Chosica and beyond

Below is a picture of the central park here in Chosica.  It's kinda cute, kinda not.  Chosica is two hours outside of Lima and is a weekend getaway spot for limeños.  No other gringos sightings in the last two days.

Luis, my buddy from the Huaycan office, lives about 20 min down the road.  He and his two friends came to meet up with me Sunday afternoon.  We wandered around and had a couple beers.  Was pretty fun. 

Today and yesterday I've been in the Huarochiri office, which is actually very close to Chosica.  Huarochiri is another sort of "county" and extends for miles and miles- way up into the mountains.  I left the office a little after noon to visit some Kiva clients and follow up with them- and didn't get to the destination until almost 2!  I went with a handsome (but short) loan officer named Hernán, who was all but mute.  Most Peruvians (esp. loan officers) talk my ear off and have a zillion questions for me.  Not this guy- lots of silence on the bus.  Destination (forgot the name!) pictured below:

It was chilly and windy up there- felt like the Andes, even though I'm not sure it was.  Definitely had a rural feel to it.  The clients we visited all had dirt floors.  We finally had lunch at about 3:00 (good thing I had a pack of crackers in my backpack).  It was a huge half of a chicken cooked on an open fire in the central plaza with a couple pieces of potato.  I am so over eating the meats- especially the meat that is difficult to remove from the carcass.  I inevitably leave half the meat on the bones and then am chastised for wasting food (this time by the woman grilling).  I suggested she feed it to a nearby stray dog.  The vegetarian princess cannot help herself at times. :-)