Peruvian ways

Travelling is one of those challenges that always opens the mind. No trip is the same. Even when traveling to someplace we’ve already been before, we always have to face new challenges, meet new friends, find new roads and, definitely, learn a lot about socialize with different kind of people. I can recall traveling to Peru this summer to discover a culture, much alike my own but, in many ways, completely different. Cheerful, friendly, talkative people who opened their arms and hearts to teach, this foreigner, about their way of life and a life lesson I’ll never forget. One thing I learn for sure is that it’s not the possessions you have, but the richness of your heart and soul, what makes you the happiest man in the world. Not less important, another thing I learned, is that you must try everything when it comes to food, it may surprise you.

As I was traveling alone and no clock was hurrying me up, and no map was telling me where to go or not, with my GPS on hand, and the wise pieces of advice of a Peruvian friend of mine, I had come to meet places no excursion would dare to show and no naive visitor would get to know. Peaceful, quiet, open landscapes, ruins of what once was, so imperfectly crafted and yet so mysteriously preserved. And among this landscape, and contrasting with the arid, colorless environment, lived those joyful, cheerful people who were always ready to lend you a hand and share all their knowledge about the mysterious, millenary history of their land. So humble and yet so happy, their colorful clothing blended with the little, handmade houses on the hillside. I learned then that no possession did have the power to make men happy but the possession of his own will of happiness.

All these cheerful in colors is found even in food. Every region in Peru has its own typical food. The amazing variety of foodstuff makes it very difficult for a foreigner to chose what to eat. I had been a vegan for many years therefore, when I got to Lima and found all that variety of fruits and vegetables I felt so very happy that I tried almost every single fruit and green I found, it was heaven on earth to me. Never could I have imagined the things I came across while trying so strange kinds of food. To make a long story short, let’s say that, finally, I decided never to ask for the ingredients. “Just eat and enjoy” I told to myself. Certainly not a single day will I ever regret it.

All in all, I presume every country has more to give than just a bunch of famous landmarks. Travelling is not just passing through. Getting to know a country or city, is about knowing its people, its culture, history, food and traditions. Only then can you say that travelling opens your mind.

Adriana Terzian

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