Irma in Peru

I have reached civilization and have internet, so watch out for more posts in the days to come on TEAM DARJEELING teapot adventures.  The Tardis now has a name, "Irma"  Irma traveled first class from Seattle to Peru (with stops in LA and Mexico City along the way).  I was planning to break out the teapot and share tea with my fellow passengers, but I found the first class cabin to not be very approachable (lots of businessmen on their laptops, keeping to themselves.  I almost offered tea to the lady next to me, but chickened out.  

Because I don't watch TV and have never seen the show, I didn't recognize the Kardashians in the VIP louge in LA or on the plane from LA to Mexico City.  I saw some teenagers acting all giddy, but didn't know why at the time.  I sat next to either one of the Kardashian daughters, or a very beautiful lady who was with them, on the plane.  It's funny, I didn't know it until the next leg of my journey, the man next to me had seen the kids take a photo with them and told me who they were.  I apologize for not taking photos- if I were more outgoing there would have been some fun photos of tea with the Kardashians!

I also apologize for the long time between posts.  I tried.  Believe me.  But without running water, internet was a bit too much to ask for.  When I did venture to areas in Peru with internet, I had trouble accessing the blog and my Gmail (Kudos to Google for flagging an attempt to access my account from a foreign country)

Here is where the Tardis, "Irma" began her adventure.  In a little village called Naupe in the North of Peru.  This town has running water.  Sometimes.  I took a couple of showers heating up water and pouring in over me.  This family lives off their land, and raises their own food.   

Can you imagine cooking in these large pots, raised on bricks, with fire beneath?

 My daughter (in the blue) and her cousin LOVED all the animals roaming around.  They later got to take a ride behind the donkey pictured crossing the street behind them in the photo below.

 Of course we had a little tea party!  Nothing fancy, no fine china, tea bags my mother-in-law had on hand (No loose leaf tea to be found in town...here is the local store.)

Below is where we heated water for tea.  Look at this great kitchen!  The wood is used for cooking (and boiling water for tea!)  This is the same oven my husbands grandmother used a half century ago.

   The teas ...

Canela y Clavo  and Mate de Coca.  You might be thinking, "Coca?  As in Cocaine leaves?  Yup!  More on Coca tea in a future post. 

 The highlight of this tea party was the freshly made dessert, a local specialty...Picarones. 

Picarones are in a doughnut form, but instead of just flour and eggs, local squash called "macre" and sweet potatoes are used.  They are served hot and drizzled with chancaca syrup.

You can see Irma way in the back, held by my mother-in-law, Irma.