Starbucks Got My Name Right!

This normally wouldn't be such a big deal because Amy is a super common name in the States but when everyone assumes your name is spelled Eymi, Emy, Eimi, or Emi, it is a happy day when someone gets it right without having to ask how it is spelled. This isn't the first time this has happened in Starbucks. I have found that out of the 20 or so times I have bought starbucks drinks since coming to Peru, more than 50% of the time the barista gets my name correct. 

Why might this be you ask? I think it has to do with education and exposure to the name. Many of the baristas are college students. I actually had an interview with this particular Starbucks when I first got to Lima because I wanted to see what my options were. The guy who interviewed me told me that the majority of baristas were college students working part time in between classes. Unfortunately, a part time job with Starbucks in Peru means you will be making around 600 soles a month for 19 hours a week that vary every week. Starbucks employees are also more likely to come into contact with foreigners because it is known throughout the world and people are much more likely to go to a coffee shop where they know exactly how their drink will taste.

I typically try and get coffee drinks from local cafes such as Bisetti, San Antonio, or La Baguette for a number of reasons. Coffee from Starbucks is overpriced and not the best tasting. Also, there is a great ambience in Bisetti (which is two doors down from the Starbucks in Barranco) and more options in San Antonio and La Baguette. I am a fan of supporting local business as well. It keeps things interesting and varied. I am a sucker for the chai latte from starbucks though and every once in a while I will treat myself to one and that is what I did today. I am trying to stay away from caffeine while pregnant but I read that up to 200 mg a day won't hurt you or the baby. Fortunately, I have never been a caffeine addict. I do like the taste of coffee with milk though so I occasionally drink it in the morning and for anyone who has suffered the lack of regularity while pregnant, a little cafe con leche will do the trick in no time!

I will be updating about the 4th of July and Teacher's Day very shortly. Both were absolutely fantastic! 

Happy Monday everyone!

A Fun Weekend

This past weekend was quite fun. We did a lot of home cooking and I met up with a friend Melissa from my trip to Spain last year. She is from Belgium and we met her while we were in Valencia. She has been in Peru for a little over a month but spent most of it in Paracas. Apparently, it is very easy to get stuck there as a traveler. I have yet to check it out but it sounds great. We met up in Barranco and I met a fellow travel friend of hers whom she met at her hostel. We talked about travels. I gave them my story about how I found myself in Peru. We talked about babies as well.

I guess it would be a good time to let everyone know that I am 4 months pregnant! We are going to have a December baby and we couldn´t be more excited. I put up a somewhat subtle post on facebook about it and it was fun to see how many people didn´t get it right away. I definitely don´t plan on being one of those people who puts up weekly baby bump photos but I will make sure to get a few photos in from our trip to the states. I am sure I will have a nice bump by then. There will be future posts about pregnancy in Peru.

I am headed to The Corner Bar today to catch the second half of the USA vs. Belgium world cup game. I think it will be fun to be around other Americans to watch the game. I have never done it before and I already know the energy is going to be strong!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

We were on TV!!!

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Bartola, a well-known criolla singer here in Peru. She has a show on Chanel 7 (TV Peru) called Una y Mil Voces and it features criolla singers and bands. Since Coro Arpegio has a criolla repertoire, we were invited to sing on the show. What an honor! We had a great time and even though the weather wasn´t the best in La Molina the day we filmed, we still rocked it and we looked pretty great too. (My hair, on the other hand, had a mind of its own.)

We sang three songs: Cuando Llora mi Guitarra, Chabuca Limeña, and Negra Presuntuosa. Bartola did an interview with Monica, our director. The only downside to the publicity is that she touted us as a philanthropic choir and not a professional one that sings in weddings or other function. We do charity work, but it is only a part of what we do. We might get another chance to go on the show again sometime in the future and honestly, the publicity is nothing bad!

A quick side-story. A few days after the show aired, my downstairs neighbor´s daughter who has to be 7 or 8 years old, yelled out of the window ¨Tia!! Te vi en la tele!¨ Translated she said, ¨Auntie, I saw you on TV!¨ I asked her if she liked it and she nodded her head vigorously with a resounding ¨Si!¨ It was really cute and just what I needed when getting home from a day of work. She is also so sweet and everytime she sees me she waves. She gets super excited when she sees Pepe too. I appreciate her happiness and friendliness.

Anyway, here are the videos I found on youtube! Enjoy!

