Buy Valium Without Prescription

  By Barbara R. Drake On Sunday I posted Part I of “Should Americans Consider Moving to Peru?” (click here for link). I floated the idea, proposed to me by a Scandinavian expat who’s lived in the United States as well, that because Peru and the United States are so dissimilar, it’s difficult to evaluate [...]

[Read more →]

Today my opinion piece “Escaping the U.S. Credit Nightmare” appears in the Sunday Miami Herald, Money section (10/12/08). The teaser reads: “An American who now lives in Peru finds that she no longer must fend off unwanted offers for credit cards and loans,” which highlights one of the unanticipated benefits I gained from our move [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

  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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

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 [...]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

The more I learn about the handmade clothing worn by traditional people in the Andes, the more impressed I become. The outfit above isn’t a museum piece, although it displays like one in the “Perú Hecho a Mano” boutique at Saga Falabella, in Lima’s Jockey Plaza mall. It is a very elaborate version of the [...]

[Read more →]

After our encounter with Peru’s famous child matador yesterday morning, El Híjo and I hunted down a YouTube video of 10-year-old “El Andi” at the 2008 Las Palmas fiesta. Figure 1: Peru’s boy matador Andrés Roca Rey, at in the “Senor de los Milagros” bullfighting festival, in the historic Ancho bullring, in Lima, Nov. 4, [...]

[Read more →]

The boy in the grey t-shirt swept out his arm and arched his torso in an elegant bow-shape as the “bull” charged within an inch of his hip. Then he pivoted on one foot and flicked the cape at his opponent’s head. The red fabric spun and twirled, daring the sharp, curved horns to come closer. They were two Limeno [...]

[Read more →]

Maple syrup. You can’t buy it in Peru. If you want syrup for your pancakes, you have to go with the corn syrup blends they sell in the supermercado. It’s not the same. Just looking at the picture on the right makes me salivate. A cousin from Massachusetts sent me a jar of maple syrup two [...]

[Read more →]

Peru’s biggest supermarket chain – Wong – plays up Fiestas Patrias in a big way, sponsoring patriotic events throughout Lima and featuring the “flavors of Peru” during the month-long season. The store’s colors are red and white, the colors of the Peruvian flag, but to celebrate the independence-day spirit during July, some employees wear outfits distinctive to Peru. [...]

[Read more →]

This is an unusual July for me. Until this year, the most significant date on the calendar typically was July 4th – firecrackers, red white and blue, muy Americano. This year in Lima, July 4th was just another Friday. I didn’t even remember it was a holiday until a friend from Florida sent an email [...]

[Read more →]