Spanglish

We went to lunch with Alfredo one of the first days we were in Lima. He took us to a little cafe near the office, and we're just making small talk - letting him practice his English skills and trying to learn a little Spanish of our own (Megan is REALLY good. Me - I'm a little slower). So he's giving us some ideas of what to do on the weekends and where to go, and then he tells us about a place on the beach about 4 hours away by car where you can hang out with the "sea wolves". You can feed the sea wolves, SWIM with the sea wolves... and we're all thinking - what the heck are sea wolves??? So finally I asked Alfredo what these mysterious sea wolves were, and he's like "you know... the sea wolves. They are large, sort of like um... how do you say... seals?" and we're like OHHHHHHH sea LIONS?? "Si! sea LIONS". jajaja (as Peruvians and Alfredo would say) :)

Oh Boy

Soooooooo - we went to a Japanese place for lunch on Monday. Megan and I split a bento box, Matt and Wade got chicken teriyaki, Linda got shrimp, and Cynthia (one of the contractors from Peru) had salmon sushi. That night we tried yet ANOTHER suggestion from Cezar that was amazing - 3 for 3!. La Carretta steakhouse was out of this world and we all loved it. Then Tuesday morning we wake up and Matt and Wade had been up sick since 2am. Megan, Linda, and I were visiting a plant site that morning and we just assumed Matt and Wade had upset stomachs and that it was something that didn't agree with them, but that they would be ok soon and Imodium would solve the problem. So we go to the plant, Carlos and Juan Carlos give us a tour, and Alfredo, our main contact for the audit, calls Carlos to tell him that Wade and Matt are in the "clinic" (hospital/emergency room). So we're like whaaat? Alfredo had called Matt and picked them up to take them to the hospital, not taking no for an answer. Apparently they both barely made it downstairs without getting sick or passing out (they were really really sick!). The dr.'s gave them both IVs and meds and they were there for about 6 hours - Alfredo stayed almost the entire time. After the site tour, we went to the hospital to check on them (they were pitiful! I'm so glad it wasn't me!!!) and Megan stayed with them and worked from there the rest of the day as well. The clinic let them leave later that night with intense antibiotics and other stuff, and they both were out of commission Wednesday too. We narrowed it down to the chicken teriyaki, since we all shared food on Monday night (everyone tried a bit of each other's plates - some of the steaks were really different and interesting, but all good of course) :) Have we had a bad meal yet? Actually... ha obviously the chicken teriyaki. Of all things!

Traffic

Ahhh the trrraffic of Lima! (to be said with a Spanish accent and rolled rrrr). Peru has stop signs and road markings like any big city. HOWEVER. Drivers run stop signs like they're not even there and the MAY flash their brights through intersections to signal that they're coming through (so other cars actually stop). They create 5-6 lanes on a 2 lane road. They'll drive on sidewalks to pass the car in front of them. Linda made a great observation in saying it's like playing chicken - who's gonna give in first? They do adhere to stop lights surprisingly, but that's about it. It's really insane!

First weekend

Friday night we went to Brujas de Cachichi (brujas means witch) for dinner(http://www.brujasdecachiche.com.pe/index2.htm) and tried an appetizer plate with typical Peruvian dishes like beef heart (which basically tastes like beef), ricotto rilleno (chili pepper stuffed with sausage with cheese melted on top), and these little potato donuts - some were bigger and also had meat inside and were extra delicious. There was a bunch of other stuff but that's what stuck out. Afterwards, we went upstairs to the bar there that almost everyone (it seems like) has recommended. It was a really cool place and we just sat and had a few (maybe more than a few) drinks and headed back to the hotel. We checked out the casino at our hotel for a few minutes, but it was no fun. There are casinos everywhere in Lima! Most named after American cities. Megan at least won 30 soles so it wasn't a total loss!



Saturday we woke up late and decided to try a place near our hotel for lunch. Megan found a "fast food" chicken restaurant called Pardos in her guidebook (she LIVES by the guidebook haha). We were hoping it would be the Peruvian version of Bojangles... not so much. It smelled like a chicken coop. We ordered "fried chicken pieces with fries" which is basically exactly what it says - chunks of chicken, white and dark meat, fried. It wasn't terrible, but the smell almost made me vomit so we left in a hurry. None of us have felt sick yet (knock on wood) so I guess the food was safe!


There happens to be the only sports bar in Lima that plays American football (according to the old American drunk there) right around the corner from our hotel. We were reeeeeally excited about this find, so Saturday after we ate we went there to watch the UT vs. Bama game (Megan's husband and Matt went to Tennessee so they're both big fans). We had a few Cusquena cervezas (beer of Peru - we all LOVE cusquena and are trying to figure out a way to bring it home with us). We each bought t-shirts, came back to the hotel to change, and went to the Magic Circuit of Water (http://www.enlima.com/lima/en-parque-de-la-reserva-circuito-magico-del-agua.html). It's basically a bunch of fountains and the water moves/sprays to light and music (think of the Bellagio on a much less grandiose scale). It was kinda cool, but we didn't stay too long. If you see one dancing water fountain with lights, you've seen 'em all, ya know? :) We quickly walked around the park to see all the fountains, then had our taxi driver take us to Barranca.



