Shabbat in Arequipa

We write today with great sadness for our country for the loss of so many beautiful young children. It is with a heavy heart that we found out about the shooting and we will always remember a newspaper headline here that said we sell guns in the US like they are cigarettes.

It is difficult to find out news like the massacre when we are so far away. But our hearts and thoughts are definitely with the families and community in grief. Although there have been tough times at home we have been enjoying our time in Arequipa. We have been here for about two weeks now and it feels like a stable, comfortable place, just in time for us to leave :)

Last we wrote about staying with our first couch surfing friend Alberto and our incredible experience at Colca Cañón. When we got back from Colca we started staying with another new friend from couch surfing, Renato. Renato is so fun and welcoming, 25 and lives with one of his best friends, a wonderful girl from France, Melissa who was finishing her University and living and working in Arequipa. Renato was working at this fun place called Mr. Fish (which is kind of like Señor Frogs but well explain more about that later) as the MC/entertainer. Melissa and Renato were wonderful we had our own room in their apartment and had lots of fun with them, staying for about 5 days. They were both transitioning to move to Lima so we helped with the moving a bit (one incident included tying two mattresses on top of a taxi to return them). They showed us a great time and were such fun hosts. We even went to their going away party and met all of their friends who were sad to see them go.

Couch surfing has really been incredible for us in Arequipa we have met such interesting, great people and made great connections. Our third friend from couch surfing is Adolfo. Adolfo's grandfather is from Germany and was Jewish. Although Adolfo is only 1/4 Jewish he was very excited to find out that we were Jewish! He told us that his uncle (Tio Pepe) would love to have a Shabbat at his house. So of course we decided we would try to make a traditional Shabbat for Adolfo and Tio. Adolfo and Tio had only ever had Shabbat once with a Turkish Jew they had met.

So we created our menu: Hummus (from scratch) with veggies, Homemade Challah, Tsimmus (apples, sweet potato, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon and honey) Pasta with veggies, and Snickerdoodle cookies (vegan). Shout out to Jan (Ali's Mom for the amazing challah recipe and Tsimmus suggestion!) The cutest part of the evening was when Tio Pepe brought out his kepah so proudly and showed it to us. He had bought it in New York and was very excited to show us. We did the blessings to welcome Shabbat, the blessing over the wine and bread and Tio even had a menorah that we lit to celebrate Hanukkah. We also did one of Ali's family traditions of "Two Good Things" in which you share two good things that happened to you during the week. In this case it was called "Dos Cosas Bueno" and of course we sang the accompanying song (in English :) ).

The Shabbat Table

Tsimmus

He did not have a big enough pan for a regular challah.

So we made mini Challahs

Ali and Tio Pepe

Ali, Tio and Sarah

Ali, Adolfo and Sarah

After we light the candles

Tio Pepe is an orthodontist and has a wonderful house where we made Shabbat. One of the craziest coincidences was when we left Melissa and Renato's apartment to go to Tio's we realized it was literally across the street like 15 feet from each other. Tio offered for us to stay at his house and we accepted happily. We have our own room again including a bunk bed!

After eating relaxing in the sitting room.  Tio told us a story of an artist that waited 10 years to have his teeth fixed and paid him with the painting above the empty chair.

Sarah in our room at Tio Pepes

Yesterday we decided to go to Mr. Fish the place where Renato used to work. By hanging out with Melissa and Renato we had met many of their friends that still worked at Mr. Fish and we were able to get in for free. It is a huge venue with two different VIP areas, a stage and an outdoor area. It is set up almost like a giant tiki lounge with bamboo and light colored wood. There is a ton of day drinking, people start coming at 1 PM and it kind of feels like spring break. They have entertainers, dancers and bands on the stage every so often and otherwise it is just a huge dance party. The demographic was a bit young for us but we still had fun of course and thanks for the hook up Renato and Melissa!

At Mr. Fish

Sarah wearing her Mr. Fish shirt Melissa gave her

The scene at Mr. Fish

Sarah rock climbing at Mr. Fish

Ali in the jardin (garden) at Spanish school with Paca the tortuga

With our wonderful Spanish teacher Angela

Today is our last day in Arequipa and although we have loved it here we need to start making our way up to Lima to meet Ali's family in Costa Rica in less than a week!! We are going to head to a small town called Huacachina where we will go sand boarding down one of the biggest dunes in the world.

We love you!

Hugs,
















A & S