Food Obsessions

Here are a few things (foodwise) that I am come to notice I am obsessed with...in no particular order.

Chifles

Thinly sliced, toasted banana chips. My favorite snack.

Palta Rellena (Stuffed Alvocado)

In Lima, you can get a "menú" for about 6 soles, which means a starter, a entree, a drink and dessert. All for about 2 USD. Its always the best when Palta rellena, salad or sandwich is on the list. I love PALTAS!

Papa Rellena

Ever since I got my hands on one of these hot potatoes, I can't resist but to buy them whenever I see them. The go for S/.1 by street vendors all around Lima. Add a little Aji, and I'm in heaven.

Arroz con Mariscos

One of my favorite entrees. The flavor is amazing. I always choose rice with seafood when I'm at seaside locations. Its my preference over ceviche. I hate fish, but I love squid, octopus and shrimp!

Lomo Saltado

Delicious!! I have never had a lomo I haven't loved. One of the few dishes with meat that I enjoy and that I have never had a bad experience with. Its a Peruvian take of a Chinese dish that has been incorporated into the Peruvian mainstream. So much so, they don't sell it anymore at Chifas (chinese restaurants).

Salsa de Aji

Aji is a Peruvian hot chili pepper. By hot, I mean hot! If you don't believe me, just ask Andrew lol. Colors and level of spicyness vary, but its always delicious, on any of the above dishes.

Inca Kola

A crisp, refreshing Inca Kola is always a great way to wash down any Peruvian dish. I don't usually drink to much soda, but Inca Kola is my exception.

Compañeras

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Less than 24 hours from now I will be the happiest girl in Peru, dare I say it, the world! Thats right, my tall, dark and handsome + intelligent boyfriend is coming to visit me! So much to do, so little time to do it in, both before and while he's here. For starters, I'm doing all my homework in advance. I'm turning in a paper early, and reading the mandatory lectures in advance, because I have a test right after he leaves. Not to mention I need to clean my room, buy all his favorite foods and plan out trip to Machu Picchu!! !! !! !!

While Andrew is here, I have so many things I want him to see and do!

*Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu

* The Historic center of Lima (including the art musuem, the Plaza de Armas, Abancay, etc.)

*Pueblo Libre (my district) with our awesome museum, the bar in front of Simon Bolivar's house, the market)

*La Universidad Católica (with our cute deer and ancient ruins)

*Barranco (the ocean side view and the crazy night life)

*Miraflores

Not to mention he's also got to try Ceviche, Pisco Sours, lomo saltado, the exotic fruits, chifa, mariscos, etc, etc, etc.!!!

It's going to be 10 wonderful days, full of things that neither of us have ever seen before and me showing him my favorite things about Lima! I'm so excited :)

For the past couple of weeks, I have been hanging out a lot with my compañeras from la Cató. I'm lucky to have two wonderful Peruvian friends, and although they were "assigned" to me, per se, we get along great and are actually true friends and not mandatory ones.

Huaraz

About 2 weeks ago, Serena, Four Ofelia and I took a trip to Huaraz. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Huaraz is come to the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra, 2 big chains of the Andes mountain. El Huascarán, which is on the Blanca, is the highest point in Peru at 22,200 feet. People come to Huaraz for adventure tourism. There are companies and programs throughout the city, if you want to white water raft, ice climb, trek, mountain bike, etc. Some really fierce climbers trek to the top of El Huascarán. Huaraz is also home to the mountain Alpamayo, voted Most Beautiful Mountain in the World.

View of Alpamayo from the bus, isn't is surreal?

The bus trip was about 8 hours. The whole point of taking a night bus makes plenty of sense. Its best to be asleep when a huge bus is driving crazily up mountain switchbacks. The only downside--when you're awake, not only are you on a crazy bus driving erratically up crisscrossing mountain roads (some unpaved) but its doing it in pitch black dark!!! We got to Huaraz at about 5:30 in the morning, but the man who arranged our tours was waiting for us, and took us to our hotel. We only got a fews hours rest, before we were off to our first adventure of the weekend, Llanganuco Lagoon.

