Have you any wool? Real wool?

I went to the market yesterday. It's an open market, where one can buy food, clothing, and household goods. Stalls and booths line the street of one city block, and within the block is an enclosed market. The bakery is my main stop...we go through bread in this house like crazy...and then the yarn store. It's a pity that there is only acrylic yarn available here in Lima; Peru is so famous for its llamas, alpacas, and fine Peruvian sheep that I'm appalled that there's no real wool of any kind to be had. So strange. Maybe the people are so busy running away from who they are that they've left their valuables behind. Valuables as in heritage, handicrafts, genuine articles, etc. Things to be had in the market are cheap little plastic junk, similar to the trash that was sold in the US during the 60's & 70's, in the "Made in Japan" era. I may have to start buying my wool from people in the US or other countries, if I can't find it here. When I asked where I could find real wool yarn, I was directed to the artisan markets in the downtown area. "Maybe" they have it there.

Phooey. I think I'll just be sending money to my sister to send me some batts of alpaca and mohair after I go through the REAL ALPACA yarn that I have here. Do you hear that, Peru?? I have real alpaca yarn here in my house that I brought from the US, to the homeland of the Alpaca and the Llama. So maybe in another 20 years, there'll be an influx of animals to Peru, from the US, and real wool will be available to the general public once more. Even the alpaca yarn that is produced for export is not 100% alpaca. It is only a small percentage that has been blended with sheep's wool. In Peru, anything with even a small percentage of alpaca fiber is labeled as "Alpaca", with no mention of the percentage or the fiber it has been blended with. Maddening, completely maddening.

So, in the meantime, I'm making myself a dropstitch vest in red. I have about 6 inches done on the back. Maybe by the time I get more done, I'll have decided to make it into a sweater instead.