the move and the food

I have been threatened if I do not update my blog. I had lots of profound things to say, but I forget them now. I gave myself a bob with children´s safety scissors that I brought from the US in case Peru hadn´t invented them yet or something. It actually looks pretty good. I´ve been watching the season of One Tree Hill where Peyton had that really cool long blonde bob that was so much better than her stupid Madame Alexander doll curls. I think it inspired me.
I moved out of Jorge´s family´s house a few days ago and into an apartment with his cousin Indhira. She had an extra bedroom and said I could stay with her, rent free, until she moves to another apartment to be closer to her job. I think in a few weeks or a month she is moving.
This is a new chapter of my time in Peru, my pseudo-independant life. This new life includes things like being massively proud of myself for going to the grocery store, figuring out how to buy stuff, getting lost but then unlost, finding the house, and using the keys to get in.
Indhira knows more English than I know spanish but hasn´t been using it lately. Last night she came home late, we went to buy wine and then stayed up talking about relationships, the differences between men and women, death and the meaning of life in some kind of english-spanish hybrid. It was fun. I can kind of speak in spanish, but then switch over to english when I reach my boundaries of spanish. Kind of exhausting trying to understand a new language when you don´t really speak it. I am not even in basic 3 yet! Next week I will be. My institute has 10 levels of basic, 4 of intermediate and 4 of advanced. Each course is one month. I will not even make it to intermediate! I am sad.
It was exciting going grocery shopping though. I love food here. Peru has these condiments that are ubiquitous and so delicious. Like salsa rocoto which is made with peppers from here and garlic and is so good and this yellow creme sauce that is kind of like highly flavored, spicy mayonaise but so much better and they are at supermarkets delis. Also this stuff called manjar blanco. It is basically spreadable caramel sauce but is somehow acceptable to eat on bread for breakfast. Another condiment is olive sauce. Which I think is just like mashed olives. It is really amazing. Another delicious food here is the enchilada. But it is not the enchilada you are thinking of. Instead, this is a head-sized tortilla that is really not a tortilla but more like a crepe, crammed with shredded chicken, fried sausage and egg, salad, these ubiquitous chips that look like French´s french fried onions but are really more like skinny potato chips and topped with any sauces you want. Like hot sauce, salsa, mayonaise, olive sauce, creme sauce . . . a million different sauces. It is this hot mess that is completely delicious and I am salivating as I write this . . .
I need a job but for some reason people here consider speaking spanish helpful for working here.
Today is Labor Day. I think things are closed. I don´t know, I haven´t been out of the house yet. But I am going out imminently. I am trying to keep my english from going as I attempt to learn Spanish. I still can´t really speak spanish and if my english goes before I learn, I will have no language and be reduced to totally relying on hand gestures instead of just mostly relying on them as I do currently.
One deep thought about Peru before I forget and the knowledge is lost to the world. I have been noticing how so many institutions, stores, everywhere seem to make such grand gestures at formality. Neighborhoods have uniformed security guards. Every store has one, many houses have one. The cashiers at major supermarkets have identical uniforms down to matching hairstyles and identical yellow scrunchies. Even sanitation workers have identical, distinctive uniforms and people who sell certain things have uniforms that are walking advertisements for Nivea or Nestle. The thing I noticed was the uniforms, but also the attitude that went with it. People that wear them are very solicitous, even if you look young or poor. They greet you solicitously, ask if you need help. I´ve gone into expensive stores looking like a punky 15 yr old and they still act that way. It´s a far cry from snotty baristas and cashiers with attitude. In the US, I´ve waited in line while the girls behind the counter gossipped and ignored me until I finally left without buying anything. Like the scene in Romy and Michelle´s Highschool Reunion when Mira Sorvino holds up the line at the car place to call Lisa Kudrow and tell her that she saw Janeane Garofalo. Like that.
The country does not possess a long history of social stability and structure. They don´t take for granted the structure and stability that they do have, and demonstrate and reinforce it with immediately visible symbols of order. Ok, that is all for today. My new roommate is making ceviche, which is raw fish cured with lemon juice and it is very delicious.