Tuesday, August 25, 2015

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.







12 comments:

  1. Oh my, what a lovely adventure for this little teapot. How amazing that you carried it clear to Peru. What a beautiful family. I can't wait to hear more. In a way, glad you didn't photograph Irma with the Kardashians. Interesting tea, look forward to hearing more on that too. Welcome back to the States! I know with those smiling faces it was a good trip.

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    1. "in a way, glad you didn't photograph Irma with the Kardashians" hahaha. You have a good point Marilyn :-)

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  2. Such an adventurous little teapot! Amazing photos of a far away land - thank you for sharing! When we traveled to Peru (17 years ago!) to visit the Amazon rainforest and then on to Machu Picchu, we drank lots of the Coca tea and chewed the coca leaves to help with the altitude sickness. I would not have recognized the Kardashians either!

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    1. Yes Rosemary, we did the tea and leaves going to Machu Picchu too (about 10 years ago)...what did you think of the taste?

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  3. WOW!! What an adventure! Thank you so much for sharing with us!!

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  4. Irma is a nice name for the teapot. Enjoy seeing your pictures and all the happy faces.
    Rochelle, ATAA

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  5. I look forward to sharing your tea times in Peru with “Irma”. I’ve heard it is such a beautiful country. Thank you for sharing some of it through your stories and photos.
    The kitchen in the home in Naupe interested me and how special that this is the oven your husbands grandmother used as well.
    The Picarones with chancaca syrup for your tea party looked delicious. What fun!
    Can’t wait for the next episode :*)
    Martha

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  6. Such happy photos! Looks like all were having a good time! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. A wonderful adventure! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  8. How exciting and interesting! I especially love the photo of the cooking area, that's so neat! Heidi T.

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  9. I would have preferred tea with your family more than the "celebrities". Thanks so much for sharing.
    Sips and Smiles

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  10. Now that's an adventure. Lucky teapot!

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