A long blog to try to catch up
Ha! I finally gave up on trying to figure out the inner workings of my computer (and why it decided it doesn’t want to give me pictures from my camera) and I went out and bought a media card reader. I win!!!!!! First picture? My Peruvian family:
Let's see, next--I started my Spanish classes last week and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the class is easy. Perhaps a little bit too easy, but it’ll help me ease back into the life of a student. (2 hours per day—puh-lease!) “Me gusta chocolate. A mi tambien.” “No me gustan los platanos. A mi tampoco.” Yup, me gustan mis faciles clases, but I admit that I find myself wanting more of a challenge—three, four, maybe even five hours a day would be preferable. For at least one month. I just can’t seem to enjoy the idea of committing myself for more than a month at a time!
And speaking of commitment issues…mm, things are winding down with the Peruvian (he does have a name but, let’s face it, nicknames are better). Is anybody surprised? I should think not, since most of my friends have a pretty good idea of how quickly my dating life grinds into gear and just as quickly evaporates. How did I manage to start dating someone from day one? Well, that will be remedied soon enough. The main problem is that the Peruvian has turned out to be the woman in the relationship. I have seen this role reversal with so many of my friends, and never did I imagine that it would happen to me (because I have a lot of feelings and I get all emotional). So this was formerly an idea I was open to, but I have since discovered that it is a situation that I dislike. Turns out I like being the woman in a relationship! Wow. :) I should have figured this one out at the beginning, though. He gets offended and hurt over things that he really doesn’t need to. Karma is just coming back to bite me big time! I love this kind of learning, though, where I see myself reflected in another person. The growth process is more rapid and I’m able to analyze from both sides. I suppose it’s also helpful to have this “relationship” right off the bat because it makes me want to be single more than ever. It’s helpful, you know, with the whole “traveling around South America by myself for a year” thing. Anyhew, this is my very summarized version of what normally would have been discussed in carpool. Carpool girls, there’s naturally more to the story—and I’m pretty sure that I’m due for some updates on your lives, so send me some emails! :)
In my off time, I’ve decided that it would be a good idea to try to read Harry Potter in Spanish. I also just bought “The Alchemist” in Spanish because the writing is conveniently simple, yet the symbolism the book holds is very near and dear to my heart. It’s definitely one of my favorites, and I’m looking forward to being able to pass it on to friends down here. (P.S. Kalisha, I have no idea where your English version is—sorry! I think that’s the nature of the book, though, to read it and then pass on the knowledge to another searcher…) I also find myself watching the occasional Peruvian soap opera, which is a bit more explicit than the American counterpart. The acting is on the same par, though—very complicated characters.
Last weekend was Vanessa’s birthday. And you all thought my birthday was a big thing. She got five cakes. Count them, people, five. I also made my first batch of Peruvian-style chocolate chip cookies. For chocolate chips (a bag of Hershey’s chocolate chips at the store was $7+) we chopped up three big ol’ bars of Cuzqueñan chocolate--it even had Incan ruin-type designs on it. Oh yeah. And I had myself quite a debacle on figuring out what baking soda is. First, I went to the grocery store with a Peruvian friend, and ended up buying “polvo de hornear” because that’s all I could find and I figured, “Huh, this must be baking soda.” I went home, got online and discovered that “polvo de hornear” translates quite precisely to “powder for baking”. Yes, I needed powder for baking—but of the soda variety. I read on and found out that baking soda is, in fact, soda de bicarbonato. My Peruvian friend thought she had an idea of what it was, and suggested that we go to a pharmacy. Alas, it was not to be found at the pharmacy. I took a break from the search for a few days, but then the day of baking commenced, so I gathered my bearings and marched myself back to the grocery store where I was sure I must be able to find this apparently rare ingredient. I searched, yet again, amongst the baking powder, gelatin and flan (which, by the way, here in Peru is basically opaque gelatin) without success. I asked one of the employees at the store for help. She couldn’t find it. I finally decided to read through every single label on the shelves in my targeted area and see if I couldn’t find “soda de bicarbonato”. And there, at long last, hidden behind a few rows of sprinkles, I found my beloved baking soda. A special batch of cookies they turned out to be. Um, lacking the kitchen utensils for measurements, I managed to not add enough flour. The cookies turned out to be the flattest cookies I’ve ever made in my life! Everyone was really nice, and said my cookies were “tan rico” (very rich) and the like, but they were really just being polite. I am determined to make a better batch soon. Stay tuned. Please see aforementioned cookies in the picture below. Also, please note that we just woke Vanessa up and she's not exactly "primped" for the picture!
Other than that…The family dog has started molesting my leg—I never figured I would have to fend for the virginity of my leg, but there that is. Who knew? I swear, it’s like that scene out of Garden State, except instead of just sitting there like Zach Braff, I end up running away screaming and laughing, because it’s both incredibly mortifying and comical for the dog to think that I’m his girlfriend. (Red face, red face…and then everyone had to keep talking about it, didn’t they? A continuous state of blushing…curses!)
