"On the Trail"
Tuesday, November 14, 2000: Good Skin Stuff - Piura, Peru
Francisco here...
This morning Tad felt much better but we decided to wait one more day just to be sure and for him to regain some strength.
I met with Alex and Gaby and we headed out to the Piura Desert and Rio Piura to do some swimming and sand boarding. The swimming was a great experience but unfortunately Alex´s friend did not show up so we did not to the boarding.
The taxi ride out there was quite an experience when compared to Canadian standards that I am used to. There were no dashboard controls and the driver started the car by crossing a couple of wires. I sat beside the driver and had to put my foot over some tube that was laying across the floor. I think it was for gas.
We swam in what looked like a shallow pool of salt water in the middle of some vegetated area near the¨palmas¨ (about 300 metres in length). The underlying earth was clay. Clay that is used for ceramics and for helping someone´s complexion. Alex and Gaby both smiled and encouraged me to put it on my arms and face. They seemed a bit too eager so I thought they were kidding me. I took a chance and put it on me. When I tried to rinse it off it would not come off! I thought they pulled a joke on me! Fortunately with a bit more rubbing, the clay came off quite quickly. It was quite an experience.
We had a bite to eat at a nearby family restaurant. The owner liked me so he gave me all his neat stuff. Please do not try to imagine the same type of family restaurant that you would find in North America. I do not remember the name of any of the stuff because I was not carrying my notebook, but here is what is looked and tasted like. At first I was offered a customary chicha. It was not the same as the jungle chica and no spit was involved and it only had maybe one percent alcohol. It was made from corn. It tasted pretty good and was refreshing after being in the strong desert sun. Next was this real syruppy stuff - brown and thick and in a Pepsi bottle. He poured some on a spoon and offered it to me. I was nervous to try it, so I first had a little taste and I liked it! I had the rest of the stuff on the spoon then licked the rest. He liked the fact that I liked it. Then another sampler came out. This was also in a Pepsi bottle. It was also brown, so I was expecting the same sweet taste as my previous attempt. This however was from a tree that was supposed to cure everything. He offered me a small glass. I closed my eyes and downed it. It tasted terrible! Yuk. I needed something to chase it down. Fortunately, there was still some cool chicha around. I drank the chicha quickly to drown the bad taste.
During our taxi ride home, we had a flat tire. The driver left the bad tire on the roof of the cab and held it as we drove into town. Goodness.
That evening Tad showed Alex and Gaby our web-site. They are two eager to help PeaceBike people. Glad to see more on board. I left one of my Canada pins for Gaby. She wants to go and live in North America very, very much.
I stayed up a bit later after talking to home via internet. It was choppy but very nice to talk to my parents and my dear friend Louise.
-No matter how you feel and how many clouds there are, the sun always shines. (I think that there is something profound in there somewhere)
-Frank Pollari
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