The lagoon

The trip wasn't exactly what i thought it'd be. For some reason, the fact that we were taking "tours" and not "treks" didn't really register in my mind. So where i thought we would be taking long hikes, we road in a bus straight to the sights of interest. By chance, I think it was actually better this way. Not only was I suffering from soroche--altitude sickness, the bus also had some lovely pan flute covers of songs from classic artists such as ABBA, Queen, and Michael Jackson. You haven't lived til you've felt like poop on a bus, bouncing along unpaved roads up the Andes, listening to Billie Jean pan flute style.

View from the bus

The Lagoon was beautiful. Sparkling, crisp and cold turquoise water. We took a boat ride around it and got some good views of El Huascaran, the highest point in Peru. It was freezing cold, so after a quick photo shoot with a local llama, we bought mate de coca and papas rellenas (stuffed baked potatoes) so delicious. The mate was really good, it was made from actually steeping the leaves in boiling water, and not a tea bag like some restaurants give you.

Llama shoot

That day we also visited a town that was completely destroyed during an earthquake induced avalanche. The entire city was leveled, the only thing standing were 4 palm trees. Remember that, cuatro palmeros. The tour guide kept talking about them like they were miracle trees. He built up the anticipation too, for before we got to see the cuatro palmeros, we walked up a hill to the cemetary with a huge statues of jesus. We also got to see a completely mangled bus and the remains of the church.

The mangled bus

When we finally reached the much anticipated 4 palm trees, 3 of them were dead. What a disappointment. Apparently, 2 Japanese tourists were visiting the cemetery the day of the avalanche and got it most on tape. Why 2 japanese tourists were in a relatively unknown town with a 4 pound camcorder in the 70s visiting a cemetary is unknown to me. Why a man kept trying to see me a dvd of the black and white footage is sort of understandable, everyones got to make money. But why I really wanted to buy one, I have no idea. I didn't though!

Photos of the disaster

It actually took me a while, but when I realized that all the boulders I had been taking photos of were actually the same ones that had come rolling down the mountain, destroying the city and killing its citizens. It was crazy to imagine those things in motion. Thats when the sadness of the place I was at really hit me. But the entire town was moved and rebuilt a mile and a half to the side of the old site of the town. It was crazy and inspiring to see how they had rebuilt from nothing. I would have wanted to as well, the scenery was so breathtaking.

Imagine that rolling towards you!!

Breathtaking!!

At the end of our trip, we stopped at a restaurant to have traditional Andean cuisine. Ofelia got cuy (guinea pig) and I tried pork charque (jerky...I was advised by Fabio to try). I like jerky, but this was deep fried jerky...so extra baked bacon. I don't like bacon and i don't like grease, but I tried it, and thats what counts. The potatoes that came with it were delicious. Sometimes, I see the point of pictures on menus lol.

We also took a shamelessly obvious "plug" trip to a really small store that sold some sort of Andean honey product. It was obviously run by his friend, it was really out of the way and we al didn't fit in the store at the same time. This was when i started to think they were wasting my time. I hate it when they cart you around like your just walking wallets. Same thing happened in Nazca, our pottery "demonstration" lasted all of 2 minutes before we were herded into the pottery store. I just don't like being labeled a tourist, I'd rather just discover things on my own.

That night, we met up with Bobbi and Calin (the two other OU girls studying in Lima) and went to Tambos, a local and highly recommended bar. We got there and it was pretty empty, there was a pan flute band playing, and they were really good. We got a pitcher of Cuba Libre (rum, coke and lime) and it was pretty strong. That, combined with the high high altitude, led us to feeling the rum, and later sangria, and later wine, quite a bit. Which then led to us dancing with two local professor (don't ask) and me showing off my "salsa" skills. We finally called it a night and went back to our hotel.

