Gym Decorations

The 70 year old owner at the gym almost died trying to get these decorations up around the place. He was carefully balancing on a ladder while cursing loudly in Spanish because the tape wouldn’t hold, all of which was much to my amusement. For some reason, I can’t help but think that these decorations seem highly inappropriate located next to half naked men. 

Say Cheese

Because smiling like a normal person is boring. 

Forum

This was taken at Forum for my friend’s birthday party. Peruvians sure do know how to get down. 

Cristal

It’s an odd thing, coming from a country with choices to a country with substantially ‘less’ choices. American grocery stores have, for the most part, upwards of 20-30 different types of beer to choose from. Arequipa, not so much. First, don’t even think about a 'walk-in cooler’. Where do you think you are? Second, there are about 7 Peruvian beers and an 'import’ section, which consists of Corona, Heineken, and MGD. At this point, I no longer get excited when buying beer, thinking, “Oh, I wonder if Blue Moon has their Winter Abbey out yet”. My thought process nowadays is, “What’s the cheapest beer in the fridge?”.  But I’ll be damned if there aren’t 50 different types of Pisco available. Priorities Peru, priorities. 

And because I’m classy, the 'I heart boobies’ bracelet was a present for my friend Daniela’s birthday. She was ecstatic. 

Locro Criollo

I don’t care what anyone says, ‘Locro criollo’ is delicious

Christmas Tree

Christmas tree at my English school. Everyday in December so far has been overcast and sprinkled rain. Let the holidays begin. 

And so it begins...

First rain in Arequipa since March. After having spent 4 years in college in Washington State, it’s a welcoming site. 

My classroom dynamic has drastically changed after a 46 year old engineer enrolled in my class of 20 year olds. He is all business, which means I will have to keep the slang to a minimum. I’m sure he isn’t too interested in learning words like, “Stoked” and “What’s crack-a-lacken?" 

Oh look, a gringo!

Got invited to a birthday party last night and I accepted, thinking it would be at most 20 people. Nope. There was a dj, lights, fog machine, full free bar, couch areas in the backyard and more food than was necessary. Of course, I was the only ‘gringo’ which means that everyone and their mom wanted to speak their broken English with me. So I politely put up with 5 minute stories that could have been explained in a sentence, then courteously asked if we could continue the conversation in Spanish. 

This happens quite frequently and the worst offenders are the taxi drivers. This is how most of my taxi rides go. 
“Where you from gringo?”

“States dude”

“Oh you speak Inglish?”

“Ah, once in awhile”

“Oh me too, mira: One, too, tree, foooor, five!!” Then they start laughing

“Wow, impressive” And then I just start babbling in English until they look confused enough to stop talking. Never fails. 

Graffiti Proposal

“I love you Maricita, marry me”

Now here’s a guy who’s keeping it classy! (Imagine John Madden’s voice)

For lunch I had fried calamari, french fries, rice and a salad for a whopping total of $2.20. Peru is fantastic. 

Sticklers...

Money. Peruvians have a trust issue with money. Every time I pay, regardless of the bill size, they inspect it as if it were a rare diamond, searching for any and all imperfections. Oh, but don’t worry, the minuscule tear has been taped up. “WE CAN’T ACCEPT IT”.  I recently tried to pay a taxi driver with a S/. 5 coin and turns out, it was fake. A fake S/. 5 coin, who would go to all that trouble? At this point, I am used to this lack of trust and while the cashier is examining my bill I like to say, “It’s fake, pretty good job eh?” To which they give me a, “That’s not funny” look and hastily give me my change. 

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. 

Fruit

As I browse through the fruit section of grocery stores in Arequipa, I am continually amazed at the wide variety of fruits and vegetables available here. Although America has fruit available year round because of ‘modifications’, I prefer the Peruvian fruits and veggies more. 

Although the name is written on these packages, I still have no idea what they are nor what they taste like. Just thought they looked interesting. Speaking of which, I ate a tiny orange banana yesterday that one of my students gave me, saying it was from 'la selva’. Thanks Olenka!

Fujiratas

From what I understand, ‘Fujiratas’ are those who support former Peruvian president, Alberto Fujimori. He was quite the controversial political leader. He stabilized the Peruvian economy, but was then sentenced to 25 years in prison for corruption and human rights crimes. Well you win some and lose some I suppose. 

Fried Fish

Peruvian ‘Pescado frito’ will always be a favorite of mine. 

Rehab

For those of you who don’t speak spanish, ideally located right next to each other (run by the same nuns) are a drug/alcohol rehab center (Project: I want to live) and a children’s daycare. I can understand trying to hit 2 birds with 1 stone, but this is a bit much. 

Peruvian Thanksgiving

The Peruvian Thanksgiving spread.

Arroz Con Pollo

I know what you’re thinking and no, that’s not turkey. Unfortunately, finding a turkey has proved to be a non-successful endeavor. Although ‘Arroz con Pollo’ was delicious. Already celebrated a Thanksgiving breakfast at 7am with my first class and am looking forward to my next 2 'potluck fiestas’ this evening. Bought wine for my neighbors, so hopefully they can forgive me for 'playing’ my guitar at all hours of the night. Whipped out my tie for the first time since being here and sure enough, it’s causing more stares than usual. Nothing like Thanksgiving in a 65 degree, Spanish speaking country.

Lay's

Maybe it was one of those things where if you brand your car, you get Lays for life. 

Yesterday was some sort of religious holiday and the street vendors come flocking ‘en mancha’. They sell pictures of different saints, rosaries, bracelets, incense, you name it, all adorned with a cross or a picture of baby Jesus. I steered away from that aspect and found me some churros before class. 

Spanglish?

For as proud a people as Peruvians are, they certainly use a lot of English in their everyday speech. Here’s the list:

1. Twist off - For bottles

2. Full - As in ‘lleno’ or a lot of something

3. Trailer - For movies

4. Crazy - Loco

5. Hello - Usually when answering the phone

6. Brother - What happened to 'hermano’?

7. Watch-i-man - Name used for a guard or a 'watchman’

8. Gay

9. Spoiler - Telling someone about a movie

10. Laptop

11. Fan - Aficionado

When I need to ask for an American brand name item, I find myself having to use a Spanish accent. Such as Facebook, Twitter, Coca Cola, names of bars (Frogs, Wild Rover), names of US states, and names of sport equipment (Nike is pronounced like 'mike’). Living abroad has never been so linguistically interesting.