Pearl #29 ~ Food Series: La Rosa Nautica

If you read my earlier posts, you've seen me reference my favorite restaurant in Peru, La Rosa Nautica (which I just discovered also has a location in Colombia!) and you've heard the story about how the first time I ate there I met President Toledo, only about two weeks before he left office.

Pearl #28 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on July 12, 2006.

Printer Girl

Summary: The internship ends in a week. It's been fun and I've learned a lot, but I look forward to returning home and figuring out the next stage of my life.

Pearl #27 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on June 12, 2006.

And Then Lima Was Home

Summary: Skipped church and went against all good motherly advice not to talk to strangers or follow them to unfamiliar locations. Thank God! Also took in an art show, some ocean air, and some sweets (mmm, gelato) while making new friends. An altogether musically charming weekend.

Pearl #26 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on June 5, 2006.

One Month and Counting

SUMMARY:

June = winter, keeping tabs on presidential elections, reanalylis of Pisco Sour, and starting the rule of "six degrees of separation" with six potential Peruvian friends in an attempt to meet the entire country by August.

Pearl #25 ~ Food Series: Drink Chicha, Avoid bad Chifa

These pictures are from my 2006 trip to Perú and fit into the newly created food series.  I didn't think they warranted their own separate pearls, but collectively they represent the many wonderful food moments that I experienced during that trip, including those that are not illustrated like eating a delicious Alpaca steak in Aguas Calientes and trying Anticucho (cow heart) on a whim one Sunday afternoon.  Delicious, but the heart is definitely a tougher muscle than others, and it resulted in a chewiness that I don't like nearly as much as the meat in my favorite Peruvian dish, lomo saltado.

Pearl #24 ~ The Land of 4,000 Potatoes

I realize that I've been focusing a lot on the excerpts from my 2006 trip to Peru.  But in both my trips to Peru, I had some of my most memorable culinary experiences ever!  In a land that's reputed to grow more than 4,000 varieties of potato, how can you not expect its food to be wondrous?  So, I'm going to present a new series of pearls with my favorite food moments (some with illustration).  I'll start with Peru, since there are many and that fits with my current theme.  For starters (appetizers? aperitivos?), here are the ones already mentioned in previous blog posts:

Pearl #23 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 30, 2006.


. . . continued from Pearl #22

After an hour and a half of sleep, I dragged myself out of bed to pack up and get ready for weekend activity number two: Ica. When I knocked on Jared's door, he chose sleep over travel, so I hailed a cab and headed off to the bus station to meet Brianna and Max without him. It was probably better that way, since our trip was very much of a "let's go to Ica and see what it's all about without any prior plans" type of trip. Jared likes to be more organized in his travels, and we probably would have driven him crazy with our approach to Ica. Not that we were completely spontaneous. Max and Brianna had taken care of the bus and hotel ahead of time, and we had some ideas about what we wanted to do.

Pearl #22 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 30, 2006.


. . . continued from Pearl #21

After checking out and getting my weekly workout on the walk back home (I inevitably buy too much to carry comfortably, but it's good for my arms), Jared and I got ready for the rodeo! Angie's mom was driving us, and arrived just as I finished putting the frozen items away. We hopped in the car and headed off, stopping at the El Polo mall to pick up some of Angie's new friends from the gym that she goes to. Turns out these friends had made some other friends the night before . . . two European world travelers that happened to be passing through Peru! It took me a while to get the details, but after learning that they didn't speak Spanish, my interest was piqued. 

Pearl #21 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 30, 2006.

Memorial Day Weekend

SUMMARY:

Had a great Memorial Day weekend, starting with sleeping in on Saturday and heading to Wong--much more than just a grocery store. Followed Wong with a trip to the Rodeo, followed by a barbeque at the intern house, followed by a night out on the town (although we missed the Marines by a hair). Went to bed at 3:30 and got up at 5:00 to head to Ica for an overnight trip full of sandboarding and winery tours. Some reflections on my new political status in light of the upcoming presidential elections and a thank you for my first two pieces of snail mail that arrived at the Embassy and are hanging in my cubicle to make it look a little more homey!

Pearl #20 ~ Picture Pearl-fect

Peru's tallest mountain, Huascaran, in the very center.  I took this picture on my first flight into the country.

Following up on Pearl #15's comments about how pearlicious it is to revisit my Pearl-uvian (now I'm really branding myself, aren't I?) moments from 2006, it occurred to me that I have pictures to accompany my original blog posts!  They didn't make it into the Walking With Inkas blog, but they made it into my Facebook albums after the fact, so I decided I'd pull some of those that are relevant to the stories I've already posted.  Moving forward, I'll try to integrate them into the actual posts.  Enjoy!

Pearl #19 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 25, 2006.