The next morning, we sort of took our time getting breakfast. That, along with the fact we never really knew what time our tour left, resulted in us being late and the van having to double back to pick us up. We then headed straight to Pastoruri, a huge mountain glacier inside the National Park of Huascaran. The ride took us a while, along the way we stopped to see some natural mineral springs and rinse our faces with its healing mineral waters (or something like that). We also saw some very huge plants, the la Puya de Raimondi, which only grow in Peru and Bolivia. They were pretty amazing, and larger than a lot of trees.

El Huascaran National Park

Puyas de Raimondi

Pastoruri was beautiful--from afar. Up close, it looked like dirty, melting mud. A lot of the great views you see from photos online are from people to physically hike up the ice. So it wasn't as breathtaking as I had imagined it, but man was i proud of myself for making it to the top.

View from the top of Pastoruri

Sunday brought a crazy, bumpy and scary taxi ride to the top of a "hill" ( i would have to call it that compared to the Andes, but its a mountain in Texas standards) to see the view from the huge cross placed at the top. Peruvians have a thing for placing huge crosses or statues of Jesus at the top of hills. The trip back was easy...although not only did they play some horrible sci fi action movie with a chimp as the protagonist, Space Mate or Space chimp or something, but they followed it up with Percy Jackson, the "son of poseidon movie".

The mirador

View from the mirador

Callao

Last Sunday, Serena and I took a day trip to Callao with Lisset to see La Punta. We went with a friend from her work. They say Callao is too dangerous to go without Peruvians, but it didn't seem that bad while we were out. We started with a trip to the naval fortress "Real Felipe".

Front entrance

The tour was pretty interesting, although very fast pace. They had a lot of old uniforms and weapons and many busts of military leaders. The most shocking part was the jail inside the tower. Its U-Shaped and just wide enough to stand in. There are small holes on the inside wall so that guards who were seated inside the U shape could hear all that the prisoners were saying. Prisoners had to eat, sleep, and defecate while standing up. Food was put through one hole in the middle of the U. Prisoners had to eat what they could grab, if they could reach it before it was all gone. Once the smell got to much they would splash water in the cell. All of this the tour guide told us as we were inside the cell. I started to freak out.

The best part was the view from the tower. Seeing the port was beautiful. I've been to the coast of Peru, but all the huge ships and yachts were pretty amazing.

the Torre

Amazing view not done justice in this picture

Even better up close when we took a turn around the port in a small motor boat and got to see the "Humboldt" a Peruvian-Antarctic research ship.

such a crazy view!

It was mother's day, so a lot of familys were out and about. We got lunch (chaufa con mariscos), then walked along the beach picking pretty rocks. It was actually a long day and we didn't get home until 6 almost, Callao is pretty far away. But all in all i was glad i finally got to see La Punta and the pretty colonial houses that line the boardwalk.

On the Boardwalk

Parque de Aguas

On Wednesday we went to the "Park of Magic Water" in central Lima. They have a bunch of beautiful fountains and light/picture shows. It was pretty comical. Instrumental Backstreet Boy tunes with lasers and timed fountain sequences. They also projected images onto a wall of water. some of the other songs were nicer and the fountains in general made for a very pretty scene. The park is fenced off with bushes covering the outside world from sight. It was like a private oasis. The scene of the street, with its crazy buses and honking traffic was a lot different from the scene inside. It was like stepping into a bubble, and you couldn't even hear the bustle outside unless you really concentrated. It was also packed with couples, holding hands and kissing and big tour groups. That kind of ruined the ambiance just a little. Picture taking was fun though.

Near the entrance

Serena and me and the magic fountain

ofelia and serena

Eating the water!

Loving the water!

Commanding the water!

