Spanish bullfighter Jose Uceda Leal before his first corrida at Plaza de Acho, Lima, Nov. 1, 2008: , photo c. Jorge Vera 2008

Born and trained in Madrid, José Igacio Uceda Leal ranks among the top toreros in Spain. Tall and slender, the 31-year-old bullfighter moves in the ring with an elegant, commanding presence. When he’s not dancing with bulls or stabbing them through the aorta, Uceda Leal is prone to giving introspective, rather philosophical answers to questions from the press.

“In life and in bullfighting, there are moments that are real trials by fire,” he told a reporter in 1999, “some of which you cannot imagine, but which raise you up as a person.”

Uceda Leal has experienced his share of those moments. Since July 25, 1991, when he wore his first traje de luces (suit of lights) in Mont de Marsan, France, he’s fought and killed more than 450 bulls in Spain and Latin America, and he’s seen members of his own cuadrilla (bullfighting squad) killed in the ring as well. He fights in about 30 to 40 corridas each year, and has won a good size collection of ears and tails — the traditional taurino measure of success in the ring. This year alone he has fought in 38 festivals against 78 bulls and won 47 orejas, according to his official web site. (Click here for stats on Uceda Leal, in Spanish.)

Like other 21st-century bullfighters, he walks a precarious line between fame and infamy — revered by passionate fans, on the one hand, who mob him like a rock star wherever he fights, and on the other hand, reviled by animal-rights activists who condemn him and his fellow toreros as asasinos (assasins). 

Given the intense public scrutiny he undergoes, Uceda Leal seeks solitude whenever his schedule permits. Last January he spent eight days walking the Camino de Santiago, Spain’s ancient  pilgrimage route, to prepare himself mentally and physically for the upcoming bullfight season in Latin America. 

Like many of the world’s top bullfighters, Uceda Leal dreams of winning the coveted Escapulario de Oro (Golden Cape), the prize given to the best (human) competitor in Lima’s Feria Taurino del Senor de los Milagros. The bullfight festival is held each October and November in the city’s historic Plaza de Acho, the oldest bullring in the Americas.

Uceda Leal came closer to realizing that dream when he fought in the opening corrida at Acho on November 2, winning one ear and the crowd’s roar of approval. Bullfighting critics praised him for his “classic” style in the ring, while fans outside the rueda pushed and shoved to have a glimpse of Uceda in his glittering red and gold suit.

On the afternoon before his fight, I met briefly with UcedaLeal over coffee at a restaurant inside the Plaza de Acho. Dressed in a tailored grey jacket and jeans, a day’s stubble on his cheeks, the torero answered my questions politely and seriously. I was struck by his thoughtfulness, his intelligence, and above all, by the coiled nervous energy that radiated from him.   

What was your first bullfight like?

I was 12 when I fought my first bullfight in public. It made a deep impression on me - I knew when I faced the bull that this was my vocation. Little by little, I began to understand what one needs to master the art of bullfighting. I spent my whole youth doing this. I couldn’t do what the other young people my age were doing in their free time. I had to sacrifice, in order to train. It didn’t matter.

To become a torero - this is what I wanted.

What qualities does one need to be a great bullfighter?

Valor (courage), intelligence, artistic ability, a strong body, a good echurra (physique)

How many times have you fought in Latin America?

I have fought in many rings in Latin America  - in Mexico City, Bogota, Colombia, Quito. This is my first time in Lima.

How do the aficionados in Latin America differ from those in Spain?

Each plaza de toros has its own personality, its own type of crowd.  In Latin America, people are enthusiastic and come to the bullfights to enjoy. In Spain, they come to analyze the fight. The idea fan is a balance of the two: someone with great enthusiasm as well as keen analytical powers, who can appreciate fine bullfighting.

How popular is bullfighting in Spain lately?

Lately, the fiesta brava is la moda, in style. Suddenly, many young people are going. The women dress up in their finest outfits. There is a new crop of Spanish toreros who are revolutionizing the sport. It has made bullfighting popular again.

Male aficionados typically identify with the bullfighter in the ring. Why do you think women go to the bullfights?

Women go because they like to see a man facing death. Plus they like the show, the spectacle of it.

From my perspective, I appreciate having women in the audience. It is very nice to look out and see a good-looking woman (mujer guapa) in the stands. The sight inspires me to fight well.

What do you do to prepare for a bullfight?