Oh, and I’ve decided that there are three topics I’d like to cover in each blog: new sweets I’ve tried (dulces), new things I’ve seen/done (I’ll come up with a handy title here soon, but in an effort to speed things up, I’m going to leave that vague for now) and things I have a new appreciation for.
Dulces:
I try at least two (usually three or four) new kinds of cookies each week. Noteworthy of late, are:
Items I have a newfound appreciation for:
That’ll do for now, I’m pretty sure I’ve written a novel by now. I’ll try to be better about the blogging, I promise. :)
Let's see, next--I started my Spanish classes last week and was pleasantly surprised to find out that the class is easy. Perhaps a little bit too easy, but it’ll help me ease back into the life of a student. (2 hours per day—puh-lease!) “Me gusta chocolate. A mi tambien.” “No me gustan los platanos. A mi tampoco.” Yup, me gustan mis faciles clases, but I admit that I find myself wanting more of a challenge—three, four, maybe even five hours a day would be preferable. For at least one month. I just can’t seem to enjoy the idea of committing myself for more than a month at a time!
And speaking of commitment issues…mm, things are winding down with the Peruvian (he does have a name but, let’s face it, nicknames are better). Is anybody surprised? I should think not, since most of my friends have a pretty good idea of how quickly my dating life grinds into gear and just as quickly evaporates. How did I manage to start dating someone from day one? Well, that will be remedied soon enough. The main problem is that the Peruvian has turned out to be the woman in the relationship. I have seen this role reversal with so many of my friends, and never did I imagine that it would happen to me (because I have a lot of feelings and I get all emotional). So this was formerly an idea I was open to, but I have since discovered that it is a situation that I dislike. Turns out I like being the woman in a relationship! Wow. :) I should have figured this one out at the beginning, though. He gets offended and hurt over things that he really doesn’t need to. Karma is just coming back to bite me big time! I love this kind of learning, though, where I see myself reflected in another person. The growth process is more rapid and I’m able to analyze from both sides. I suppose it’s also helpful to have this “relationship” right off the bat because it makes me want to be single more than ever. It’s helpful, you know, with the whole “traveling around South America by myself for a year” thing. Anyhew, this is my very summarized version of what normally would have been discussed in carpool. Carpool girls, there’s naturally more to the story—and I’m pretty sure that I’m due for some updates on your lives, so send me some emails! :)
In my off time, I’ve decided that it would be a good idea to try to read Harry Potter in Spanish. I also just bought “The Alchemist” in Spanish because the writing is conveniently simple, yet the symbolism the book holds is very near and dear to my heart. It’s definitely one of my favorites, and I’m looking forward to being able to pass it on to friends down here. (P.S. Kalisha, I have no idea where your English version is—sorry! I think that’s the nature of the book, though, to read it and then pass on the knowledge to another searcher…) I also find myself watching the occasional Peruvian soap opera, which is a bit more explicit than the American counterpart. The acting is on the same par, though—very complicated characters.
Last weekend was Vanessa’s birthday. And you all thought my birthday was a big thing. She got five cakes. Count them, people, five. I also made my first batch of Peruvian-style chocolate chip cookies. For chocolate chips (a bag of Hershey’s chocolate chips at the store was $7+) we chopped up three big ol’ bars of Cuzqueñan chocolate--it even had Incan ruin-type designs on it. Oh yeah. And I had myself quite a debacle on figuring out what baking soda is. First, I went to the grocery store with a Peruvian friend, and ended up buying “polvo de hornear” because that’s all I could find and I figured, “Huh, this must be baking soda.” I went home, got online and discovered that “polvo de hornear” translates quite precisely to “powder for baking”. Yes, I needed powder for baking—but of the soda variety. I read on and found out that baking soda is, in fact, soda de bicarbonato. My Peruvian friend thought she had an idea of what it was, and suggested that we go to a pharmacy. Alas, it was not to be found at the pharmacy. I took a break from the search for a few days, but then the day of baking commenced, so I gathered my bearings and marched myself back to the grocery store where I was sure I must be able to find this apparently rare ingredient. I searched, yet again, amongst the baking powder, gelatin and flan (which, by the way, here in Peru is basically opaque gelatin) without success. I asked one of the employees at the store for help. She couldn’t find it. I finally decided to read through every single label on the shelves in my targeted area and see if I couldn’t find “soda de bicarbonato”. And there, at long last, hidden behind a few rows of sprinkles, I found my beloved baking soda. A special batch of cookies they turned out to be. Um, lacking the kitchen utensils for measurements, I managed to not add enough flour. The cookies turned out to be the flattest cookies I’ve ever made in my life! Everyone was really nice, and said my cookies were “tan rico” (very rich) and the like, but they were really just being polite. I am determined to make a better batch soon. Stay tuned. Please see aforementioned cookies in the picture below. Also, please note that we just woke Vanessa up and she's not exactly "primped" for the picture!
Other than that…The family dog has started molesting my leg—I never figured I would have to fend for the virginity of my leg, but there that is. Who knew? I swear, it’s like that scene out of Garden State, except instead of just sitting there like Zach Braff, I end up running away screaming and laughing, because it’s both incredibly mortifying and comical for the dog to think that I’m his girlfriend. (Red face, red face…and then everyone had to keep talking about it, didn’t they? A continuous state of blushing…curses!)