. . . continued from Pearl #18

As I near the end of my second weekend in Peru, I'm beginning to feel much more secure and am starting to find more kids my own age to play with. As nice as the full-time staff at the Embassy is, it's been fun getting to know some of the other interns and summer hires this week. Jared and I have been seeking out others "like us", and have found a couple kids of Embassy personnel that are just here for the summer. Two other interns arrived yesterday, too, so all of a sudden we've compiled what was referred to by one guy as a "gaggle of youngsters"! 

Pearl #18 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 25, 2006.

 

General Impressions and What-Have-You

SUMMARY:

Survived my first earthquake ever and am beginning to feel much more secure. I'm making friends with the other interns (as they begin to arrive) and the Marines. A couple reflections on my experience so far and life in general, and I'm finally caught up on the blogging! Lots to look forward to in the coming weekend . . .

Pearl #17 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 25, 2006.

. . . continued from Pearl #16

On Sunday, I had my first visitor in Peru. My friend Rotney, who is half Peruvian, was in the country visiting his relatives, and we had made plans to meet up before leaving the States. The details were kind of sketchy due to my limited communication mediums here, but I had his flight time, and figured there couldn't be too many flights coming from Cusco at the same time. I called my favorite taxi driver, Carlos (He has a great selection of music that he blares at top volume as we groove down the Pan-American highway! He wants to go dancing sometime, so stay tuned for future developments (don't worry, I'll be safe about it)), and we headed to the airport. I didn't expect to feel so excited over seeing a familiar face so soon in my trip, but I was! Rotney and I just became friends about six months ago, through school, but he's a great guy to hang out with and I would recommend him as an international travel buddy any day!

Pearl #16 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 25, 2006.

. . . continued from Pearl #14

On Wednesday evening, I got to go to my first reception, at none other than the DCM's house. It's as luxurious as the Ambassador's house, although less museum-like and more homey. I could definitely enjoy the perks of either of those jobs. I'd especially enjoy the personal drivers. As I tell people here, my driving in the States isn't that great. No way do I want to drive in a foreign country!

Pearl # ~ Food Series: How I Committed to Being an Omnivore

Pearl # ~ Food Series: My Top Five Steaks. Ever.

Pearl # ~ Food Series: Churros Around the Corner

Pearl #15 ~ Past Pearls Are a Present Pearl

It's already May 8th and I still have 360 pearls to go before January of next year, but at least I'm posting, and I have been picking up the pace thanks to republishing my previous blog posts, written during my internship in Perú in 2006.  And I have to say, that while each of those posts contains descriptions of "pearls" from that experience, the process of re-reading my posts has been a pearl in itself!

Pearl #14 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 25, 2006.

The First Week, Part II, and Beyond

SUMMARY:

Finished the check-in process at the Embassy, which involved running all over the Embassy, scheduling appointments and meeting almost everyone, including the DCM (Deputy Chief of Mission), who's second in command after the Ambassador. Asked for work to do and am now on my way to becoming the Microsoft Access guru at the Embassy (never learned it before)! Attended a reception at the DCM's house, where I had my first Pisco Sour and met Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for WHA Charles Shapiro. My friend Rotney came to visit for a night. We met the President of Peru (Toledo) and had an Ambassador sighting to make the most of Rotney's short time here and start the week off right.

Pearl #13 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 23, 2006  

. . . continued from Pearl #12

By Monday morning, I had been listening to Jared toss around acronyms fluently and mention names of other people at the Embassy. I was eager to get to work, and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed with my business attire all pressed and laid out the night before. I was too preoccupied with the enormity of the fortress-like building to be too nervous about the intense investigation of our shuttle van as we pulled into the employee lot. Every vehicle that enters the compound is locked in this iron cage (along with its occupants) and submitted to a thorough investigation that includes looking under the hood and in the trunk and running a special kind of swab along the vehicle to be tested for traces of explosive materials. If everything clears, the gates open and the vehicle carries us the remaining 50 feet to the employee entrance situated under by a large cast iron seal of the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru. You can imagine the size of my eyes as I stepped out of the van.

Pearl #12 ~ Excerpt from Walking With Inkas

This is an excerpt from my travel blog, Walking with Inkas, and was originally written on May 23, 2006

The First Week, Part I

SUMMARY:

Have to relearn the alphabet with all the acronyms at the Embassy, but I got a "@state.gov" email address, so that's pretty neat. Jared, the other intern was a great host and we mainly spent our first weekend sitting around getting to know each other. The security on the house and at the Embassy is intense! It's fun having classified access to certain places, though. On my first morning, I got to attend a meeting at none other than the Ambassador's house! I enjoyed the coffee and banana bread and stole a napkin with the official Department of State seal as a souvenir. In general, I'm getting settled in and am learning fast, even getting used to the traffic!