There are a ton of things I miss about my birth country, but the food and the Pacific Ocean are probably the two I miss the most.

The only way for me to solve this is to travel back home, but since it’s been almost two years since our last trip there, I have to settle for the “encargos” my mom brings with her to Denver every time she goes back to Peru.

Through the years, the list hasn’t really changed much: alfajores, ají amarillo and Pisco. But ever since I became a mom, my list also includes children’s books in Spanish, chompas de alpaca (alpaca sweaters) and polos de algodón peruano (T-shirts made with Peruvian cotton), and most definitely the kind of Peruvian candy that reminds me of my childhood and that my kids have somehow learned to love too.

Vanessa’s favorite is Doña Pepa.

Santiago’s favorite is Cua Cua.

I love seeing them enjoying these candies of my childhood because it makes me feel closer to my beloved Peru. Same thing happens when I see them enjoy un buen plato de arroz con pollo or devour a triple — a Peruvian sandwich made with avocado, hard boiled eggs and tomatoes and one of Vanessa’s favorite dishes.

But I also feel like many of these “encargos” show my kids how important it is for me to continue to stay connected to my Peruvian heritage. I tell them how they won’t believe how warm their Alpaca sweaters will keep them (and after wearing hers during the bitter cold we experienced in Denver this weekend, Vanessa agrees); I tell them how Peruvian cotton is some of the softest in the world, which is one of the reasons why many clothing stores worldwide get their T-shirts done there; and thanks to some of the books my mom has brought back, I can teach them more about Peru’s traditions, culture and customs.

This time around, my kids favorite book was “Chimoc en Machu Picchu,” which belongs to a beautiful series written and illustrated by the very talented sisters Andrea and Claudia Paz. My kids have almost every book in the series and what I love the most about them is how they introduce Peruvian music, food, traditions and, this time around, one of the places my birth country is most well-known for: the unparalleled Machu Picchu. Plus, each book in the series comes with an audio CD which includes not only the story, but a series of songs specific to the story composed, written and performed by the Paz sisters and their brother. A real gem! (Sadly, I haven’t found the books in the U.S.)

What kind of things do you ask for from your home country?

“I’m never brining any of you any more encargos,” my mom complained as I help her lift the two huge suitcases you see in the picture above into my car’s trunk at Denver International Airport yesterday.

She just got back from a six-week long trip to Peru and both my sister and I bombarded her with our lista de encargos even before she left. In fact, mine kept on growing while she was already there and I remembered I also wanted this thing or the other thing and emailed or called so she could add it to the list. But while my mom complains about what a pain it is for her to go running around Lima getting us our encargos and then complains about having to pay the overweight fees at the airport, I know she’ll always bring these things back because she knows how much it means for us to have a little piece of our homeland here in Denver.

I’ve written about this topic before, so I won’t bore you with the details about why these encargos are so important to me. I’ll just share photos of some of the things she brought back, including my favorite Peruvian candy. Check them out:

Have you ever had any of these? While I can find many of the Mexican candies I grew up with, the Peruvians are a lot harder to come by now that we live in Colorado. Getting them directly from Peru, then, is a real treat. The majority of these have already gone into hiding, as Vanessa has become addicted to some of them too and so if I leave them laying around, they’ll disappear before I even taste them myself. 

Because my mom is an awesome mamama (the name many Peruvians calls their abuelas), when her nieta Vanessa asked her for some conchitas from the beach in Peru, my mom not only obliged, she actually brought back more than 100 sea shells picked by her brother — my godfather — and one of her cousins. Needless to say, my daughter was in heaven and already has plans to make several necklaces out of the ones that have little holes.

Last, but not least, a bunch of beautiful finds from my home country, including T-shirt with the new Perú logo as well as several books for kids learning to read in Spanish for Vanessa, which I promise to write more about soon. For now, you should know that I got the recommendations for the book from the librarian at the dual language school I used to attend as a child back in Peru… so you know they’re awesome.

What’s on your list of encargos?