Besides Spanish, many people from the rural areas around Huaraz also speak Quechua. Besides being the language of the Inca Empire, Quechua has been spoken in Peru for more than a thousand years. The language is deeply tied to nature and the Andean Cosmovision, or the religion/life philosophy that people followed before colonization. Some of the most important figures in the Andean tradition are Patsamama (Mother Earth), Inti (Father Sun), Killa (Mother Moon), and the apus (sacred mountains).
In Peru, we use soles, with one dollar being equal to about S/3.5. Many people here don't use much cash, and instead use an app called Yape to make payments electronically.
A big bottle of water is about S/3.5, so about one dollar. My roommate and I normally boil a big pot of water to drink during the day.
I cook a lot at my house, and my favorite meal to make is a tofu stir fry. I buy a lot of ingredients from the market, and I'm lucky enough to have tofu available from a stall that sells Asian ingredients. I make a huge stir fry every Sunday that I eat for lunch for a few days afterwards.
