Workaway the Day by Alyssa Maunders

I realize now, several posts in, that I haven’t properly explained the way I am able to do this trip the way I am. I joined a website several months back called Workaway.
It’s a place for travelers and hosts to contact each other about work exchange opportunities. El Fundo Jihuay, the small farm I worked on for 2 weeks in July, was set up through workaway. I believe I paid about $25 to join and now I have access to thousands of work exchange options. Currently, I am spending the month working for a new business in Arequipa where they make chocolate and have a cafe. Here is a picture with Jenn from Ireland, she lives with me as a Workaway also.

I help with various things from melting chocolate and pouring it into molds to cleaning and packaging. I also make coffee drinks some days in the cafe. In exchange for the hours I spend eating- I mean making chocolate, I receive three meals a day and a nice room in the house of the shop owners. I highly recommend the website and I plan to use it a few more times during my trip. It’s a great way to save money and have a different travel experience than would be had if I were staying in hostels every night.

The White City

Arequipa, the white city. Thus named for its volcanic stone that was used to construct most of the buildings near the city center. The most famous volcano of the city, El Misti, is visible just a few km from the city to the north. A bit ghostly in photographs, but it’s there. There are many tour groups that head there everyday for biking and hiking and even on the sunniest day on the plaza the top of El Misti is snow capped, even if only slightly.

South American Market

I had my first market experience of South America the other day. It’s an open air market that is mentioned in many of the tour books just a few blocks off the main square. I went there with my host because she wanted to buy some flowers. I did have some expectations upon entering. Visions of fruit stands and pastries of every variety falling down fluffy, carby hills filled my head and I couldn’t wait to see what the market had in store. The fruit section didn’t disappoint. Identical stands of multi-colored fruits lined the fruit aisle and it was beautiful. I finally bought a mango after asking several vendors the price.

As an obvious outsider, despite my continuous attempts to look like I know where I am, one needs to shop around. The price of the mango varies depending on the mood that the vendor has towards you. I find it a strange thing to see so many people selling the exact same thing, displayed in exactly the same way. You have to wonder how the competitive aspect comes in to play. Most of the items are priced the same, not for tourists but definitely for locals, and I just don’t understand how anyone profits when each stand is a copy of the one before it.

That thought was put quickly out of mind when I saw the meat section. I wanted to run the opposite direction but when I tuned in the aisle I met a stray dog coming towards me. The dog was friendly enough, definitely adapted to human presence and gift giving, but the whole thing was gross regardless. I silently wondered if the lady that does the cooking for the house I’m living in buys our meat here and then I realized it made no difference cause I eat the free food regardless. I told myself to just not think about how the meat was protected under some Un-refrigerated glass with strange colors on its meaty surface, flies dancing above.

Mango Puppies

Perhaps I didn’t see enough of the market to make a real observation but seeing what I did and the general state of the crowded aisles made me disinclined I return. Unfortunately, I never did see the “puppy section” that I was told existed, but the number of dogs I did see made me think that the puppies had their own section because these dogs are born, live and die in the market. On my way out I touched a dried llama fetus for good luck, said to have curative properties, and didn’t look back. All this drama aside, it turned out to be the best mango I’ve ever eaten.
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Alyssa Maunders

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