An American in Lima

Note to readers: My opinion piece “Escaping the American Credit Nightmare” appears in the Sunday (Oct. 12, 2008)  edition of the Miami Herald, in the “My View” column of the business section. Here’s my original piece below — Barbara Drake:  One of the pleasures of moving to Peru last July (2007) was escaping the flurry of [...]

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Adorable big sister from Puca Rumi I met this girl two weeks ago while trekking around Mount Ausangate. We were camping on her father’s land in Puca Rumi, and she shyly came up to our tents, wanting to meet us. When I took out a bag of chupetas (lollipops) her two brothers magically appeared in [...]

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The “M” is brown, but it’s still the same Mac-chain Several posts ago, I incorrectly announced that Cafe Ayllu on Cusco’s Plaza de Armas had closed due to a pending rent increase. My source was wrong; what I found out when I visited Cusco last week is that the Ayllu is still open, for now. [...]

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  Justina weaving on her hand loom, in Pacchanta We spent about 45 minutes talking with this lovely Quechua-speaking woman, who lives with her children and mother-in-law in a small village called Pacchanta. It’s on the trekking circuit around Nevado Ausangate. Justina earns money by weaving textiles on her handloom. The day I met her [...]

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I spotted this unusual blue-eyed alpaca on a hillside in Upis I returned to Lima this past Saturday after a week trekking around Mount Ausangate, in southern Peru, with my cousin and a Quechua-Spanish translator from Cusco. What an experience. It was a work trip, rather than a vacation per se; we’d wake up at [...]

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For the next eight days I’ll be in the Andes with little to no Internet access, so I won’t be publishing new posts. This wasn’t my plan. I wrote a bunch and wanted to schedule them in advance, but the Schedule Post feature in WordPress (what this blog runs on) is a dud and it [...]

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The beautiful Apu Veronica, considered a female mountain lord by indigenous people in the Peruvian Andes Many mountains in the Andes are considered male by the local people, but a few are female, like Nevado Veronica. She rises wide and conical over the Urubamba Valley, like a big-hipped mama towering over her children. In the photo above, [...]

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Early morning, Cusco Plaza de Armas; photo by Jorge Vera 2008 Quite beautiful in the morning light. Later in the morning, filled with tourists and restaurant employees hawking luncheon specials. Former mom-and-pop stores around the plaza have now been converted into high-end jewelry boutiques selling reproduction Sipan brooches. People on the street pester you all day [...]

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Masked dancer at Qoyllur Rit’i festival, Peru, 2006  El Fotografo spied this guy at the 2006 pilgrimage. He embodies the fertility cult that underpins the festival’s Catholic traditions, which have been sycretized with older, Andean rituals. I find this image rather terrifying, for some reason. We looked again for the Sheep’s Head Dancer this past [...]

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The local Quechua-speaking people consider Ausangate the mightiest apu or mountain lord of the region. Like all apus, Ausangate has a gender (male) and a personality (powerful, easily offended). Local customs dictate that we pay our respects to the apu prior to beginning our trek, to ensure a successful journey.

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  The come-ons are written in Spanish and taped to a wooden counter by the cash register: ” I’m handsome, neat, and my name is Chester. I’m looking for a hot little bitch who’s crazy for me!” “I’m playful and loving, with a good character. Searching for a beautiful girlfriend to make a family. (Please [...]

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A recent article in El Comercio, summarized in English by reporter Israel Ruiz, exposes why Peru performs so abysmally in international sporting events like the Olympics. Here’s Ruiz’s complete story published today in Living in Peru: Peruvian sports are trapped in time, said reporters for El Comercio, explaining there were records in the Andean country that had [...]

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El Fotografo can’t kick this chest cold he’s been suffering from for three weeks. Not even the schlep to Santa Eulalia last weekend could knock it out of his system. So I decided to try a home remedy on him that I read about in Suite 101.

Now EF’s lying in bed swathed in poultices and blankets, just four feet away from me, and the room reeks of Indian food.

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