All of us toreros have our special rituals. We pray to different saints. I have a collection of saints’ images that I carry with me.  Bullfighting is a very intimate experience. You need a lot of solitude beforehand, to prepare.

What is your ritual?

It’s a secret.

–Barbara R. Drake

Just two days ago, El Fotografo and I were talking with El Hijo about the beefed-up security for the APEC Summit, which concludes this week in Lima.

“Are terrorists going to kill the presidents?” EH asked, as we drove by the LarcoMar shopping mall in Miraflores, which was swarming with police.

“Probably not,” I told him. “But you never know, so that’s why they have roadblocks and police checking things. Sometimes it can be just one crazy person who throws a bomb to get attention.”

“Oh,” said EH somberly. He looked out at a row of police in green uniforms guarding the entrance to the Marriot Hotel. One guy in combat boots held a rifle. 

“I don’t want to go out of the house this week,” he announced. “I’ll just stay inside and watch TV. Why don’t we all stay in?”

We tried to make light of EH’s worries, but it turns out, he may have been right.

This came in late yesterday on the news wires:

Peru arrests man with 36 grenades days before APEC

Nov 17, 2008 11:53 EST

LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police arrested a man with 36 grenades in his backpack Monday, just days before 21 heads of state meet in Lima for the APEC summit and one day after insurgents killed three officers in southern Peru.

Edwin Valladolid, 31, was detained in the San Martin district of the capital, police said.

“We think he belongs to a larger group, which we are still trying to identify,” said Police Colonel Julio Vergara, who is in charge of security for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The arrest comes as suspected holdouts of the Maoist Shining Path rebel group, which led a bloody rebellion until its leaders were captured in the 1990s, have launched a series of attacks in recent weeks.

On Sunday, the group, which has largely abandoned its ideological struggle in favor of running drugs in the world’s No. 2 cocaine producer, shot and killed three police officers and wounded another in the region of Ayacucho, about 360 miles southeast of Lima.

The Shining Path was also blamed for blowing up an army convoy last month in the Andean region of Huancavelica, killing 15 people.

The group, which police said stole dynamite from a mining camp of U.S.-based metals company Doe Run in October, also detonated a car bomb in front of the U.S. Embassy in Lima in 2002 before a visit by U.S. President George W. Bush.

Source: Reuters North American News Service (Reporting by Reporting by Diego Ore, Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Dana Ford)

San Martin, where the suspect was arrested, is an area in downtown Lima, which is a distance from where the summit meetings are being held. It’s about a 15-minute cabride away during normal traffic conditions, a longer ride during APEC week.

The suspect’s capture appears to confirm what many observers had been suspecting for weeks: holding the APEC in Lima is like waving a red flag to Peru’s homegrown terrorist groups.

El Hijo’s fears are justified.

This isn’t my first brush with terrorism in Peru.

I remember visiting Lima in May 1995. We stayed with El Fotografo’s elderly aunt, who lived in downtown Miraflores. She lived in a small two-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a building in a busy business district, surrounded by hotels, antique stores and casinos.

The day after we flew home from Lima, a bomb exploded in a casino one block from the aunt’s apartment and killed several people. Thankfully, EF’s tia wasn’t hurt, but the explosion was so powerful, it shattered the windows of her apartment.

As I write this, I’m revisiting El Hijo’s plan.

Maybe we should stay inside and watch TV.

Financial news blog Inca Kola News reported on Sunday that while gas prices in Peru are falling, they’re still a major drain on the wallet for most Peruvians. And when you factor in GDP per capita, it costs nine times as much to fill up in Peru as it does in the U.S.A.

No wonder Peruvians are converting their cars to run on cheaper alternative fuels like natural gas.

Inca Kola notes in “Good News for Peru (As Long as You Don’t Look too Hard)”:

Yesterday, President Twobreakfasts signed an executive order to lower the prices of 90 octane and 84 octane fuels by 9% and diesel by 4%. That means the benchmark 84 octane sells for a maximum price of S/10.50 per US gallon in Lima (transport costs can raise the price for some of the harder to get at corners of Peru….you’ve seen the map with the bigass mountain range running through the country, haven’t you?).

So now that Peru has cheaper fuel, time to rejoice, no? Hmmmmmm…let’s put it in a bit of context. Here’s a chart that shows the current prices for the same US gallon of fuel in the USA and Peru in US dollars (I got the US national average from gasbuddy dot com tonight, though I do understand that for example Missouri has $1.80/g fuel and California has $2.40/g fuel right now).

