Peruvian drinking culture

      Most of the day in Peru, I find myself mildly dehydrated. This is a result of the culture surrounding drinking here. This is not about drinking alcoholic beverages, but water and other soft drinks. Because water is not free here, it is not common to drink multiple full cups of water throughout a meal. Drinking is less based on reaching a certain hydration goal, but instead to simply drink when you are thirsty. Even then, it may not be easy to find a drink for cheap, as some restaurants will charge up to 8 soles for water. 

    Even outside of the price for water, many other drinks are very popular in Peru. Chicha morada is a drink made from purple corn. Different types of fresh juices are also common in every restaurant.  Another common drink is tea, since it is a form of tap water that is safe to drink as a result of boiling it. Even with all these options, the lack of free water, something that every restaurant in the United States offers, leads to drinking until a mostly-hydrated state. There are bodegas that sell large bottles of water for cheap prices, but when at a restaurant it is hard to fully hydrate to a level I am accustomed to, simply because it is not typical to have a goal of drinking a certain number of glasses of water each day.