To Be Guinea Pig Or Not To Be

This is one of those language barrier things. Guinea pig is a common meal here in Peru and it is one of those things that we´ve been told you must try before moving on. Christina and I both had guinea pigs as pets so it´s a bit odd to want to eat them, but we talked it over and decided we should try it. So we asked our guide what a guinea pig is called and she told us chicharron. So we thought, alright we´ll have to try it sometime. Well, we got back to our house for lunch and we had potatoes and a meat and a mint and onion salad. Christina asked what kind of meat it was and Ester, our host mom, said it was Chicharron and that it was Julio, her husband´s favorite dish. We kinda looked at each other but said alright...if we have to try it, we´ll try it. My 4 pieces had a bit of fur left over on them so I wasn´t really in the mood but to be polite, I ate as much as possible. Christina thought it was good and just went for it.
During lunch, we both explained how we had had guinea pigs as pets, and how mine was named Sammy and hers was named Lolly. We explained how it´s very normal in the States to have guinea pigs as pets. They thought it was amazing that we both had them as pets, but said okay. Well, since it was Julio´s birthday, a couple volunteers from Alipio´s house (Julio´s brother) came over. Christina asked them what the word for guinea pig was and they said cuy not chicharron. Chicharrones are pigs!!!!!! Christina and I started laughing immediately.
Christina had wanted to explain how we keep them in cages and give them little bottles of water with wood chips!! It was a good thing she didn´t because then we would have been muy loco.