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...