Me Gusta Pisco

I arrived safely in Peru on Saturday.  The border crossing was simple, and I was grateful that there was no visa fee.

Arequipa was my first stop, and from there I took an overnight bus to Ica, where I hopped in a taxi going to Huacachina, a swell little spot surrounded by sand dunes and complete with sand buggy and sandboarding tours.  (I have a newfound respect for snowboarders after failing miserably at sandboarding.  My butt still hurts, and I could barely stand up on the damn board!)

Although it deserves its reputation as a chill hang-out place on the gringo trail, Huacachina offers little else for the (budget) traveler, so yesterday, rather than pay for a pricey bodega tour, I decided to do it myself.  Back to Ica I went to find a colectivo (a shared taxi) to take me to Guadalupe, a suburb full of family-run vineyards and bodegas not fifteen minutes away.

In Peru, I am, it seems, with my blonde hair and unmistakebly foreign appearance, a curious figure, so the minute I settled into the colectivo, the man next to me began chatting with me.  My Spanish is improving, perhaps not as rapidly as I’d like, but I can certainly carry on a conversation, and I’m told–by many a Spanish speaker that I meet–that I speak it quite well.  I hope they’re not just being nice as I know from helping various Chinese people with their English on my trip there in January how laborious it can be speaking to a person struggling to learn the language.

In any case, I was happy to make the acquaintance of Wilfredo, who ended up accompanying me to the bodega and offering me much practice with the language as we carried on a conversation for hours.  After the pisco and vino tasting at the bodega, I went with Wilfredo to a radio studio–95.3 Sistema de la rompa–where he has a talk show everyday at 11:00.  Although I understood little of what he said on air as he spoke rather quickly and passionately, I was  impressed, nonetheless, and found myself thinking about what a surreal experience it was.  Here I was, in Ica, Peru, listening to a man I’d just met reach out to an audience of Peruvians via airwaves from what looked to me like a makeshift studio, hardly what you’d find back home! 

On this trip, I’m extremely grateful for my gut feelings, my instincts, and being with Wildredo was no different; my powerful instincts told me I was ok.  So, I wasn’t worried about my safety, even though he, like many other Peruvians I’ve met, warned me of the gente malo (bad people) of the country.  I suppose it was the same in Brazil. 

Listening intently and translating the words in my head as fast as I could, despite my asking, “Puede hablar mas despacio, por favor?” I learned that my new friend was married with three children and had lived in Lima for several years.  Of course, he wanted to know of my current status, and this question–”Tienes enomorado?”–is asked by nearly every local Peruvian man I meet, from the taxi driver to the hotel employee, who in Huacachina, by the way, just loved saying my name, to the sandbuggy tour guide.  Apparently, they find it a curious and incomprehensible thing when I proudly say, “Soy soltera y estoy feliz (I am single and I am happy)”.   Perhaps I should learn how to say that I believe there is plenty of time for marriage and kids, etc., that I am young and interested in other things, that settling down at 28 is so far from what I want…?

It is possible, however, that the cultural differences as far as these idea are concerned would make the Spanish expression pointless.

I believe with Wilfredo, anyway, I managed to explain my length of travel and the difficulties of carrying on a relationship in the midst of them, but in the future, I may have to resort to pretending I have a novio (boyfriend) so as to be left alone by inquiring and flirtatious Latin American men.  Sometimes walking alone takes serious guts, not because I’m worried that I am in danger, but because it is frustrating dealing with the stares and the kissing noises.

Still, any opportunity to work on my Spanish is welcome, especially since the few hours of classes I’ve taken have been less than remarkable, so I suppose answering a few invasive questions, like those asked by Wilfredo, is harmless.

I had to agree with Wilfredo that the company was nice.  I appreciated being off the gringo trail and was proud that my language skills had gotten me there.  Wilfredo and I continued the day with lunch, where I enjoyed some of the best ceviche I’ve had since arriving in Peru less than a week ago.  After lunch, we headed towards the main plaza as I had told him I wanted to buy tejas, a special nut-filled caramel candy.  Somehow, after the purchase of the sweet treats, we ended up in a bodega drinking Pisco puro and talking some more.  Wilfredo began telling me how much he was going to miss me, but I shifted the conversation to a lesson on the difference between por and para.  And yet, here it was, I thought, the inevitable man’s move from friendly to friendlier.  It turns out, Wilfredo is in the process of a divorce and wondered when he could see me again.  He was a kind man, but I definitely wasn’t interestedm and when I firmly made it clear that he and I were just amigos, he backed off.

Or so I thought.  After the morning of wine tasting and the afternoon of Pisco drinking, I was ready to return to my hotel in Huacachina for a siesta.  Wilfredo insisted on riding in the taxi with me, and I allowed myself one more drink with him at the bar next door to my hotel.  Afterwards, we said goodbye, and I took the nap I was craving only to  be woken hours later to a persistent knock at my door.  Wilfredo had returned with a box of chocolate-covered tejas.  Although I accepted the gift, I sent him away, and when I hoped he was gone, I went next door for my free salsa lesson.

The salsa lesson was fun, but the afternoon drinking wore me out, so after taking full advantage this morning of the included desayuno (breakfast), I left Huacachina for Pisco.  (Me gusta Pisco, the drink, not the sad, disrepaired city, BTW).  I’ll continue to head north and meet my sister in Lima on Saturday. 

Just this afternoon, I received the excellent news that I can stay at my friend Alix’s family’s place in the safest, prettiest neighborhood in Lima.  I spoke with his mother this afternoon and arranged to meet her tomorrow morning at the apartment.  I’m looking forward to practicing my Spanish with someone who has only fair and good intentions!