Mirador

Finally, on Thursday, Serena and I meet up with Calin and Bobbi and went to the Plaza de Armas. They hadn't made it out to the historical center yet, so we decided to show them the place. We grabbed lunch and chatted for a while, and then took a bus/tour (except her microphone went out halfway through the trip) to the mirador. Yet another cross on top of a hill. But this cross is a replica of the one Pizarro placed there when he first founded Lima.

The mirador

The view was incredible, and mind blowing. I had never realized just how FREAKING HUGE Lima really is. Sure it take forever to get to places, but theres so many districts to the South of Pueblo Libre that I didn't even know existed. You look out from the top of Cerro San Cristobol, to the back of you are mountains, but every which way you turn, you can see nothing but buildings and more buildings. No green space, just roads and roofs. I remember vaguely seeing the same scene in Seoul, but that was so long ago. Such a sprawling metrocenter...and I live in it!! And can manage my way around it! It was crazy. If it hadn't been smoggy, I'm not sure if we could have seen the coast. I felt like i was looking down on a huge, life sized maze. Which is basically what the city is. Building are put up where they fit, and the sprawl, yet clutter showed how 6 million people we able to live in the same vicinity.

Me, Bobbi, and Calin

The Massive Lima

Also...last weekend was Monica's birthday. We got a good group shot of the house, minus Serena :( Aren't we pretty though?

Lola, Cindy, Moritz, Georg

Emeline, Monica, Luz, Carolina, Laura

Life around Lima

Midterms were this week. I only had two. Both went really well I think, although i haven't gone back in my notes to check if I had the right ideas. There is no point, I will get my grades next week and then I'll know. Even though I'm sure I passed both!

This being so, my weekend started last Tuesday at noon, so needless to say I've had a lot of time on my hands. Ideally, I would have done some traveling, a 5 day weekend would be a great time to take one of the extended trips Serena and I are planning. However, Serena's experience at La PUC is a little different than mine. While I barely have any readings and two of my classes don't require that I take any notes, and one of those two doesn't require that I even come to the class. All 4 of Serena's classes demand huge stacks of readings and presentations and outlines, etc. She won't be done with her finals until sometime next week. I know my classes are easy but I still feel like my Spanish is improving immensely.

So, traveling solo was out of the picture. I decided to get to know Lima a little bit better. Wednesday I went and explored Miraflores (the ritzy, touristy part of Lima). I did a little shopping, bought a book (Cien Años de Soledad) sat in the park with a coffee and read. It was refreshing. I finally got to see El Parque de Amor, which I think is probably the most beautiful park I've ever been too. How wonderful Lima has a spot dedicated to love. And when I was there, there wasn't a single couple tackily making out on the benches!

Parque del Amor

Thursday I headed to the plaza close to the university in search of the DHL. See, I have these postcards for my friends and family that I've tried to send. Serpost, the Peruvian company is very unreliable. If I want the postcards to arrive before I return, this isnt a good option, however...that doesn't matter because the Serpost office is closed. So DHL was the other option. I spent 2 hours, asked 5 serenazgo guards and circled the perimeter of the Plaza San Miguel, and no luck. So, maybe the thought of the postcards is enough. So, Family, Grandma, Andrew, Cara, Ashley, Peter, Elizabeth, Lauren--I wrote you all postcards and letters on my badass stationary. Maybe oneday i'll find a form of shipping, but if not, just know i love you all.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that my stomach must be homesick. Yesterday for lunch I cooked myself a cheeseburger and french fries, then baked an apple pie from scratch, and while that was baking, i made fresh kimchi. It was actually cool to make the pie from scratch: the crust, the filling, and the whipped cream. As i was using the electric beater to whip the cream and sugar I finally realized "as i was whipping the cream" why they call it whip cream!! Instead of a frozen pie crust and apples out of a jar, everything was fresh, the apples crisp, and the whip cream extra sweet :)

Today, i plan on eating the Korean noodles I found at the Wong, just like the ones my mom buys in bulk. I literally squealed with excitement when i saw them at the store. But in general, I love the peruvian food here too, don't get me wrong. In Peru, there are three levels of grocery stores. The Wong has the widest selection and is the most expensive, the Metro comes next with things moderately priced, and Plaza Vea, where everything is its cheapest. I usually go to the Metro, but if you need something specific you'll have to go to the Wong. Funny though, they are all owned by the same company. Not funny actually, just typical.

