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Outings with Sandra

Sandra and I are starting to get out and about Arequipa more with the hope that I can practice my Spanish in some real life situations.  Today we went to the San Camilo Market.  This is a huge market housed in a warehouse looking building with dirt and cement floors.  It is a traditional Peruvian city market where the locals negotiate with local merchants and farmers for fruits, vegetables, meat, flour, rice, and every imaginable food stuff (even stuff you can't imagine like intestines, feet, stomach, tongue...).  It also has booths for flowers, personal hygiene items, clothing etc.  Outside the market, there are other stores for stationary items, copies, toys ......  You name it, you can buy it here or very close.  Along the edges of the market are juice stands.  Like in all these local markets, you need to keep your belongings close to you!

At the market, Sandra gave me 1 sol (aprox. 30 cents) to spend.  My assignment was to buy 4 items for no more than 1 sol.  If I went over 1 sol, I would have to pay Sandra back 2 sols.  In order to do this, I had to ask different vendors the cost of certain items and negotiate a lesser price.  I ended up buying 4 items for 50 centavos or 1/2 of 1 sol.  I gave Sandra the 4 items, plus change!  I ended up buing tea, matches and gum.

After we went shopping, we stopped at one of the juice vendors to have a fresh Arequipena papya juice.  Arequipena papyas are smaller and more flavorful than other types of papyas.  The juice was excellent!  It was fun to experience the local's market.     

On another day, we went to the Mirador de Yanahuara.  This is a place in the suburb of Yanahuara that overlooks the city and provides a spectacular view.  The square has a very nice park with palm trees and is bordered by the arched viewing area, a church, quaint streets and city buildings.  It did provide a nice view of the city!

We also visited the La Convento - Museo La Recoleta.  This is an old church and previous convent that has now been turned into a museum.  There are still a few nuns living in one area of the convent.  The church and convent were built in the 1600s and are a great example of the beautiful sillar architecture in and around Arequipa. The museum included a pre-Inca art collection, a pre-Columbian art collection, 3 of the original 4 cloisters and patios,  examples of rooms used by the nuns and priests, a religious art museum, an Amazonian museum, and a library which housed 20,000 books, manuscripts, letters and documents dating back to the 16th century. 

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