An American in Lima

It’s 5:30 in the afternoon here in Lima, and the Peruvian version of Halloween is underway.
In my neighborhood of Miraflores, the holiday consists of big groups of kids running through the streets screaming “Halloween! Halloween!”
Some are wearing costumes, but many aren’t. Every child has a bag for candy, though.
When the children ring the doorbell, they scream [...]

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I knew there was a word for catching a ride on the back of a moving vehicle: It’s ”skitching,” as I’ve just found out.
I posted on some skitchers in northern Peru in ”Dangerous Skateboarding in Peru” (October 30).
Skateboaders in North America skitch rides mainly for the thrill of it, but in Peru, kids do it out of necessity. Skitching rides is [...]

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My eyes popped when I saw this image on Boing Boing, taken from Zeraga’s Flickr pool via Street Use:

 In Perú from Huánuco to Tingo Maria, where the road from the Pacific coast across the Andes finds its way towards the Amazon lowlands. This is near the top of the last mountain pass. From there, a [...]

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“There’s no way to be a great matador and not get gored.”
That’s what Bob Simon of 60 Minutes drew from his experiences while reporting on bullfighters in Spain, and it’s an ethos shared by most professional matadors. (Click here to read about Simon’s getting gored himself while researching his story.) 
Horrendous groin accidents are part of [...]

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An alpaca lifts his head while grazing on ichu grass, near Mount Ausangate; photo c. Barbara Drake 2008

Anthropologist Inge Bolin comments on the deep bond between traditional people in the high Andes and their animals:
“People talk about their llamas and alpacas with great emotion. ‘They are our brothers and sisters,’ the people of Chillihuani often [...]

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photo by Barbara Drake

 Time for an Andean reality check. Too much Paris Hilton bikini nonsense.
I met this woman last month while trekking around Mount Ausangate, in southern Peru.
Her name is Vicentina Chuchicari Mamani, and like most people in the area, she spins her wool and makes her own clothes.
People have been crafting their textiles in this way [...]

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Matador David Galan, who stars in the Nov. 2 corrida

Raging bulls, elaborate torture rituals, hot sun and sand, seriously handsome guys in skin-tight outfits skewering animals through the aeorta: Lima’s Feria de Acho bullfight season (Nov. 2 – 23, 2008) showcases raw, in-your-face Spanish-style bullfighting, and the Peruvian crowds love it.

Spanish matador Uceda Leal, of Madrid, who fights in the first Acho corrida, [...]

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Back in the United States, tension and uncertainty are mounting to excruciating levels as November 4 nears. One guy will win, one guy will lose, and the specters of voting improprieties and riot police haunt many Americans’ visions of what might happen on Election Day 2008.
Hopefully the presidential candidates’ “duel to the death” will be [...]

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Purple Yahoo! kicks, part of its line of Wear Purple gear

Here’s a strange convergence of cyber branding trends and Peruvian religious tradition.
The online portal Yahoo! is pushing a “Wear Purple” promotional campaign in October, which is coincidentally (?) known as mes morado (purple month) in Peru.
“Yahoo! Start Wearing Purple” the campaign’s website screams. (It’s all an effort [...]

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Every celeb these days wants to walk the Inca catwalk….
Yesterday, Spanish- and English-language media outlets gushed over the announcement that a high-profile photo shoot is scheduled to take place November 4 at Machu Picchu.
A dozen Maxim bikini models will parade around the former Inca citadel in high heels and thongs. Leading the stampede may be Paris [...]

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Delicious purple Peruvian potatoes

Potatoes are a big deal in Peru. The Peruvan Andes were the birthplace of the potato, and today Peruvian farmers cultivate more than 3,000 native varieties of them — potatoes with names like Ica Huila and Purple Viking and Wilja.
The United Nations has declared 2008 “the International Year of the Potato,” and this event is [...]

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Here’s a welcome  piece of news for expat Peruvians who are seeking shelter from the U.S./global financial crisis: The Peruvian MInistry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MTPE) is offering economic incentives for Peruvians who emigrated abroad and now want to return to Peru. A new program will make it easier for returning Peruvians to find work in [...]

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Houses built by Indians from Peru were found three miles (five kilometers) within the Brazilian border. Illegal logging is displacing uncontacted tribes in Peru and forcing them into Brazil, conservation groups say. Photo by Gleison Miranda/FUNAI

There have been several major shakeups in Peru’s capital these last few weeks — bribery scandals toppling the Peruvian Cabinet, President [...]

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Who is Peruvian? Who is Andean?
 
Can a Peruvian dancer who’s made a new life in New York City return after 15 years to her remote hometown in the Andes to reclaim her heritage?
Can a young American of mixed Peruvian and Puerto Rican heritage find her “inner Andina” (as I like to call it) by studying folkloric dance techniques in towns throughout [...]

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