President Twobreakfasts. LOL.

It reminds me of the hobbits’ conversation with Aragorn in The Fellowship of the Ring:

Aragorn: Gentlemen, We do not stop until nightfall.
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: We’ve already had it.

Pippin: We had one, yes. What about second breakfast? [Aragorn walks away.]
Merry: I don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn’t he?

Merry: I wouldn’t count on it.

Seafood and rice at La Mar

La Mar (Av. La Mar 770, Miraflores; 421-3365): Gaston Acurio’s chic cevicheria is sure to be on many APEC dignitaries’ “must eat at” lists. There’s always a line at this trendsetting restaurant, so expect even longer waits during APEC week. La Mar’s head chef tells An American in Lima he’s ordering 30% more fish than usual to accommodate the rush. Open 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. only.*

Pescados Capitales (La Mar 1337, Miraflores; 421-8808): Top-notch, innovative ceviche served in upscale/rustic surroundings. I lurve, lurve, lurve this place, which is several blocks down the same street as Acurio’s La Mar.  I stopped by Friday for a private tasting (lucky me!) with owner Nguyen Chavez, who gives his chefs latitude to create six new dishes each week. (This week’s dishes are inspired by APEC themes.) As of Friday, the wife of one South American president had already called to reserve a table for lunch this week, so expect the place to be full of bigwigs during APEC-o-rama. Open 12:30 - 5 p.m. only. *

Pez Amigo (Av. La Paz 1640, Miraflores; 445-9783): This low-key, elegant restaurant isn’t patronized by the tour companies that parade busloads of tourists through Lima, which is exactly why it’s a good bet for a relaxing lunch. I have never been disappointed by any of the dishes I’ve ordered here; Pez Amigo (Friendly Fish) offers flavorful, well-prepared seafood in a relaxing, intimate setting. I’d recommend this locals’ favorite to visiting dignitaries who want to dine away from the media limelight.

Punto Azul (Calle San Martin 595, Miraflores; 445-8078): Limeños adore this Miraflores restaurant, which serves very good ceviche and seafood in gigantic portions. Prices are reasonable and service is friendly. You can dine like a king here for less than US$10. Not as exclusive as La Mar or Pescados Capitales, but muy rico. My pick for APEC delegates with big appetites who want to mix with locals.

Edo’s Sushi House (Calle Berlin 601, Miraflores): A friendly, buzzing sushi place with various locations throughout Lima. I go to the one on Calle Berlin, and it’s become my weekday sushi hangout. Very good maki rolls, with Peruvian fusion touches incorporating criolla sauces and sliced fruit.  

Osaka Sushi Bar (Av. Conquistadores 999, San Isidro, 222-0405): This upscale sushi bar is elegant and pricey and worth every penny of it. The dishes fuse Peruvian and Asian flavors, with distinctive combinations that make a lunch or dinner here memorable. A thrifty Peruvian might choke at the prices (US$50-$60 is common for lunch for two), but movers and shakers accustomed to eating in Paris or NYC won’t bat an eye at  Osaka’s cuentas. The best sushi I’ve had in Lima so far.

AND NOW…WHERE NOT TO EAT

Don’t bother searching for Segundo Muelle, the highly praised cevicheria along the Miraflores Malecon, because you won’t find it: The restaurant closed in August due to an escandulo involving unpaid income taxes. What a pity. I thought the food there was great.

Every guidebook you read mentions La Rosa Nautica, but I think this classic seafood restaurant is overpriced and a bit cheesy. Don’t get me wrong: the food is good and the views are to-die-for. It’s just that the restaurant has grown into a tourist trap, with a row of souvenir shops lining the wharf to the front door and impersonal service inside. There are extra charges added to the cuenta, and the pisco sours are inferior. Again, the splendid setting on the Pacific Ocean might compensate for some.*

* Note: Restaurants marked with an asterisk have been certified by the Ministry of Health.

Two Peruvian hairless puppies on the right, with a third puppy of the same breed with hair on left; photo courtesy of Sweet Lucy’s

Last night I tallied the results from Monday’s poll (”Should a Peruvian hairless dog become the new White House pet?“), and it turns out an overwhelming majority (87%) of visitors to this blog want the Obamas to adopt a perro sin pelo.

