Scott and I ventured to the San Camilo market today, in search of a list of household items we needed. The market itself was mostly food, but there were hundreds of stalls on the streets outside of it selling miscellaneous stuff. We found a lot of what we needed.
I guess the area around the San Camilo market is dangerous. We were warned three times to be careful and watch our stuff. “Ten cuidado con tus cosas. ¡Ratones!” (We got this twice by people we were buying things from, and once by a random woman on the street.) After the first warning, I also realized that there were cops everywhere. At least one or two on each street corner.
Unphased we wandered until we hit the mother load of stores, which was offering both garbage cans and strainers. After that, with our arms full, we hailed and cab and headed home.
Some things I saw at the market today that will be forever etched in my brain:
- Dried llama fetuses
- Chickens with no feathers, but feet intact
- Cute, live, guinea pigs for sale (to be eaten)
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pics of any of these things because my camera was locked away in my bag. Safe from ratones. But unfortunately missing all the action. Next time, I will risk it.
What does one do with a dried llama fetus? Is it like beef jerkey or do you use it to make soup stock? The pictures of the market are neat and it looks like a fun place to walk around.
All of the above, plus witch-doctory?
[...] es una nativa de Seattle que se mudó a nuestra ciudad y cuenta en su blog que durante su visita al Mercado San Camilo los vendedores y gente al azar en la calle le decía: [...]
llamas and “guinea pigs” (we call them “cuyes”) are delicious if they’re properly cooked, and San Camilo is kinda dangerous (I live in Arequipa) so I hardly ever go there
“ratones”??? I guess you’re talking about thieves (better known as “choros”)
salud!
Again, glad to hear this from a local!! I’ve heard the mornings are better because the “choros”aren’t out yet.
[...] Visited San Camilo market, without incident. [...]
I can’t believe I missed out on the Llama fetus while here! Thanks for sharing your insights. I’m curious as to what kind of ‘danger’ people are mentioning, as I was walking around the market and ‘hood with a video camera (video up on website tomorrow) and didn’t feel at all threatened, in fact, quite the opposite – lots of friendly smiles and some great culture.
Hi Mike. Thanks for your note. I’m glad you felt safe in Arequipa. We didn’t have any problems while we were there, despite the warnings from locals. I’m going to have to catch up on your blog!! We’ve been back in the States now for about 2 months, and I really miss being in Peru!
haha no entendi muy tener cuidado de que o de quien si se
puede saber bueno me despdio… atte. ASERCAP MAQUINARIA
PESADA