I got a call from Tio Alejandro's girlfriend Yessica, to say that she was in Huancayo, and would I like to have lunch with her? So after finishing my laundry and quickly checking my emails, I waited for her in the house. She called just after 12 to say that she was nearby and couldn't find the house - in all fairness you can't see it from the road - so I went outside, and saw her in a taxi by the park. It was great seeing her!
From there, the day was almost the opposite of my first Saturday in Huancayo back in 2009. We went to the Parque de Identidad, a beautiful park of statues and a favourite haunt of couples (we saw a newly-wed couple still in their dress and suit), where we saw some people in their costumes doing dances typical of the Jauja area. We climbed up a 'for children only' area, and the park keeper blew a whistle at us until we came down... Then we went to a small artesans' market in the park, where Yessica bought us both necklaces with our star signs on them (she's Virgo, I'm Sagittarius), and I bought a lovely jumper that I've been wanting for a fair while.
After that, we got in a taxi to her house - she lives about 5 minutes' walk from Nelly's house (Nelly being the head of the family I stayed with in 2009), and her house overlooks the orphanage where Oscar works, the one that I visited with Juliana. Such a small world! We had lunch with her mum, a really funny woman who insisted that I come back even after Yessica returns to Lima on Monday. Then Yessica took a short nap while I watched TV, then we went to the zoo by bus. The bus was quite small - I was reminded of Hilda's cactus, which is just outside the front door: it's bent over in a strange shape, with the top of it brushing against the ceiling of the porch area. Get rid of the spines and change the colour, and that's me on a bus. Many of the people who live in the mountains are short compared to me - Juliana's fairly tall here, and I'm easily another 2 inches taller than her. Occasionally I have to stoop down quite a bit to enter a doorway of some of the buildings here. I'm digressing, so I'll get back to the day with Yessica.
The zoo's improved quite a bit since I was last here, in that the animals now have more room to walk and climb. There were some leopard-like felines the size of domestic felines, and I saw 'Paddington Bear' and thought of my uni friends. Then we went for anticuchos, Yessica told me afterwards that I'd just eaten heart (I'm almost glad I didn't know this before eating them, I'm not a huge fan of the idea of eating organs for some reason), followed by picarones (doughnut-shaped, but with a nicer taste) and a type of chicha typical of the mountains. I say that whis was a backwards day, in that in 2009 I went with the other volunteers to the zoo first, then to the park.
Yessica went with me in a taxi back to my house, where I called Juliana (I'd missed a call from her in the afternoon). She said that she was in the cinema - oops! On a side note, of the times I've been to the cinema in Peru, not once have I seen a 'Turn your phone off' advert, and many times someone has a phone conversation while I'm trying to watch the film. I'll give her a ring later, hopefully tomorrow we'll do something.
It's 7.30pm now, and I have ten minutes left before my time in the internet cafe runs out. It's a 3 minute walk to the internet cafe from Hilda's house, so I felt perfectly safe, even though it's dark now. I quite liked walking in the evening here: there's a small party outside a neighbour's house, with music and neighbours sitting around and lazily drinking. There're children playing ball games in the street, and mothers chatting in the park while their children chase each other. When I was in Lima when I was younger, Mum and I would often go to the park near my grandparents' house, sometimes with my cousins. There we'd play, or run, or I'd do handstands, and just enjoy breathing the night air, before praying at the statue of the Virgin before returning to the house. I thought about that as I watched the children play, and thought how much I enjoyed those evenings in the park.
Right, I'll pack up in a bit, then take my second dose of antibiotics before bed. I feel nearly-fine though, hopefully I'll keep recovering.
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