I've also been expanding my music while I'm here. My roommate Moritz and I did a music exchange the other day. I am now the proud owner of many a German band. German electronic is pretty cool i must say. Also, i bought some bootleg mp3s from Huaraz, including Huyna--music typical of the sierra. The genre is pretty basic and all the singers sing in the same pitch. I thought at first it was just one popular artist, but its just the genre. Its funny actually, because their tone of voice sounds very whiney--hence huyna, but im sure there is no real link.

Well, I guess I now have a lot of recounting and catching up to do with all the places and things I've done in the past three weeks. Here goes...

The Fight

So, some of you may know, my roommate and Oklahoma friend Serena is obsessed with UFC and mixed martial arts. A couple weeks ago, we decided to go to an Inka Fight Club fight. We went with our friend Fernando (he was our Peruvian security detail) and two roommates Emeline and Carolina. The seats were pretty amazing, really close to the ring. Probably because the facility was small. We didn't actually have tickets when we arrived. This really small boy of 16 said he was fighting though, and he got 3 entrances for free. Some nice people also gave us a few tickets, so we were covered. The fighter, Benjamin, seemed fairly nice. We talked to him about fighting and if he was nervous, etc. In Breña, one of the toughest districts, they take boys off the street and teach them how to fight, so hopefully they will one day be able to make money and support themselves off of it. Or otherwise, they are just more dangerous in the streets.

Team Peru

Team Brasil

The matches were Peru v. Brasil. It consisted of mixed martial arts and Muay Thai. The fights began with junior league, which entailed Benjamin v. some other guy. To begin, little Benny didn't pound fists with his opponent and started talking smack to his opponent. Then, his opponent proceeded to kick his ass. The fight was called earlier because they were fighting dirty. After less than a round, the opponent was pronounced the winner. So he took of his face mask and did a bow, whatever. Then out of nowhere, Benjamin swings a right hook to his face. Then some other guy wants to beat up Benjamin. We were not very proud of our new friend.

Benjamin getting beat up!

The rest of the fights were interesting. Although it was more interesting to watch the people watching the fight. The entire thing was put on by the mayor of Breña. He was there with his wife, (tall, fake blonde, fake boobs, old but trying to be young, you know the type). Anyway, when things got heated in the ring, she would run up ringside and jump and scream. It was authentically hilarious. Also, they were giving away free t-shirts. You should have seen all the old men begging and repeatedly trying to get one. The fights were good, some better than others. Favorite/Creepiest part of the night...THE MAN WITH NO NOSE. Obviously is was broken in a fight, but the bandage that covered it lay completely flat against his face. Someone must have cut his nose off. The fights lasted until midnight, but they were entertaining to say the least.

Muay Thai...

has a lot of kicking

Be prepared...its NO NOSE! (see him, in the black, with the white square on his face)

Cerro Azul

The weather is getting cold here, I'm afraid to say, its actually winter. Everyday is overcast and humid as can be. The one cool thing is that the smog and pollution that coats the city reflects the light of the moon, so its never really dark here, it always looks like nightfall, even in middle of the night.

Serena, Moritz and I decided to make a quick trip to Cerro Azul before it got to cold to swim. Our roommate Georg had stayed there for two weeks before coming to Lima, and he talked about the dolphins and the sunsets and atmosphere. We headed out early Thursday and got there just in time to see the sun set. We got a nice and cheap hostel, and headed for the beach. Moritz brought his really nice camera with him so I have some great shots of the beach. We immediately started our hike towards the lighthouse.

