Chicken

‘Pollo a la olla’ is finger licking good. 

Talked with my students about my return to the states in 3 months and they asked me what I was going to miss the most. Without a doubt: Peruvian cuisine. 

‘Seco de Res’ - a typical Peruvian plate found in 90% of Menus here in Arequipa

Fried fish. Do I know what kind? No. Is it tasty? Yes. 

Nothing like Hot Dong followed with a hot cup of Gafe. Oh Arequipa…

‘Salpicón de pollo’ is delicious. It’s basically like chicken salad accompanied with rice (of course) but it’s got quite an interesting spice to it, along with carrots, peas, and onions. 

Told my students I had bought Nutella the other day and one of them told me that before 2010, Peru didn’t sell it. So during a trip to Canada, he bought 10 containers of Nutella and sold them in peru for about $40 a piece. What an entrepreneur. 

You my boy blue! These are the old guys I eat lunch with. They flirt with the waitress, then ask to watch soccer while we eat and then wink at me as if saying, “That’s how it’s done sonny boy”, as the waitress finds us a match. 

DElicious Menu I ate at today. Stuck with a personal favorite and ordered ‘Matasquita’ which is chunks of potatoes & carne in a beef sauce and as usual, comes with white rice.

Finally bought the Peruvian national soccer jersey, which is a bit ironic since I bet against Peru at every opportunity. Call me a hater but it’s paying off. And on that note, let’s go Uruguay! 

This is the breakfast menu of a ‘quaint’ little place I eat at on Saturdays on my way to class. I usually get a big glass of maca and 2 egg and bread sandwiches. The whole thing costs $1. 

As I continue to study for the GRE, the one thing that seems to stick in my head is this quote: “What the GRE really measures is how well you take the GRE”. Ahh the joy of standardized testing. 

Some grub at the local Menu: Rice, potato, and carne topped off with some spicy ají

Convinced my landlord to hire me instead of a painter and knocked S/. 30 off my rent for 20 minutes of work. Although coming to the S/. 30 agreement took a good 10 minutes of arguing, she finally settled and said I bartered like a Peruvian. I took it as a complement. Since I have a week off and thus no income, it’s time to teach these Peruvians how to play poker. 

The sky this morning at 6:30am caught my attention and I thought “I’m sure this is exactly what Tumblr wants to see!”

Lunch today was called ‘Pallar con bistek’. I end up going to the same place for lunch because I like their 'ají’ which is a type of salsa and the one at this particular Menu is super spicy. Nothing quite like Sriracha, but it’ll suffice.

Had a Peruvian TEFL student teach my class today for practice and realized that teaching ESL is definitely not for everyone. Call me crazy but if you’re going to review vocabulary, it might help to know the definitions before hand. At some point you’ve gotta draw the line between practice makes perfect and common sense.   

Lunch in Peru

A combi showing a little Che Guevara pride. This is what I ate for lunch today, it was basically beans, meat, potatoes, onions, with rice and a slice of tomato. Amazing flavor despite it’s simplicity. Also the options for lunch at a Menu 2 blocks from my house. 

Had potato, yuca, rice, and beef soup today called ‘Caldo blanco’ followed by 'Matasquita’ which was delicious and as usual, cheap. If you ever go to Peru and don’t try a Menu, then you’ll forever remain an ignorant tourist. Oh I’m sorry Americans, a Menu is a super cheap ($2) restaurant where you get soup, a choice between 3 entrees, and a giant pitcher of juice. I choose which Menu to eat at based upon which has more locals packed into it. Which is also a good rule to follow in general, when in doubt, do as the locals do. 

Moved into my new place today and planning on cooking a feast for dinner. Nothing like trashing the kitchen after you spend all afternoon cleaning it. And as much as I’d like to make sure the patch job on the roof works, I could do without the rain.