La ciudad de los niños

In addition to the spanish course I am enrolled in at la Universidad del Pacífico, I volunteer with Fundades at la ciudad de los niños. La ciudad de los niños is located in San Juan de Miraflores, dos districtos south of where I live and serves as a city within a city for the boys. Within the city there is a farm with chickens and pigs, as well as various crops. There are also different tallers (workshops) where the boys can learn trades, such as carpentry, mechanics, and tailoring. There are about 10 pabellones (pavilions), which serve as the houses for the boys - distinguished by age. Located right next to la ciudad is a school, kinder a escuela secundaria, which the 300+ boys from la ciudad and girls from the local area attend.
Currently, I am working with Mason, a fellow DR SCS student, and the Psychology department to assist boys who are having trouble inside the classroom. In the coming weeks, I will be leading a taller ambiental (environmental workshop) with each of the pabellones. The workshops will be focused on natural resource management, biodiversity, and pollution... all in SPANISH. (Remember: I have been speaking gringo castellano to survive. Though, with help from pisco, I have been doing fine.)

Yesterday, I Americanized some of the boys and taught them how to play "Pato, pato, ¡ganso!" You know a game is good when all of them (ranging from 6-11 years) want to be the ganso (goose) jaja.

la comida peruana

The food available in Perú isn't that much different from that available in the EEUU. There are Starbucks on every corner in Lima, as well as Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, and Burger King. However, there is Peruvian fast food restaurant that is considerable better than the rest - BEMBOS! It's a mezcla of staple fast food items and traditional Peruvian food. Featured items include: Bembos Criolla, Bembos A lo pobre y Taco Original.

When I have a craving for Chinese food, I can now turn to CHIFA! Chifa is a combination of Chinese and Peruvian dishes. There are tons of chifa restaurantes on every street. Let me just emphasize the obvious... CHIFA IS EVERYWHERE. It's also pretty good, but it's not like P.F. Chang's or Orient Palace back in SoFlo.

Now... what about the actual Peruvian foods? Don't worry, there are plenty! Most notably there is Anticucho. On our way to Colegio Mayor Secundario Presidente del Perú the other day, we stopped at Azul Pollo for lunch. We were really excited when the waiters served us steak kebobs... little to our knowledge, it was actually anticucho. The steak tasted a bit odd and tender, but nonetheless, it tasted like steak. Yes, it was steak.. but more specifically, it was vaca heart. And, it wasn't too bad, but it was a little hard to digest after discovering the organ of origin.

Possibly the coolest fruit - besides the starfruit - is the granadilla. It looks like a tangerine, but tastes unlike anything else. Don't like the looks of the inside fool you... it's very sweet and crunchy! Also, cherimoya is very intersting and is a must try fruta del Perú.

La Copa Mundial

THE WOLD CUP HAS STARTED! This past Sabado, I went down to Plaza de Armas in centro Lima with some american friends to watch the EEUU v. Inglaterra. As you can tell by the photo, the game was projected live as part of the Fifa Fan Fest in Lima. It's was quite the experience, as there were hundreds of people watching the game in the plaza. It was certainly a great start to la Mundial! ¡VIVA EEUU, MÉXICO y ITALIA!

Facebook photos of plaza de armas.

Public Transportation?

Lima has very unique public transportation... or lack thereof. There isn't a Boston T or DC Metro equivalent, however there is the newly introduced Metroplitano, which has the potential to overtake Lima's unofficial public transportation: combis, micros, busses, and taxis. This is an excellent video of an inside view of a combi: here. The cost of transportation is relative, but to the American, it is extremely inexpensive. Taxi rides cost between 6-15 nuevos soles to almost all parts of Lima... which can be up to a 30 minute ride. (The current exchange rate is 1 USD: 2.88 nuevos soles.) Combis and busses range from 1 sol to 2 soles, depending on the distance... so basically 2 hours of city transportation can cost you less than 1 USD. However - and this is a major however - combis and busses may be unreliable, especially to a foreigner. There are no offical routes or maps. In order to get the route, one must look on the side to see the names of calles or districtos, or listen to the bolletero shouting out paraderos. Fellow DR SCS students Nina Yancy and Kathleen Pierre both have some combi stories to tell... I have been "lucky" in that I've only missed stops and had to walk 1/2 hour to my class. I'm sure I'll have some great combi and taxi stories to tell despues esta programa.

Joran van der Sloot's territory

Lima, Peru had been in the news headlines the week prior to my arrival here... why? The suspect of the murder of Alabama's Natalee Holloway had confessed to killing Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez in Miraflores (ring a bell?), Peru. Here is a photo of the casino that Joran and Stephany were spotted at... which just happens to be 4 blocks from where I'm living, which I consider to be semi-interesting. FYI: I pass Atlantic City Casino on my daily routine to catch the combis. Just thought it was ironic to be so near to the Peruvian stories making international news.... though there are MANY other stories that should be making the headlines....