Everyone in my town speaks Spanish, but some children speak a few English words. Many of the children learn English in school, but at an elementary level. Some Peruvians speak an indigenous language called Quechua. Communities of this heritage mainly migrated to the coast from the mountains of Peru. If you want to say hello in Quechua, you can say Allianchu.
Everything is paid in Peruvian soles. $1.00 is about 4 Peruvian soles. We primarily use bills and coins here. The bills are different colors and typically have an image of an important person on the front, as well as an archaeological site on the back. For example, on the front of the 10 sol bill, there is a Peruvian pilot who died during the Ecuador-Peru war of 1941, and on the back is Machu Picchu.
A bottle of water here costs about 2 or 3 soles which is rougly 50 to 75 cents.
The best meal I had this week was "tallarines a la huancaina with sangrecita." Tallarines are pasta with a yellow sauce called huancaina, which is made of blended queso fresco (fresh white cheese), ají amarillo (a yellow Peruvian pepper), garlic, and crackers.