Oh, and I’ve decided that there are three topics I’d like to cover in each blog: new sweets I’ve tried (dulces), new things I’ve seen/done (I’ll come up with a handy title here soon, but in an effort to speed things up, I’m going to leave that vague for now) and things I have a new appreciation for.
Dulces:
I try at least two (usually three or four) new kinds of cookies each week. Noteworthy of late, are:
- Chocolate-covered saltine crackers. This still strikes me as being a bit strange, even after trying them and finding them to be completely enjoyable. I’ve also justified it by comparing it to chocolate-covered pretzels. Same thing, right? Yeah, it still weirds me out. And I still eat them…
- Alfajores. They are little sandwich cookies that are super sugary and delightful. The two cookies are kind of like sugar cookies, except softer and so much better. And the filling is somewhere between frosting and the filling inside of cake—and yet again, so much better.
- Picaroos. I’m pretty sure that’s the right spelling, but they’re little circle cookies that look like mini doughnuts but they taste like coconut cookies. They’re ¾ covered in chocolate, and they’re one of my favorites. However, I’m not limiting, and I’m continuing to explore the new cookie frontier.
Other desserts:
- Lucuma torta. Lucuma is a fruit that, I am told, is totally Peruvian and doesn’t grow anywhere else. I haven’t actually had the fruit itself. (Surprise, surprise.) But thanks to Vanessa, I have tried Lucuma cake and I have found it to be pretty darn delightful. Maybe I’ll get around to trying the fruit, too. Maybe.
- Mazzamora. This is a sweet, liquidy confection, but I can’t remember if it’s made from blackberries or black maize. The first time I tried it, it was with arroz con leche, and they complimented each other pretty well. But the other day, I had a straight-up bowl of mazzamora. Do you remember the party of the new Willy Wonka movie where Willy Wonka is in the jungle with the oompa loompas and they give him a bowl of mashed up bugs? It’s all green and drippy gooey and he sticks his finger in it, wiggles some of the slime around his finger then slurps it down. Yeah, my experience with mazzamora yesterday was kind of like that. It’s in between a jello and liquid state, not quite one or the other. Though I’ve never eaten slugs, I imagine their consistency would be somewhat the same. Unfortunately that’s what I was thinking while I was eating it, too, and I don’t know about you but I don’t particularly want to be thinking about slugs while I’m eating. I finished a few bites and passed it on. :)
- Cheesecake. I gave in and decided to try some cheesecake, because every time I go into the grocery store, there it is, sitting there taunting me. I can happily say that it will taunt me no more because now I know that it tastes a bit more like a marshmallow than cheesecake. Or pie, rather.
As you all know, more sweets will follow but I think that’s a good run down for now.
Things I’ve seen/done:
- Museo Larco. This is a museum here in Lima that has a pretty extensive collection of ceramics. What is particularly interesting about this museum is that they have a collection of pre-Columbian erotic pottery which is severely explicit. I’m going to have those posted in my Picasa so you can take a gander if you’re interested. I found it to be pretty amusing, myself. The picture below is a safe one--don't say I didn't warn you!
- San Francisco Catacombs. I’d never been to any catacombs before, and I think these ones are probably the most famous ones in Peru. Our guide said there were over 25,000 people buried there, and they actually still bury monks there to this day. (Julian, our guide, said that they had buried a monk there just last year. About a week afterward, though, he said it smelled absolutely horrible and the monks were walking around with cans of air freshener. I’m glad he told us that after we left the catacombs.) The creepiest part of the tour was walking through the tiny archways, into that cramped space and imagining an earthquake striking while we're down there. Oye! And onto less morbid topics, there was a library with a very antiquated library with books that weighed 20 kilos each with pages made of leather. A few other noteworthy parts of the tour were some of the pieces of art the church has on its walls. There were quite a number of Rubens paintings there, which caught me off guard. But my favorite part of the tour? A picture of St. Francis licking the sores of a leper in an effort to cure him. Random. (No pictures allowed!)
Items I have a newfound appreciation for:- Toilet seats. I never fully appreciated the luxury of a toilet seat or even a lid for that matter. Not to mention a shower curtain, or having the toilet AND the shower in the same room (my bathroom is my sanctuary, it’s just one of those things).
- Dryers. While traveling in other countries, I’ve truly enjoyed having my clothes dried by clothesline—they smell so much fresher that way. But here in Lima, it’s cold and humid and it takes days for clothes to dry. And I must say, it’s interesting to have my underwear hanging up out in the wind for everyone in the house to see. I definitely brought a bunch of Jill underwear with me, and these people must be wondering what is up with my incredibly stylish choice of undies. (Anyone who came to my birthday party this year knows… Who doesn’t love polka dots and big pink bows on their delicates? Just wait, Jill, I am roaming this continent for some new rivals.)
That’ll do for now, I’m pretty sure I’ve written a novel by now. I’ll try to be better about the blogging, I promise. :)
Comments
Jentell