Last night Luz took Serena, Eleanor, and me to a nearby town called Chosica. When we got off the bus, we were standing in front of a carnival. Luz forgot to mention that Chosica hosts a permanent carnival, so I was pretty surprised to see all the flashing lights. Our first stop was the “Dodge ‘Ems,” at Eleanor’s request. It turns out that Dodge ‘Ems are what British folk call Bumper Cars. Apparently in the States we stress the “bump,” whereas in England they stress the “dodge.” Interesting.

Amy had mentioned a delicious food similar to churros or elephant ears, so I asked Luz if she knew what that might be. She guided us to a booth/kiosk-type-thing where a woman was dipping rings of batter into very hot oil. After she fried the dough, people would dip the “picarones” into something similar to maple syrup. It was delicious yet could very easily turn into a source of a nasty stomachache.

“That’s my aunt,” Luz said. “Wait, what?” “That’s my aunt,” she repeated. Well that’s bizarre, I thought. When I looked more closely I realized that the woman did, in fact, look exactly like Luz’s mom. How strange that her aunt happened to make the one item I wanted to try.

After our dessert (or is it considered dinner if you don’t eat anything else first?) we walked around the plaza a bit more and saw a huge, white statue of someone with his or her arms outstretched. The statue was surrounded by mini pools with fountains and colored lights, and the statue itself was lit up so that the figure appeared to be glowing.

From far away it wasn’t exactly clear who the figure was. It could’ve been Jesus, it could’ve been Mary, it could’ve been one of a number of saints. “Who is that?” I asked Luz. She looked at me like I was crazy. “Jesus,” she answered. I think she silently added, “Obviously.” A few minutes later I asked how long he’s been in Chosica. She told me he’s been there for two or three years, then saw that I was laughing (hard) at my own joke. I couldn’t tell if her subsequent laughter was for real.