Nicknames

Well here in South America everyone has a nickname. It is unlikely that you will be called your normal name by most of your friends. At the very least you will have an sita added to your name. So I am no longer Seth but sethsita. It is just a term of endearment. So Carmen is now Carmensita and and Pablo is pabloita (I think). But they like most everywhere else have other nicknames. Diego is kiki. Juan Carlos is lilitos. And I'm Set (you don't pronounce the H in spanish) y Hambre. This is a really good and funny nickname I think. In spanish (for those of you not familiar with language I am trying to learn) sed is thirsty and hambre is hungry. So it is a play on words with my name. So I'm now thirsty and hungry, which is also good because most of the time I am those things. I like that everyone here has nicknames. I've previously had nicknames and tried to give my self nicknames but they haven't really stuck. But maybe this one will...

Seth
Kong
Alley Oop
Hungry and Thirsty

Raw Fish

Well today I had ceviche for the first time. This is a traditional Peruvian dish. And as you can guess by the title of this post it a dish of raw fish. Well raw probably isn't the right word, uncooked by heat is probably the right word. And I know at this point you are probably thinking what other ways are there to took food than by using heat (boiling, baking, frying and my favorite, grilling). Well you cook the fish using acid. Well not the type of acid that you immediately think of when you hear acid (I generally think sulfuric) but citric acid. The fish is "cooked" by bathing it in lemon and lime juice. And I can tell you that it is excellent. I would suggest that you head out to your nearest Peruvian restaurant and get some, and make sure to wash it down with a pisco sour! Que Rico!

Seth
Kong
Alley Opp

Honk like you mean it

Well this will be a short first post. I just wanted to let get a feel for the driving here. If I described the driving here in one word it would be chaotic! People go for no reason, drive in the opposite lanes, drive in two lanes and don't stop at places where you would expect them to! But the big thing you notice here his the honking. Back at home people honk for usually one reason, they are mad at you (I know, sometimes you honk to let the person in front of you at a green left turn signal know that he can go). But here in Arequipa (and in Lima and I'm sure the rest of Peru) you honk for various reasons:
-To let everyone in the intersection know that you aren't stopping and are barreling right through
-To tell pedestrians that they better move or die
-To tell the 20 people in front of you that they should go even though the light just turned.
-To tell the cars in front of you that you are going around them.
-Just for fun

So I hope that gives you a little idea of what driving in Arequipa is like. Hopefully I will post frequently, so please comment and let me know what you like hearing about and what is dumb.

Seth
Kong
Alley Oop
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