Local pub night in Ayacucho

Tonight, Gaz and myself popped in to one of Ayacucho's local pubs — arguably a cantina. We were just planning on having a few quiet pints; but we ended up sharing some beers, some strangled conversation, and some laughs with the locals there. The locals were very friendly, very welcoming, and absolutely goddamn #?!%-faced. Also, one of the locals was a German Shepherd named Sasha.

Here in Peru, one of the most popular brands of beer is Cusqueña. They generally sell Cusqueña — even in bars — in big bottles of almost 1L. The locals kept ordering more Cusqueña; and for each new bottle, the guy who bought it would pour a bit into each person's glass. Me and Gaz ordered more bottles as well, and we were instructed in the proper etiquette of sharing each new bottle amongst everyone present. Nice custom: encourages talk, and kills hostility.

Towards the end of the evening, the guy with the dog went to the baños, and he gave the dog's leash to Gaz, to hold on to. After about 30 seconds, Sasha started going wild, trying to get under the tables, knocking over a chair, and generally tearing the place apart in trying to get to his master. Well, his master only came back just in time, before he really did tear the place apart!

There was another guy, who was completely plastered, and who was desperate to show off to me with his 3 lines of English. Every 5 minutes or so, he'd tap me on the shoulder, and say: "hello, mister!" Then he'd laugh and smile (and swig) a bit, before continuing: "how are you?" And when I replied: "very good, thankyou", he became so overjoyed that I could understand him and respond to him, that he entered a state of being totally ecstatic. Great people here in Ayacucho.