We planned to go to a trattoria (Italian restaurant), but we saw this really interesting place across the street so we decided to check it out. It happened to be a bar that someone we're working with recommended - Ayahausca bar (http://www.ayahuascabar.com/). It's such a cool place with lots of funky decor - crazy mixed chairs and tables, sculptures, frames with no pictures...very eclectic and fun. We got a few appetizers and a bottle of vino. We had empanadas (I'm obsessed with these), some sort of pizza, and mini egg rolls. We've had empanadas a few times since we've been in Lima and they're awesome. Beef are my favorite - some places put olives and hard boiled egg with the beef ones and serve with limes (possibly key limes) to squeeze on top. They're muy bueno! We were pretty tired from Friday night, so we made it an early night and came back to the hotel.



Linda and Wade arrived on Sunday (late Sunday night) and we all went to a cafe near the hotel for brunch. We each got tortilla espanolas and coffee - oh my gosh I can't believe I haven't talked about the coffee! It's reeeaaalllyy good - a highlight of each day here. The cream that they serve with it is really rich and different - it's almost sweeter and fresher/purer than in America. Not sure how to explain but it's really really good (the ice cream is similar and equally great). Then we went to the Inka market to shop for cheap touristy souvenirs that we don't really need, but we definitely bought our fair share of t-shirts, knick knacks and such. They sell a lot of silver but no one bought any jewelry. I bought a few gifts for people which I'm sure aren't the highest quality, but it's all fun. When am I going to come back to Peru, ya know?

Sunday night we had dinner at Rosa Nautica on the water, basically a super seafood restaurant. Everyone ordered the tasting menu and we tried four of everything - apps, entrees, and desserts. Most of our group didn't like the food that much, but I thought it was pretty good. Everything was really different and unlike anything I've had before and I think it's always fun to try new stuff. Dinner was pretty uneventful minus the crazy food (and black scallop ceviche), then we turned in early.

Overall great weekend!

Hola from Lima!

Can't believe we're finally here. I was really nervous to come but am SO glad I made the trip. Lima is awesome so far, never thought it would have so much to offer. We're staying in the Mira Flores district and working in San Isidro. The hotel is very nice and there are a lot of places to eat and little shops close by.


Mostly we take hotel taxis everywhere. In Lima, mostly anyone can put a taxi sign on their car and act as a cab. We're told that if we take a street taxi they will see our faces and realize we're American then take us God knows where. For work, we have a driver (Cezar) that picks us up in the morning and drives us home every night. He speaks zero point zero englais and at first it was REALLY difficult to communicate with him. We're finally a little more comfortable because we've learned a few Spanish words, but it's still like playing charades. He is sooo super nice though. He took us to two restaurants this week that he recommended and they've both been out of this world. Probably my two favorite restaurants we've eaten at so far. Speaking of food...

I feel like all we do is work and eat. We go in at 8am, leave around 6:30-7, go to dinner for 2-3 hours and go to bed. Going out to eat takes forever! Lunches have lasted about 1.5-2.5 as well. It seems to be typical of the culture here - Peruvians are not in any type of rush except for when they're driving. It also takes us a while to figure out what we want to order, since we can't read Spanish menus and aren't familiar with most of the dishes. Most of the restaurants we've been to do have English menus or translations under each dish which always helps. Chinese food (Chifa) is very popular here which is sort of random, but everyone always suggests Chifa. We tried Restuarante Royal (http://www.restauranteroyal.com/) early the first week and it was pretty good, but similar to American chinese. We've also tried a few Italian restaurants: San Ceferino http://www.restaurantsanceferino.com/ and La Trattoria di Mambrino (Cezar's suggestion). We had an amazing wine at San Ceferino (Septima Malbec) and the desserts (Tres Leches cake) were memorable. But La Trattoria - I had the four cheese Gnocchi that was one of the best things I've ever had. It literally melted in your mouth. Matt had pizza with Argentinian beef that was super tender and also delicioso. Megan's cheese pizza was great too. Then they served us these tiny chocolates after dinner that were out of control good.

The other place Cezar suggested was Segundo Muelle, a ceviche restaurant, so he took us there for lunch one day. Megan and I tried the ceviche mixto that had shrimp, octopus, some sort of white fish, and a few other seafood mystery items - but it was reeeeally really good. They served cold corn with it, but the corn kernels are like 10 times the size of one American corn kernel. They're huge! But really sweet and yummy. A lot of restaurants also have causa, which is like a layer of mashed potatoes, chicken or fish, and another layer of mashed potatoes. The potatoes are bright yellow so it looks interesting, but it's really good. It's also served cold. We've tried the causa a a few places now, but it was the best at Segundo Muelle.

We've also been indulging the drink here as well :) Peru's signature drink is the Pisco Sour. Pisco is a liquor made from grapes and they say is similar to brandy. Pisco Sours taste sort of like margaritas, but they're really good. The Algarrobina is another signature made with milk and egg whites. Cuesqena is Peruvian beer and we're all very big fans of that. Inka Cola is another claim to fame - it's like a yellowish cola that (I think) tastes like bubble gum. Apparently one bottle of the regular is like 500 calories. The first day we went to a place in the shopping center that's close to our hotel, and everyone was drinking these dark purple drinks. So we inquired and it's called a chicha morada (English translation = purple corn juice). It's very different and sweet but pretty good. I've had it a few times at different places and it's grown on me. Most restaurants also have really great juices (jugos) that are all freshly squeezed and mixed together.

We're having a great time in Peru and the experience has been awesome so far! It's so cool come here for work vs. vacation because it's been such a different experience. We have people to go to lunch with us and really explain about the culture or give us restaurant/bar/discoteca ideas. But I do miss my boys (Ryan and Jesper) so so much. Alrighty, signing off...