We just completed our second week in Arequipa and I´m full of food…stories! This past Tuesday was my 20th birthday, which justified my hunt to try every cake in Arequipa. This wasn´t hard to accomplish, considering there is a pasteleria on every corner. What started off as a blessing, seems like somewhat of a curse these days.
Caroline, my roommate in Arequipa, was my honorary twin this week, and my partner in cake crime. On our walk to our one-on-one spanish classes on Tuesday, we had our first two pieces of cake for the day– tres leches and selva negra. Although tres leches is a peruvian favorite, we found it to be sub par, probably because of its lack of chocolate. Selva Negra, on the other hand, tickled us; you can never go wrong with a chocolate and strawberry combo.
Once our spanish classes we over, Maria, the lovely woman who organized our spanish classes in Arequipa, suprised me with another cake. This one was vanilla with slices of peaches, among other fruits. I had the awkward joy of participating in the Peruvian tradition of taking a bite out of the whole cake. Gwen Ayers, our trusty leader, exclaimed ¨It was light and not too sugary.¨ This probably explains why Caroline and I had our fourth slice of cake on our way home.
Around 3 o´clock, the whole gang came over to our casa for a ¨Cappricio¨ classic. Although it was somewhat similar to selva negra, it had a sweeter icing and a more enticing presentation. We managed to finish this cake along with glasses of ¨chicha morada¨– a sweet, purple Peruvian drink made by our own host mama.
Later that night, Caroline and I were crashing from our sugar high– so we could only think to buy more cake and some alfajores. This time, Caroline dared to try a passionate passion fruit cake, que rica! What a delightful despedida my childhood.
It was a bittersweet goodbye to Maria, Rick (the owner of the all girls home), our host families, and Arequipa. After a 10 hour overnight bus ride, we have found ourselves in the beautiful city of Cusco. Not to worry, there is still plenty of cake here, among other delicious foods to try- maybe even some alpaca for those of us who aren´t vegetarian. For now, know that we are happy as can be and full as ever.
