LIMA DAY 9: La Chocolatada de Navidad

Sunday, December 21

Today was the day that I travel for over the Christmas Holidays. A few years ago, a friend got me involved with a group called Peruanos Solidarios. They do, um, good stuff. One of their annual events is a Christmas Chocolatada. What they do is raise money all year, and for Christmas, they pick some really, really poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Lima, and they have an evento for the kids. They serve Chocolate Milk (it's Summer here) and Panetton (Fruit Cake). They have some sort of show, and then every kid gets a gift. They do other things during the year, too, but I like the Christmas stuff. This will be the third year I've attended. Today was the day. Here's an adorable picture, just to get you all excited.

We were meeting at 10:00, so I had time in the morning to head over to Mercado #1 in Surquillo to their weekend food feria.

I had a Causa, and because who knew when I would eat again and I wouldn't want to go all weak or anything, two Pan Con Chicarron Sandwiches.

The Causa was absolutely fabulous. Between the two layers of Mashed Yellow Potatoes were what we would call really good Crab Salad, with a few Shrimps tossed in for good measure. The Pork Sandwiches are pretty wonderful, too. The whole thing was about $7.

We then met up, loaded the bus with the gifts, and headed up the mountain to Via Maria de Triunfo. Then we unloaded the bus and climbed to the top of a mountain where we set up in what I guess would be generously called the Community Center.

You can see the steps that we had to climb. Where we had the fiesta was further than the top of the steps. These guys also donated some money for cement for more steps.

Before the party started, the mothers served us Arroz con Pollo for Lunch.

Then the party started. The kids all had a ball. Here's a few photos.

During the activities, I had a piece of Panetton.

It was pretty horrible.

Later, back in town, I was too tired to go to a restaurant, so I bought a container of Ice Cream at the Supermarket.

I don't have Ice Cream a lot, so I don't know if this one was excellent, or all Ice Cream is excellent. Either way, it was excellent.

Around midnight, I recovered sufficiently to eat something. The pickings are slim that late on a Sunday, so I went to Pit's, which is a 24-hour Sandwich Shop, and had a Burger and some Potatoes.

That's it for the day. Here's my steps.