Paddington Comes to Nowheresville

At some point during my Darden experience, I was talking to a Peruvian student about Peru.

"My knowledge of Peru," I confessed, "is confined to three things."

The Peruvian looked excited. (Apparently three is quite a high number).

"Guinea pig eating."

Oh yes, he said, a very great delicacy indeed, you should try one.

"The Inca Trail."

He nodded. Very beautiful.

"And, of course, Paddington Bear," I concluded,

The Peruvian looked bewildered. What?

"Paddington Bear. He's from Peru."

The Peruvian shook his head, clearly trying to recall the P section of his English/Spanish dictionary. I'm sorry, I don't know this 'Partington Bare'. What? Are you sure you are not thinking of another country?

"No," I replied firmly, confident of my ground here. "Paddington Bear is definitely from Peru. Darkest Peru. You must know that. He was found at Paddington station with marmalade sandwiches under his hat. "

***

Many months later, the Peruvian approached me again, this time with a broad smile on his face.

You know, he said, now I know this Paddington. I have some friends who live in England visit me and they also tell me about this Paddington Bear. I say, it is not from Peru. But they say, yes, English people believe it is so. So I say, OK, it's from Peru.

***

I remembered this story today when I realised that in the last week my diet has consisted almost entirely of marmalade sandwiches.

(To Americans, of course, this may not seem unusual: it is not that dissimilar from PB&J sandwiches, but without the PB. But for me, this is unusual )

For the most part, my marmalade sandwich diet is financially driven. I discovered a large unopened jar of Coopers Original Oxford Coarse Cut Seville marmalade in one of my boxes while I was packing last week, and it seemed a shame not to eat it rather than go out and buy more food from El Gigante with dollars I don't really have. And, it turns out, marmalade eaten in sufficient quantities has the unexpected but welcome side-effect of being an excellent appetite suppressant.

If anyone sees me hanging round the AmTrak station in a duffle coat, please don't tell my mother.

***

I don't have much more to say today except to lament the weather forecast for Foxfield on Saturday, ie totally crap: thunderstorms, wind and 80% chance of rain. Fabuloso.