Sunday, August 16, 2009
Here's what we've been up to outside of school....
Saturday, August 8- We went to our first movie in Peru - The Proposal. We arrived about 10 minutes before the film, but should have been earlier. We learned that people start to queue up outside the theatre 20 or 30 minutes before a film begins. We got in the back of a very long line and sat quite near the front of the theatre. Ah well! It was a fun movie, and like many movies, was subtitled in Spanish. Makes it convenient for us!
Monday, August 10 - school and a quick drop-in at Casa Hacienda Moreyra in our district that has been converted into an impressive bar and restaurant. The decor is often original...here is a bit more about our district, and you can see a bit about Huaca Haullamarca, an ancient pre-Incan ruin we wandered over to see recently. http://www.sanisidrolima.com/distrito/atractivos-turisticos/
Tuesday, August 11- school then came home to a dinner of aji gallina - a Peruvian dish of hot pepper and chicken served over rice.
Wednesday, August 12 - school followed by a long conversation about our respective days as we gazed out over the golf course below our window and enjoyed a glass of wine.
Thursday, August 13- school and a fine dining experience at Panchita (one of the famed “Gaston” restaurants of Peru) with new friends. The steaks were so tender and the conversation never stopped. We are looking forward to making this a Thursday night tradition.
Friday, August 14- tour of the commissary at the American embassy where we can shop for some American items if we choose, followed by a party at the home of other newcomers to Peru. It is so fun to see what everyone’s house/apartment looks like!
Saturday, August 15- Starbucks for a coffee and a short 20 minutes of internet before running off for two hours in a pottery class. I am so happy to be reunited with clay, but will still check into options at the school since it would be more convenient!
I met friends after that for lunch at another Gaston restaurant. We then wandered over to a shoe shopping experience like no other. The six of us walked into an immaculate three-room store, and left a shop strewn all about with shoes, boots and handbags of all shapes, colors and sizes. I surprisingly found a pair “off-the-shelf’ but because several of us have feet larger than the normal sizes in Peru, many pairs of shoes were custom-ordered that day. More often than not, I will have to custom order shoes. How awful for me! Next on my list - a pair of tall, black boots. Can’t wait to get that order in!!
After shopping, we met friends for an amazing steak and risotto dinner, then six of us wound up at one apartment talking for a few hours. Two things happened that stick in my mind. The first was that there was an incredibly large and (in my opinion) hideous spider nestled in a corner of the ceiling. I left and they disposed of the monster - Joe threw it out the window. We all crowded around the computer as we compared it (and found quite a disturbing similarity) to a brown recluse spider. Yuck!! Then, while we were online and on the topic of horribly poisonous creatures, Reid shared a blog of a trip he took to some ruins and villages in Panama, where he encountered a fer de lans. This is not a snake you want to mess with…and luckily, I doubt we will encounter any here in Lima. It was a fun night and we have met so many great people!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
We had another incredible membership dining experience. Peru has opened her doors in such surprising ways through the kindness of some wonderful co-workers and their spouses. So far, without exception, the people of Peru are very kind and helpful. When I can, I am trying to use my limited Spanish so I can learn more. This means that any taxi driver I happen upon becomes a great source for practicing Spanish, and each time we go somewhere I learn a bit more. It’s really fascinating to watch myself as I learn a new language. One or two words or patterns a day emerge as I use the language and compare it to English or Japanese. I don’t think Spencer is quite as interested in this language acquisition process as I am, but we are both growing our vocabulary bit by bit.
     This morning, we woke without having much on our agenda, but were invited to join in a barbecue at the Lima Cricket Club. Things shifted, and instead we ended up at the Lima Golf Club. This is the club we overlook each day in our apartment, and have often observed as we eat or sit in the living room. To have the chance to wander inside was fun. We gazed up at our apartment from our patio lunch spot and decided that it would be quite easy to see people in our apartment from where we sat. Always good to know! The kids in our little group shimmied their skinny bodies under a gate that opened up to a mini soccer pitch and play area in the kids zone. While they played, we sat by the pool with pisco sours (a drink that was “invented” by an American who was searching in vain for a whiskey sour), sharing and enjoying each other’s stories. I could learn to really love it here - this is not a bad life and I think we are learning to respect the strength of the pisco sour!

picture is from - http://www.mincetur.gob.pe/TURISMO/OTROS/webcocina/pisco_sour.htm