Celebrating my 29th Birthday in Peru!

Truly the start of a wonderful birthday:

11:59 pm - fireworks and serenade by my friends in Mochumí (AJULVAM)
12:00 am - a call and birthday song from my dear PC friend Nicole and Kevin
1:30 am - my friend Lester stops by to wish me a happy B day

It was such a special moment, and a first, to have my friends usher in my birthday this year with a touching serenade and fireworks display. Six friends from AJULVAM stopped by with a bottle of wine and even more moving, a dedication that brought me to tears. I am very thankful to all of my friends here and I thank them for making me feel at home away from home.

You are truly AWESOME!

Yummy Causa Norteña!

Here is a picture of my favorite Peruvian dish. It's called CAUSA NORTEÑA (which is very different from what they serve in Lima "causa limeña"). In Mochumí, la causa is a typical Sunday lunch specialty which is served with yuca, potatoes, platano, sweet potato, salted fish, oniones, boiled corn (choclo) and aji in a vinegar sauce, and adorned with half a boiled egg. La Señora Sebastian prepares the best CAUSA in town for only S/. 8.00 a plate, and almost every Sunday I make my way over to her house for a good home cooked meal. Here's a pic of what my plate looked like before I dug in. Of course you can't leave out the famous Inca Kola soda! Yummy.



Recipe for 4:

• 1 kg. yellow potatoes (2 lbs) (papas amarillas)
• 1 / 4 cup yellow pepper ground (ají amarillo molido)
• 2 limes

• 1 / 4 kg. of dry salted fish (pescado seco salado)

• 1 / 4 cup oil
• 1 / 2 tablespoon minced garlic (ajo molido)
• 1 / 2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoons ground aji panca (ají panca molido)
• 2 onions, thickly chopped (cebollas picadas guresa)
• 1 / 2 yellow pepper, chopped (ají amarillo)
• 1 / 2 cup vinegar
• salt, pepper and cumin to taste

Garnish:
• Baked sweet potato
• Cooked plátano (bananas)
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1 lettuce
• black olives

1. The night before, soak the salted fish in water (to remove the extra saltiness).
2. Boil the fish, drain it and separate it into sizable shreds.
3. Peel and mash the boiled potatoes. Mix in the ground peppers, the lime juice, and salt and pepper.
4. Knead the potatoes until fully mashed and spread over the serving plate.
5. In a separate pan, heat the oil, adding garlic, salt, pepper, cumin oregano and panca chili powder.
6. Add the sliced onion, yellow chopped peppers, vinager and water to the marinade. Cover and let simmer until the onions become translucent and the juice has dried slightly.
7. Place the fish atop the mass of potatoes and arrange the marinated onion mixture over the fish. Garnish with the lettuce, bananas, sweet potato, boiled eggs and black olives.

The newest horse addition…

This morning I went horseback riding with Renato. We took Acertado and Don Eduardo out to the archeological site that is recently being excavated - "Huaca La Pava". After getting back home and eating lunch I was exhausted. Nevertheless, I finished up the evening accompanying my friends at the Casa de Cultura on a trip to Illimo where they performed several dance numbers for the local festival. All in all, it was a good day!

Three more days til my visit home...

Kelly and I dropping by the Chaclacayo store to say 'hi' to Gladys, Bill and Fernando

I just paid $0.35 to have my bike tire repaired

How amazing is that? The llantería is awesome!

Some pics from my last vacation

Went to Chachapoyas in Las Amazonas for Fiestas Patrias. Here are some pics of the trek we did. Among the sites visited were the funeral site of Karajía and Kuelap.

The latest happenings in Mochumí

A quick update about what's going on here way down south...

Aside from my work projects, yours truly is now taking up Marinera classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for an hour. Yes, this has made it on my list of things to do while in Perú before I return home to the states, along with buying a traditional outfit. There will always be salsa right? But how often does one get to learn a traditional dance from the community itself. The cultural exchange? I learn the Marinera for an hour and then I teach salsa casino style moves for the next hour. The group that I'm teaching loves it! There's Carlos my professor, his brother, and his three sisters. The mom, dad and 'casa de cultura' director usually watch for the first half hour before retiring to their homes.

So what is the Marinera?
Marinera is a coastal dance of Peru, generally called the "National Dance of Peru." Marinera is a graceful and romantic couple's dance that uses handkerchiefs and sombreros as props. The dance is an elegant and stylized reenactment of a courtship, and it shows a blend of the different cultures of Peru. The dance itself has gained a lot of recognition and is one of the most popular traditional dances of Peru. Ever since the 1960s, during the month of January, in the city of Trujillo a National Contest of Marinera is held. Here's a video of what it looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hjm9IfEuYY.



Other than that, I'm meeting with Renato on Mondays and Thursdays to keep the Tourism project going. We were supposed to have the official kick off of the pilot this Saturday, with three visitors coming to the ranch, but we have to postpone it. The owner's wife has been ill and the Canadian woman who was going to join us is getting in a day later than expected.

In addition, I've been meeting with the ladies of ASOMOM (the artisan and womens group). Although we are not doing any business related projects or formal activities that I can include on my Peace Corps small business report, I am having fun with them doing paintings and different crafts. The cultural center or "casa de cultura" is working on a recycling project and I've been helping out with that also. This Saturday we are going to host a community movie and I'm contributing the projector that we have on loan from the PC office.

Oh in other exciting, but trivial news, I got my new glasses with transition lenses last week!!!

Ok, so if I had to mention the craziest thing I've seen this week, it would be the following: Five people riding sandwiched on a motorcycle. Dad driving in front, baby in between, little girl, then mom and other child holding on in the end! None of them wearing helmets....God bless the motorists here in Perú.