Money Swallower

I went back to Parque Kennedy yesterday in search of the falafel joint that was recommended to me by Shalom, my Israeli manager. Success! It is located 3 doors down from Starbucks- the place I'm avoiding because of it's commercialism that has already polluted every corner of every street in the United States. I walked up to the nearly empty restaurant and carefully studied the menu of Middle Eastern food with descriptions in Spanish. I was torn between falafel and shwarma so I solved my dilemma by getting both! The nice waitress offered me a half-order of the falafel appetizer which would give me 3 balls (haha) and recommended the falafel sandwich. While the waitress, owner, and I exchanged words in Spanish about where I am from and I drooled at the mouth over the colorful vegetable salads and sauces I got to choose from. The owner asked me (all in Spanish) if I wanted chicken, lamb, or turkey to which I replied, 'que se gusta?' which means, 'what do you like?' I was told lamb- so lamb it was! I was served my falafel to get started and boy was it yummy! I could taste the spices as I munched down on the freshly-cooked crispy ball of mashed chickpeas dipped in yummy sauces. As I was finishing up my last ball, a neatly-wrapped tortilla/lafa looking sandwich was placed in front of me: Game Time! The marinated red onions along with the lamb meat and israeli salad was a fiesta in my mouth. It was very tasty- but it's no schwarma from Max's, located at 2319 University Blvd Wheaton, MD 20902 (shout out to Momi- the schwarma man at Max's with whom I worked for 3.5 years). You will think you had died and gone to heaven. I wish they delivered to Peru. After lunch, I roamed the streets of Parque Kennedy looking to haggle for some new earrings because I lost one in the Pacific Ocean when I went surfing. Lima is known for having an abundance of inexpensive silver so my search began! I made my way into a handicraft market where I could have spent hours trying on jewelry but I was short on cash and was getting overwhelmed when 326 people approached me trying to sell me their precious goods. I made my way to a corner where I met Sara, a 60-something woman who sold me silver ball earrings for 20 Soles and an alpaca sweater for 60 Soles! Yesterday the exchange rate was about 2.65 Soles for every $1. We chatted completely in Spanish for 20 minutes, telling her all about my job, how long i've been in Peru, and how much longer I'll be here. We concluded our conversation with Sara telling me that when I am tired of bar tending I should become a super model. She asked me to come back and visit- I'll be seeing her soon!! I left the market and saw a casino across the street called Tragamoneda which translates to 'Money Swallower' hahahaha! I stayed away. Casinos are everywhere here- I even saw one named 'Atlantic City.' Apparently if you go to a casino to gamble, you're entitled to free food and alcoholic drinks! My friends go there occasionally when they're short on cash just to get fed- oh the joys of being young and broke! I'm a little bit intimidated to play blackjack in Spanish but i'll be giving it a go one of these days. I haggled my way into a taxi to come back home and prepare for my evening shift at the bar. It was a terrific day!