Chicha and Cui

I can't say that I have ever been to a bar at 8:30 a.m. but today, we were. We visited a home of a woman who makes chicha, the local "beer" for workers. Her very modest home has one room in which she makes the chicha - and houses the guinea pigs that she feeds to the men who come in after work.

Chicha is made from corn - first it is sprouted, then mashed, and then fermented. It is a rather simple process that takes about 8 days. She also makes a drink with strawberries that is very good, but the chicha is her main fare, and she is able to make enough on which to live. When we walked in, guines pigs were running around on the floor. There were probably ten that included two babies. In order to quiet them, she fed them the same sprouted corn that she uses to make the chicha. They stayed in their little house, or around it, and when someone wants a guinea pig, she breaks its neck and cooks it. Although it is no different from any of the other meat we eat, there was something very pitiful about having these little guys in the house. Apparently, the women take care of the critters, and when it is time to catch them, the kids do it, as they are not considered pets, and the children move much more quickly than the adults. Cesar told us a story about one time when it took him and his brother two hours to catch one guinea pig. We were introduced to a game the men play at the Chicheria. A frog with an open mouth is mounted to a table that has a variety of holes in it. The object is to throw a coin into the mouth of the frog. If the thrower missed, the coin could land in other holes - or not, as in my case - and once the thrower has finished his/her coins, a drawer is opened to reveal how many points were scored. Once the game has finished, the winner gets a free drink, paid for by the others.

This travel program has given us quite an insight into the lives of 80% of the Peruvians.