Sunset at Cerro Azul

From there, you can see nothing but beautiful blue waves and hear the sounds of the water rushing up on the rocky shore and being filtered through the crevices of the stones. The sunset was unbelievable. We were right on the horizon line, and we watched as the sun slowly sank lower behind its ocean curtain and finally, beyond our line of sight. Its so easy to just imagine it continuing to sink, around the side of the earth and popping up on the other side, starting the day for the other side of the world.

Self timer attempt at the top of the lighthouse hill. (This picture involved us running towards my camera, which was balancing on a rock at the edge of the cliff.)

The next morning was overcast and foggy. We walked to the ruins that rest behind the city. They have never been excavated or explored, I guess Peru is drowning in such a wealth of ruins, they can't all be researched.

The ruins

The sun came out then, and it was nice to lay on the beach and get our legs wet. We also explored the pier and found a huge pelican.

Giant pelican

View from the pier

We only stayed for the afternoon, we had to make it back in time for a concert. As we were reluctantly leaving the pier, we spotted three dolphins. To my shame, we did cause a little scene, as we (meaning I) screamed "DOLPHIN!!" and then ran down the pier to keep up with them. It was pretty magical, seeing them in their natural habitat and not in a tiny Sea World tank, where people grab them to insure their kids get a touch. The dolphins swam right up to a group of surfers awaiting the waves. Then we lost them in the mix of wet suits and long boards.

Getting our feet wet

The dolphin!!

Sven Väth

That night we went to see Sven Väth in concert. Apparently a very famous german DJ. It was really fun. The Dj before Sven was actually better in my opinion. Sven is actually pretty old, but apparently high hey day in europe is not over. When he finally came on stage, we could tell it was high from his little puff of hair on top of his head, poor old guy is losing his hair. But his music was great to dance too. Half of us headed home around 4:30 or 5 in the morning, but the party went on until 10 AM. I guess thats just too hard core for me lol.

On the way home, i had a little surreal moment. Our taxi was speeding down the highway. It was nice, 4 lane and traffic free. I looked up to the right and there was a Cinemark. I looked to the left and a huge McDonald's sign was lighting up the sky. I felt like i was back in the United States. It made me sick to my stomach, thinking about being back in the industrial and commercial material world of the united states. I like taking crazy buses and walking to markets and living without air conditioning and eating whatever fruit is in season, milk that isn't enriched and doesn't have to be refrigerated. I mean i like the United States, but I'm thoroughly enjoying Peru and already thinking about the next countries I wish to experience.

Corre por el Agua 6k

Six kilometers is apparently the average distance children have to walk to get clean water. Two weeks ago, countries all over the world held a 6K run to raise money for Live Earth and their project to get more clean drinking water to children around the world.

The raise started at 9 in the morning and went around a few parks in along the coast in Miraflores. It was a really great way to get to see Lima. Also, the pre-run warmup presented by Gold's Gym was worth the entrance money in itself. It was the silliest "warm up" i have ever done. I couldn't help by laugh the entire time. Everyone took it so seriously, even the two half naked workout girls flanking the instructor. It was funny, but i didn't pull any muscles!

The route

Running along with a huge crowd of runners, 3,000 or something i think. I didn't think i would make it all 6K without stopping, i haven't really worked out in quite a while. But i did it! no walking! And I have a cool t-shit and medal to commemorate it.

This is what i looked like! and with my mandatory running shirt.

And finally...THE EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!

I had totally forgotten this happened. It was so surreal. A few weeks ago there was a 4.3 earthquake right off the coast of Lima. I woke up, thinking that i had to pee, I was about to get up and then the entire house started shaking!! I'm not sure how long it lasted, probably just a few seconds, but i was instantly awake and alert.

I wasn't scared, i wasn't really anything. I think the first tremor woke me up and therefore I was able to fully experience the second one. I didn't really register what happened, just went to use the restroom and my roommate was in the hall, freaking out. But still, its really cool to say I've felt an earthquake, at least for me, someone who doesn't live near fault lines normally.