Being Creative with Chopsticks

See previous post...

We ate lunch at a chifa and I tried teaching them how to eat with chopsticks but things got out of hand. Reminded me that game on ¨Whose Line is it Anyway¨where they are given a prop and have to use it in different contexts.

More from Chinatown

(continued from previous posts)



And here are some pictures of our group! We went with Daisy from Panama, Elia from Mexico, Diana from Venezuela, Alfredo from Bolivia, and Antonio from Guatemala :)

Random Sightings in Chinatown

A few weekends ago, we went with some other students to Lima´s Chinatown. I was especially excited because I love Chinese people and good deals. Although we did see many beautiful Chinese children and good deals on everything you can imagine, I wanted to post some of the other (very) random things we saw.

1. A man offering tour information that looks a lot like Johnny Depp (in about 20 years as Willy Wonky).

2. They eat rodents here (including hamsters and guinea pigs). Not my favorite thing about Lima. I will not be eating this unless I am about to starve to death. At least cut it up and make it look like chicken tenders, good grief. Ok now I´m a little more grossed out than earlier.

3. A bumble bee mascot - not sure what he/she was advertising...

4. And a huge rat on the ground, I think this has to do with the Chinese calendar.

5. And last but not least, I found a picture of President Obama in a museum. Had to get a picture with my fellow American.

:)

More from our walk to school

See previous post....

Outside the bodegas, they always have advertisements...Bimbo is a Mexican company that makes really good breads, cakes, etc ...and the logo is a bear that looks like the Snuggle bear.

Also, the white bus is called a ¨combi¨, which is the public transportation in Lima. It always amazes me how many people the fit in them, just when you think the bus is finally full, there is always room for one more.

Also, a sign from a ¨chifa¨- Peru´s version of Chinese restaurant. Sorry, chifa, but you are not nearly as good as the honey sesame chicken and lo mein in the Chinese restaurants in the US. (Shout out to Human Chinese Restaurant in Chapel Hill!!!)

And David in another bodega. I spy...M&Ms, toilet paper, and another Bimbo bear!

Our walk to school

I enjoy our walk to school in the mornings. Here are some pictures of things we see on our way to URP (universidad ricardo palma)...

The first is a ¨bodega¨, which is like a little convenience store, but with much more variety, crammed into one little space. You can see from the picture there is quite a variety! And unlike the convenience stores in the US, the bodegas are usually cheaper than grocery stores!

And a house (that reminds me of midwest US) , a sign (¨aqui¨means ¨here¨) , and flowers.

Banana Bread

I always thought banana bread was really hard to make. wrong.

This is a Kathleen recipe. Easy and delicious. I have made it many times and shared with neighbors in Peru who liked it as well. We, North Americans are famous for our sweets.

Banana Bread

*Note: Works great in crock pot as well. In my 3.5 qt crock pot, it takes 3-3.5 hours on LOW. (ready when knife comes out clean.)

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 c. melted butter

3/4 c. sugar (recipe calls for 1 c. sugar but 3/4 is plenty)

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. cinnamon (or a little more if you really like cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix butter and bananas together in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle baking soda and salt. Mix. Then, add the flour. Pour mixture into buttered pan. Bake until done...about 30 minutes depending on oven. Start with 20 minutes and check every 5 min or so. Done when knife comes out clean.

Great with pecans and/or chocolate chips!

I think I may be developing a new obsession...

for LLAMAS.

I´m not exactly sure why, but there are llamas on our university campus. They are in an enclosed area, not roaming free like the squirrels were at UNC (that would be so much more entertaining). But it always cheers me up to see the cute llamas on campus on my way to class in the morning. And so, the llamas and I have bonded.

And I also enjoy finding random llamas in Lima and taking pictures of them.

Men in the Kitchen and Apple Pie

One random fun fact about the culture in Latin America (or at least in Venezuela and Peru) is that when you want to visit someone, you just go visit them, no call or warning necessary. And when you visit someone, they serve you tea/coffee and a snack and if you happen to visit around meal time, you could get a meal as well. This happened to David and I several times when we were personally delivering our wedding invitations (another VZ tradition) and a few places we were there around lunchtime and just had to eat the food they gave us because it would be rude not to. hehehe.

This could also be a possible motivation to keep your house semi-clean, knowing that someone could stop by anytime...but not enough to motivate me to keep everything squeaky clean all the time. I take my chances.

It happens a lot because 3 other students live in the same apartment so we are always stopping by to visit each other, sharing some baked good or borrowing something.( See picture of apple pie made by neighbor Maritza and other student, Diana on the left) Several weeks ago, two other CILTA students came by to use our stove. We had just started classes and they didn´t have a stove yet so they stopped by to use ours to make their dinner. It worked out great for us because we just added some eggs and potatos to their ingredients and we had our dinner as well. But with both of them (Antonio and Moses) in the kitchen with David, I couldn´t resist getting a picture.

Has it really been one whole year since we graduated college???

Love and miss you all so much!!!!!

Flores.

In Peru, the seasons are swapped from in the US, so here it is like fall and getting cold. It is totally weird for me to be in a place that is getting colder in May! It is in the 60s and low 70s which feels freezing for me. ( I am cold-natured and I have been in 90 degrees and above Maracaibo heat for most of the last year). But David is loving it because he has lived his whole life in that same 90 degrees and above Maracaibo heat. They told me it would be cold here but I thought, ¨Yeah sure, I am from North Carolina where it snows in the winter, a jacket will suffice¨, but I was wrong and I´m going to have to go buy some warmer clothing. Oh well, just gives me an excuse to find some stylish Peruvian scarves. hehehe

So, in honor of the warm sunny Lima days that have come to end (for now), I am going to post some pictures I have taken of colorful flowers in Surco. But, the flowers are still living, just the sun (and the ability to wear flip flops) have gone.

Grease and Honey Mustard

Wow, I cannot believe it has been a month since I have written anything! These past weeks have FLOWN by...lots of homework, projects, powerpoints, tests, etc etc etc

But thankfully we made it through these past weeks!!

There is a park really close to our apartment that has free plays and concerts and we had been seeing the promotions for "Grease", so I couldn´t let that pass up. So, David and I went on Friday, which was great to have a "date night" as a break from the schoolwork! I have to admit, the play was really good- the actors and dancing was impressive! It wasn´t quite the same because it was in Spanish, but during scene changes, they played the original songs in English, so I loved that :)

After the play, we also made a supper that was, in the words of David, "mortal combat" (translation: really really really good)...He made chicken tenders (thank the Lord David loves to cook and he is great....he worked at Church´s Chicken back when he was a teenager so he knows his chicken)

I made sweet tea, mashed potatos, green beans, and salad. And for those of you in the US, that may sound like no big deal, but for those of us who are outside the US and missing the US food, you will understand that I was really excited about that meal!

Another important addition to the meal was KEY: HONEY MUSTARD!!!! I have been missing honey mustard, but thanks to the guidance of my Chef friend, Kathleen, I made honey mustard. It is super easy. 3 parts mayo to 1 part mustard, splash of vinegar and little bit of sugar, amount depending on how sweet/tangy you want!

I´m not sure if it´s because I am a wife now or if it´s because being away from the US makes me miss certain foods or if it´s because pretty much all we have time for is class, studying, and mealtimes, but I am really enjoying cooking and trying (and creating) new recipes...so I will be posting recipes in the future! :)