Too long! Hoping to write up something on the Festival of Señor de Torrechayoc soon. It’s a huge event here in Urubamba that features a parade of dancers and people bearing holy relics to the church on June 18. Until then, my day has started off quite beautifully. My students arrived late to their morning class, which allowed me to hang out with this adorable little Peruvian. I always forget that once you start filming in one direction, you can’t change the iphone to film in another, so please excuse the rotated beginning…..!

“I can’t believe it!! You can carry a lot of weight!”

I finally found my favorite street food lady, she seems to be so popular that she sells out long before I tend to get into town. She sells Rocoto Relleno and Papa Rellena, typical Peruvian dishes – Stuffed hot peppers (battered and fried!!) and Stuffed mashed potatoes, both of which are deeeee-licious. Of course, neither are complete without a serving of Aji, hot pepper sauce (the green stuff in the baggie).

I also finally decided to try “tuna” – the spanish word for cactus fruit. They skin them for you before they bag them up.

Prickly Pear Cactus Fruit by kretyen, on Flickr: ”Prickly pear cactus has been a staple of the Mexican and Central American diet for thousands of years. In parts of the U.S. it has been gaining popularity as an exotic, gourmet and healthy addition to one’s diet. The prickly pear plant has two different edible sections: the pad of the cactus (nopal), which can be treated like a vegetable, and the pear (tuna), which can be treated like a fruit. They grow wild throughout the American southwest, down to South America and up to Canada.”

Tuna/Cactus fruit from the cactus called Opuntia