The White City and Frog Juice

Wtih Lauren and Dave gone I was left to explore the White City on my own. Arequipa is a purdy city has been predominately constructed of a white stone that appears to sparkle in the sunlight, hence it´s nick name. It is quite refreshing to be in a place where A) there is sunlight and warmth and B) is beautiful and full of kind people, thus I found myself quite enjoying Arequipa and wanting to spend much longer than originally anticipated! My Scottish friend, Jenny and I spent several hours one afternoon visiting and photographing the beautiful Santa Catalina Monastery, a place that is so massive that it is often referred to as a walled city within a city! On another occasion when upon waking to find that my head was in somewhat of a state of disarray I allowed my friend Raul to convince me that a few sips of frog juice would make me feel good as new… at this point in the game I was certain that he couldn´t be talking about the actual juice of a frog but that it must just be a silly name for some green, fruity drink chuck full of nutrients. Raul, Jenny and I made our way to Arequipa´s marketplace where we ohhhed and ahhhed at all the interesting tidbits being sold and then eventually wondered over to the fresh juice section. Everything that happened from this point on was a blur! There I was, minding my own business petting a sweet, little frog in the hands of one of the vendors when BAM! The guy smashed the poor thing against the counter then promptly began to remove it´s skin. I stood there horrified as Raul poked me and said, ¨look, he´s taking his clothes off! mahahahaha.¨ Without a moment´s pause the vendor popped the naked little guy into a pot of boiling water then busied himself mixing various herbs and other ingredients in a blender... Still in total shock, I watched as the man dumped the now boiled carcass into the blender as if it were the final touch to his most perfect potion. A moment later he proudly presented me with the concoction all done up and fancy-like in a glass with two straws so I could kindly share with Jenny. With shaking hands I received the muddy concoction and attempted to make my face appear as though my stomach wasn´t sending emergency evacuation signals...