Silvano joined us looking for an electrolyte-rich soup to help with the altitude, and of course we had coca leaves. The first day was mostly about resting. Then Friday, we got our new cell phone numbers, changed money, explored a little in Puno, and began to shop. Puno still had decorations up from the carnival celebration and was quite colorful.
That evening we took a dozen or so people out for Pollo à la Brasa, a fine tradition where we treat the family to a special dinner.
Saturday is the big Market day in Puno and we shopped for special items that are nutritional treats for our family, like olive oil and Maca. The 2024 crop of olives in Peru was damaged by hard rains during the flowering of the trees. So the olive oil price was quite high, but the vendor told us that the new crop would be available in April with reduced price!
Because the restaurants are always really busy on market day we had asked Fredy and Rita to have a simple supper at their place in Puno. As it turned out, several families were in town and we all got together in a big happy reunion. Rita made Caldo de Pollo, a rich chicken noodle soup. 
I don’t show pictures of the whole group, because I didn’t get permission from the 4 beautiful teenage girls to publish their pictures. You just have to imagine.