An American in Lima Poll Results

83% voted “yes”

17% voted “no”

As of 9:30 p.m. Friday night, 151 people had voted. (The poll has since closed.)

Note that most visitors to An American in Lima can claim a direct connection to Peruvian culture. They are either Peruvians or foreigners living in Peru; Peruvians living abroad (mainly in the United States or Canada); or foreigners who have traveled to Peru.

My poll shows that people who are familiar with Peruvian culture feel strongly that “Ears,” the hairless pup offered to the Obamas, would be a good choice for Sasha and Malia Obama.

In contrast, a similar poll conducted by America Online among U.S. citizens showed that a 40% minority favored the Obamas adopting such a pet. However, there was only a 4% difference between the “nay” and the “yeah” votes.

A poll of more than 50,000 AOL members showed that 44% of respondents gave a thumbs-down to the Peruvian hairless dog. Another 16% “weren’t sure” if the hairless was a good choice. The remaining 40% voted in favor of the Obamas adopting a Peruvian hairless dog.

While 40% is a minority, it’s a pretty hefty percentage. (Remember, we’re talking about a bald puppy here.) That figure tells me that a lot of Americans are open-minded and can look beyond appearances to perceive character and suitability for the “job.”

That kind of egalitarian spirit helped put Obama in the White House as well.

See also:

A Peruvian Hairless Dog for Obama’s family?

Because You Need to See Another Picture of a Peruvian Hairless Dog, Don’t You?

Note: Are you allergic to most dogs but still want a pet? Check out Sweet Lucy’s Little Place on the Web, an informative site about hairless dogs and their owners. It features photos of and information about American Hairless Terriers, Chinese Crested Dogs, Peruvian Inca Orchid Dogs (known in Peru as Peruvian hairless dogs) and Xoloitzcuintlis, as well as articles on how to manage pet allergies and a section on clothes (!) for hairless dogs.

19-year-old Peruvian bullfighter Milagros Sanchez kneels in the sands of Acho, Nov. 1, 2008; photo copyright Jorge Vera 2008

This year’s Señor de los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles) bullfight festival (Nov. 1 - 23), held in the historic Plaza de Acho bullring, began in a rather unorthodox way.

(1) One minute prior to the start of the Nov. 1 novillada, at 3:40 p.m., an earthquake registering 4.3 on the Richter scale shook the city.

(2) Two female bullfighters, Milagros Sanchez (Peru) and Lulu de la Vega (Mexico) took their places in the ring. It was the first time in 32 years that women had competed at Acho. Also in the ring that day was little 10-year-old Michelito, the boy-wonder bullfighter from Mexico.

El Fotografo and I were at Acho to witness our first bullfights and report on the events for an American newspaper.

I was my first bullfight. EF’s too.

We were seated directly over the chute where the bulls come thundering into the arena. I had no idea what to expect.

Trumpets sounded and everyone got quiet.  Suddenly the whole stadium started to rumble.

Wow, that’s some bull, I thought!

Un temblor, EF pointed out.

The crowd calmed down, and then this serious 19-year-old walked calmly into the ring, kneeled in the sand and spread her pink cape, about 20 feet in front of the bull pen.

The gate opened and the bull ran right at her.

Now that takes cojones, I thought.

Peru’s capital city may be home to the best cusine in South America, but not all its restaurants are up to par. In fact, some eateries violate sanitation codes and use contaminated tap water (with e coli) to wash their produce.  (Visitors cannot drink the tap water in Lima because it contains foul bacteria and heavy metals; many locals have adjusted to it, however.)

To prevent epic outbreaks of diarrhea among delegates, APEC and Peru’s Ministry of Health have instituted a system by which restaurants that meet sanitation standards receive an official seal of approval.

Here is the sign you’ll see outside restaurants that meet the codes:

No cooties here!

I think the signs are useful and necessary. They make it easy for visitors to choose safe restaurants and avoid getting ill in Lima.

My only complaint is that they look scary/clinical, like a notice on box of sterilized hospital implements. They don’t exactly stimulate my appetite.

If someone had left the design to me, I’d have used a photo of a chubby ekeko rubbing his belly and giving a thumb’s up sign, under the headine: “Eat  here!”