Sorry, my computer is not allowing me to embed the videos so here are the links:

 Chabuca Limeña
 Cuando Llora mi Guitarra
 Negra Presuntuosa and interview (Please excuse my disgusted face a 1:07. I had issues with the brightness. I really was trying to listen and be supportive of Moni! Also, you never know when the camera is going to hit you. Lesson learned.)

Playing Tour Guide

One of my favorite things to do is show people around town when they come in for a visit. I had the opportunity to do it twice in one day last Saturday with a friend of a friend who had an 18 hour layover in Lima between Chile and Chicago, and a former TEFL certification classmate.

I met up with Michelle in Miraflores for brunch and we ate at Cafe Cafe. It is a Peruvian chain that serves somewhat pricey but definitely delicious food. We shared a Spanish breakfast that came with a butifara (meat sandwich), a tamale, sweet potato chips and onions doused in lime. We also shared churros. We got to know each other a bit. Michelle is a friend of a friend and she is going to finish her last year of college in DC this next year. She studied abroad in Chile and went back for a visit. She is helping out my friend find a place in DC for his biodiesel company and she also does a lot with urban agriculture. She is a pretty cool chick if you ask me.

It was uncanny how her laughter and smile reminded me of my friend Chanel from high school. I love when people remind you of other people that you like. I am always happy to hear when someone says I remind them of someone as long as they like the person. It tends to put them at ease with me.

We walked to Larcomar where Michelle tried a Peruvian pisco sour. She said there wasn't much difference between a Peruvian one and a Chilean one. I enjoyed a delicious chicha morada. We then headed over to a woman's apartment who was selling some things since she is moving. Michelle helped me lug a big shaggy white carpet back to my place. She also got to meet Marco, Gabriel and Pepe.

I didn't manage to get a picture during our time together in the day but we ran into each other in Barranco while Marco and I were waiting for my second friend. Michelle had spent the afternoon and evening bumming around Barranco. She was exhausted but looked happy.

Tired and happy!

The next person I met up with was Stephanie. She and I took the same TEFL certification course in Chicago in October of 2009. She then went on to live in Lima for a while before I came to Peru. I followed her blog which was great. She then went on to get a masters degree in London before landing her job that she has now. This particular job is what allowed her to come to Peru. She was here for a conference on practices in the mining and natural resources sector. She explained to us a bit about what she was doing but I can't remember all the details. I do know that she had to give a presentation on digital security.

Anyway, we took her and her co-worker to the restaurant Javier on the boardwalk towards the ocean in Barranco. It is our favorite seafood place close by and they have great drinks. Marco and I shared a chicken chicharron and Stephanie had lobster causa.  We were only able to hang out for a few hours because it was 11:30pm when we met up and they had a flight to Juliaca early the next day. It was fun nonetheless!

I didn't remember to get a picture with Stephanie. Oh well!

So if anyone has some time in Lima coming up, let me know. If I am not working I would be happy to take you out and about!

Eating Out with Friends

This past week I had the pleasure of eating out with expat friends at Chili's in Larcomar. I had the biggest craving for nachos and wings and they are exactly what I got. I also had a frozen lemonade and a sparkling mango strawberry drink that was delicious. It was really nice to hang out with my English speaking friends. I definitely get a good amount of English at work but it is different chatting with expats. There is a different connection there and I am super grateful for it. We all decided that it would be a good idea to do this on a monthly basis. I am all for it!

Some of my kindergarten colleagues

I also had the pleasure of eating chinese food with my colleagues last Friday for lunch. The director of the school takes all of the staff and teachers out to lunch once a year to celebrate everyone's birthday. It is a great way to do it and it was so delicious! I stuffed my face with orange chicken and fried wantan.

I have decided I am going to take up swimming twice a week at the pool in the complex next to the military school. I miss swimming a lot and it is such a great workout. I just hope that the pool isn't too cold and that maybe there is hot water in the showers afterward. Worst case scenario, I will just wait to shower when I get back home. The best part is that the pool doesn't cost me anything and it is a short walk away. Beggars can't be choosers!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I was super tired on Sunday so I spent the majority of the day in my bed and it was glorious! I had a nice chat with my mother in the evening as well. Mother's Day is a big deal here in Peru and if it weren't already on a Sunday it would be a national holiday. I witnessed my kindergartners put on a show and a half for their mothers on Thursday. It was absolutely adorable and we never did anything like that when I was in school. Maybe we made a picture but we didn't learn choreographed dances and sing songs. I think it is great that they do that and I think that mothers should be recognized more in the States. I am sure my mom would have been super happy to get a dance, song and present from me when I was in kindergarten.

