Arequipa deel 2

Because i want my friend Irina to be able to read this blog, i will be writing this blog in English today. I met Irina the 11th of Februari, which is the same day i will  now write about in my traveljourney.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

" Queso helado, Queso helado! "

Prueba este sabroso queso helado!" 

     It is 8:00 in the morning and the cabdriver just dropped me off at hostel ' Posada del Frayle'. We are removing my luggage from the trunk.

Pwoah!  Well, that is one annoying little voice!  i think to myself,  but furthermore, i do not give much attention to the female streetvendor who is yelling "Queso helado" because at that moment, more important is that the cab is causing a traffic jam. 

   Despite of this, the cabdriver helps me carry all my suitcases upstairs, four in total.  After i got my key and unlocking room 201, i set my alarmclock and pick a bed: there are two of them in my room. Twelve hours of ferocious shaking and not a minute of sleep in the bus that got me from Nazca to Arequipa, caused immense tiredness.  I am really longing to get some sleep.  At 14.00 sharp, my schedule says i will be picked up again, to be shown around in Arequipa.

"Queso helado, Queso helado!  Prueba este sabroso queso helado! Queso helado, Queso helado!  Sabroso queso helado!" 

Damn! Can somebody shut this shrieking women the hell up?  Revoke her commerical licence to sell at the street or something?  O, no, my bad! Nobody her in Peru needs a licence to sell ANYTHING in the streets so her licence CAN NOT be revoked!  Goddamn!  Luckily i remembered i brought my Ohropax earplugs from back home, so it took only a little while before her 'Queso Helado' was no longer drifting apart the fontanelles of my skull.

    I slept. Not really long but it was enough.

   My guide, a young man called Mauricio, his long black hair back, bundled in a ponytale, a mouth of sharp white teeth, standing a little bit apart from each other, picks me up at 14:10.  So he is 10 minutes late.  It seems to be a friendly man and his English is immaculate,  so i choose not to mention him being late.  I also do not want to spoil our brand new client-guide relationship, right from the start.  Later in my trip, i learned from a Dutch guy that if a Peruvian tourguide claims you will be picked up at a certain time, he will always be late. At least 15 minutes.  Standard!  This is because the same tourguide,  who is asking you to be ready for pickup at 07:30, will ask every other client the very same thing!  That means also the clients who are picked up BEFORE or AFTER  your pick up. So just everybody has to be ready at 7:30, because no one is taking into account the real timing of the whole logistic operation. It is just the way they work, according this Dutch guy.

" There will be only one person more" 

I am sitting in a small van and Mauricio is answering my question if more people are coming along this citytour.

I like his anwer. That means more attention for me!

At a certain hostel, in comes a very small,  blond curly haired woman,  dressed in a red coat and tight light blue jeans. She smiles at me and i see teeth so white as the clothes Jesus must be dressed in in heaven. Right away she starts chattering with Mauricio and me, switching effortlessly from Spanish to English. After a while she looks at the empty seats of the van. She asks Mauricio the same question as i did before, if more people are coming along the citytour. I can't  remember in which language she asked him and maybe i am mistaken, but i think i sensed a slight disappointment when she heard his answer.

I, on the other hand, were thinking: Yes! Today it is only about you and me, Irina, you little colgate angel you!!!