An American in Lima

Here in Lima, the trees and rooftops are overrun with cuculis — plumpish grey morning doves who coo mournfully, mate in treetops, and shit absolutely everywhere.
With all this cuculi mess around, it’s easy for a Limena to forget that Peru itself is considered a birder’s paradise.
I certainly forgot. Then I read an article in last Sunday’s El [...]

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The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics are officially over, the winners have scurried home with their medals, and the losing athletes are either chastised, pitied or forgotten by most of the world. No laurel wreath, no glory, the Olympic equation goes.

Not on this blog, however.

In the same spirit of honoring athletic excellence that inspired the first [...]

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Seventeen days ago I wrote a short post on “The Big Olympics and Little Peru,” about my shifting perspective, as an American expat in Lima, on the Olympic Games.
I thought that one post would be it on the Olympics.
Instead, as I dug for background material on Peru’s thirteen Olympians, I discovered that little was being [...]

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As I’m writing this post, Peru’s long-distance runner Constantino León is racing the last five kilometers of the Men’s Marathon (42.15 km), in Beijing’s National Stadium. Out of the 95 runners who began the race, only 82 remain, and León is 63rd at the 35-km mark.
The first-, second- and third-place winners have just crossed the [...]

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Forget Machu Picchu.
Ceviche, tiradito and gourmet roast guinea pig are the real reasons to visit Peru, tastemakers are saying this month.
In an interview with Guest of a Guest, restauranteur Todd English let it slip that he predicts Peruvian Food Is the Next Big Thing, and foodies are rushing to weigh in on his opinion.  The new “Bon Appetit” blog agrees [...]

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Peru’s original field of 13 Olympic contenders is now down to one athlete: marathon runner Constantino Leon.
Leon will compete Saturday, August 23, starting at 6:30 p.m. (Beijing time), in the Men’s Marathon. For fans in Peru, that translates to Sunday, August 24, starting at 7:30 a.m.
Thus far, no athletes representing Peru have won a medal in the [...]

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Lately I’m struck by the enormous disparity between the sudden crises that erupt in Peru – the events that make news headlines — and the idyllic, often mystical image of Peru that’s promoted by the tourism industry.
As I write this post, thousands of travelers around the globe are busy planning their once-in-a-lifetime visit to The [...]

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I’m very happy because I gave it my all, and everything went well. I am happy — very happy. The weather was good; happily I improved my time, and that’s very gratifying,” Portilla told RPP News on Sunday.

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Aug. 19, 2008, Lima: More neighborhood destruction to report, resulting from poorly rerouted traffic from Av. Republica Panama (the old Pan-Americana Highway) into our neighborhood. A beautiful old tree was murdered by a reckless Lima truck driver, who had to get from Point A to Point B in as little time as possible –  no matter [...]

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The first week (August 10 – 16) of competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympics saw some encouraging efforts by Peruvian athletes but no medals. Here is a roundup of how Peru’s 13-member Olympic delegation has performed so far, along with buzz about the athletes from English-speaking media, bloggers and fans. (Plus blog reactions by Peru [...]

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August 15, 2007:  It had been little more than a month since El Fotografo, El Hijo and I had packed up the contents of our 4-bedroom house in Florida, stuffed it all in a shipping container bound for Callao, and hopped on a plane to EF’s hometown of Lima.
Everything in Peru’s capital was new and strange to El Hijo and [...]

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The ultra-hip cevicheria Pescados Capitales, one of Lima’s finest seafood restaurants, plays on the Beijing Summer Olympics theme in its current “Pescados Olímpicos” (Olympic Sins) menu.

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I was feeling rather forlorn about Peru’s small Olympic delegation of 13 athletes. Then I stumbled upon Mashable’s “18 Smaller Olympic Countries to Root For.”

Sean P. Aune writes:

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the big name countries that go to the Olympics, such as the United States or Russia, but have you [...]

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This story continues the coverage began in Keeping up with Peru’s Olympians, posted August 11. 
BEST PLACE TO VIEW LIVE OLYMPICS COVERAGE
Log onto http://www.NBCOlympics.com for streaming videos and up-to-the-minute coverage of the events as they happen.  The site is in English and is easily navigated. Now I can stop kvetching about the poor Olympics coverage by Peruvian television stations.
WRESTLING [...]

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