Anyway, I am going to put up a recipe today for my mother's famous cottage cheese pancakes. She might not take credit for them (since the recipe comes from The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas 1972) but she sure made them famous for me. You can't imagine how excited I got when I found cottage cheese in Plaza vea last week. Hurray! I had to buy it even though a cup costs 10 soles. It was worth it. I miss the cottage cheese that is a bit more moist but it worked and I was able to make delicious cottage cheese pancakes!

Here is the recipe a la Mama Chamberlin:

6 eggs, separated

2 cups small-curd cottage cheese

2/3 cup flour

2 TBS sugar (I add a bit more for a bit more sweetness)

Dash of cinnamon (I definitely add more than a dash.  J)

1/8 tsp cream of tartar (don't worry if you don't have this)

Oil or butter for frying

Optional garnishes: sour cream, preserves, honey, apple butter, powdered sugar, fresh fruit or our family choice: maple syrup

Beat together the egg yolks, cottage cheese, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until they are stiff but not dry.  Fold the beaten whites gently into the cheese mixture.

Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto an oiled griddle or skillet.  Fry the pancakes until golden brown on both sides and puffy.  Serve at once (important) with choice of garnishes.  (Do NOT try to make this recipe ahead of time.)

Perfect protein breakfast for a morning sweet-tooth!

Serves 4 generously and is very easy to make a half recipe for two.

A Birthday and a Mother's Day Event

Last Saturday I went out to Villa El Salvador with Gabriel to see Patty, my niece, for her 2nd birthday. I had a mass
to sing in later that evening so I couldn't stay for the actual party but it was super fun to see her and to see her and Gabriel play with play doh for 2 hours. It was super cute. I also bought her a book describing different colored things. Since she hadn't napped all day we took a trip to Tottus to pick up the cake and Patty fell asleep in my arms immediately. It was super cute. I can't wait to have children. (Don't worry, I know that when they are sleeping they are always more desirable and that the majority of the time they take all of your energy. Whatever! Bring it on!)

On Thursday of this week we didn't have any school due to it being a national holiday for workers. Marco's promotion took it upon themselves to use the day for their annual mothers' day celebration. It was really really nice and even though there were flies when we were eating (due to stables being very close by) it was a really nice event. There was a trampoline and two huge blow up obstacle courses for the kids' entertainment. There was a dog show demonstration (The location of the event was next to the military vet clinic) and there was an hora loca with lots of dancing. Also, every family brought a gift that was exchanged. Every mother received a gift by raffle. I received a very nice beige tote purse from Ripley. It is super cute and neutral and can work with anything.

We think it would be fun to put Pepe in a training school.

Earlier in the morning Marco and I went to Plaza Lima Sur to pick up a gift to bring and we picked out a cute hand bag from a store called Tizza. I also found a pair of tennis shoes at Traithlon Sports on sale for 179 soles. They are red Nikes that are unisex and I am super happy because I hadn't bought tennis shoes in 4 years! I also bought Gabriel a sweatshirt that he had been eyeing the day before and I surprised him with it when we got home. He definitely needed a sweatshirt since we are getting into colder weather now. It is the least I can do. He has had a lot of changes these past 3 months and he has been a sport.

Anyway, the mothers day event was great. We had lots of meat for lunch and there was lots of dancing. At one point during the hora loca, all of the wives were up dancing in a conga line while the kids were playing and watching. I think it is awesome how dancing happens immediately at every gathering. No need to be drunk at all. The women tend to be the ones to get things started too. If our husbands don't want to dance no problem! We will just dance in a circle.

There was a paintball place right next door and Gabriel and friends wanted to do it but it was a bit expensive and they didn't have enough people to make it worth it. (Too bad they didn't ask me, I would've loved to play some paintball. It is good to know it is there for future reference.) After a good 5 hours we headed home. It was a great way to spend a day off. Unfortunately, we had to go back to work on Friday but the good news is we have Friday off next week since we had no bridge (linking the holiday to the weekend) this week. Then we have May vacation! Not bad at all.

All these pictures were taken on my phone. I am actually impressed with the quality. Not bad Nokia.