money, wealth food and love. Through spending a bit of time with your little man a few times a week he brings you good luck in various aspects of your life.


• llama foetus (which Raul made Gayle hold) which by burying in the garden or incorporating into the foundations of your house is supposed to ward off evil spirits.


• Have a shaman come to their house once a year


• Parcels of kitsch plastic toy-like objects which they dedicate to Mother earth..


• If you want a girl to fall in love with you, first wash yourself with the fall-in-love-with-me soap; take a piece of her hair, intertwine it with yours and mix it with the fall-in-love-with-me cologne which you dab onto your neck and TA DAH... she´ll find you irrestible.

We also wandered around the market and Raul explained how everything was organised with the various rows of fruit, meat, fish, bread etc.

That evening Raul organised a French Canadian and his friends to come over to the hostel to play guitar. Unfortunately not a sing-song as all the songs were in the French, but a good evening nonetheless.