Chef / restauranteur Gaston Acurio is on a mission to bring Peruvian cooking to the world; photo by Karel Navarro

The latest issue of Condé Nast Portfolio features a highly readable profile of Superchef Gastón Acurio, the culinary mastermind behind La Mar, Astrid y Gaston and more than a dozen eateries in South America and now the United States.

Writer Andrew Curry notes:

 Over the last two decades, Peruvian cuisine has gone from being overlooked (even in Peru) to the hottest trend in South America, thanks in part to Acurio’s evangelism. “Peruvian cuisine is a phenomenon,” says Mayalen Elizondo, a society editor at the Mexico City daily Excelsior. “In Mexico, everyone wants to interview Gastón. He’s considered one of the most important chefs in the world.”

But Acurio admits that his biggest challenge is yet to come: making Peruvian the new Japanese in the U.S. His first beachhead: A La Mar outlet on San Francisco’s Embarcadero that opened in early October and has been packed ever since. “Thirty years ago, there were no Japanese restaurants in the U.S.,” Acurio says. “Then one day Americans started eating seaweed and raw fish. Now there’s a sushi restaurant on every corner. Why can’t we do the same with Peruvian cooking?”

(Read Curry’s full article in Conde Nast Portfolio here.)

The article features a great photo of Acurio standing in front of a vegetable stand in Surquillo’s Mercado Numero 1 (see above).

El Fotografo and I often go there to buy cheese and nuts, and to marvel at the abundance produce, which puts the scentless, genetically modified veggies in the States to shame. The lettuce, radishes, corn, tomatoes — they’re all ripe and bursting with flavor, grown in native Peruvian soil.

The market itself is less than clean, and the floors look like they could do with a powerwash. But that is going to change soon, thanks to a proposed gentrification that will turn the old market into a sparkling destination for foodies who want to experience the best of the country’s foodstuffs under one roof.

I’m curious about the details of the renovation, which will alter of Lima’s oldest and most proletariat marketplaces. Will the same vendors sell their produce there and at the same prices? Or will new, high-end sellers replace them? Will Mercado No. 1 still be a place where ordinary Peruvians purchase their daily fruits and vegetables, or will the place become a mecca for tourists only?

Acurio’s name is attached to this project, which reassures me that it will be a class act. However, I don’t know how far the project’s developers will go in sanitizing Mercado No. 1 for gourmet tastes.

This is a marketplace, after all, where the ladies who sell you cheese by the kilo will literally cut the cheese on the stools they sit on all day. (For real!)

I wonder if that slice of “the real Peru” will survive the makeover?

—Barbara Drake

Me & the Peruvian hairless wonder dog in Pachacamac, Peru; photo by Jorge Vera c. 2007

El Fotografo shot these images in Pachacamac last year. The Peruvian hairless dog was strolling around the dusty parking lot, looking blase in his yellow t-shirt. (These dogs sunburn easily.)

The image on the left is the back of my head. I’m wearing a cotton scarf with a fish printed on it and looking at the dust-covered ruins. That is EF’s idea of a joke — an image of a fish in a desert where it never rains. Ha ha.

I’m posting the photo (actually a dyptich from an original tryptich) because for 15 minutes, the Peruvian hairless dog has become A Media Phenom, and I figure there are people who might actually like to see another photo of this unusual creature.

It’s all part of a sporadic information flow between this small Andean country and the rest of the world, in which Peru remains hidden from public view for months, only to surface in the most bizarre circumstances. We were just getting over the scandal of the cat-eating festival in October and were hoping that the world might pay attention to the APEC summit next week.

Instead, Peru grabs the headlines over a bald, toothless dog that could, in some inexplicable turn of events, end up snuggled in the arms of the next president of the United States.

The background: A Peruvian woman has offered to give her four-month-old Peruvian hairless pup to the Obama family, after learning that Malia, Obama’s daughter, is allergic to most dog breeds. The dog’s name is “Ears” because his ears are enormous.

Since I posted on the story earlier today, a Reuters news item has come out about it.  Blogger Carlos at Peruanista is annoyed that the Reuters reporter didn’t get all his facts right; read his rebuttal here.

I am not picky about how much the readers who stumble across my blog know about the Peruvian hairless dog. I just want to know one thing: Do you think it’s cute or creepy?

For more new works by El Fotografo, visit his photo.net website.

For a nice narrative history of the Perro Sin Pelo (hairless dog), visit Desperately Seeking Perros.

To vote for or against the Obamas adopting a Peruvian hairless, visit my poll.