Week One

I survived my first week in Peru with only a few bumps along the way. I managed to lose both my new cell phone and the debit card for my Peruvian bank account within days of getting them. Don’t get me wrong. They weren’t stolen; I LOST them. Apparently the adjustment was a little too much for my scattered brain to handle. The good thing is it only took another $30 to get a new cell phone and a few difficult conversations in Spanish, including one on the phone, to new debit card. No money was taken out of my account, just a little embarrassment on my part. I am hanging on to everything very tightly from here on out.

On a more positive note last Sunday was my day of Peruvian culture. In the morning I went with a group of people to a Peruvian food festival, Mistrua. It was started by a famous Peruvian chef, Gastón Acurio, and now is one the biggest food festivals in world. Restaurants from all over the country come and sell samples of their food. The booths were organized by the region of the country and type of food. I started with coffee, ate until I couldn’t move and then went and had chocolate. I ate paicha (a kind of fish), corn, potatoes, breads, tamales, and chocolate. I also drank, pisco, coffee, and several juices. It was neat to see the many dishes even if I didn’t try them. ALL of it was delicious, but my favorite was tacu tacu. It's a very dense beans and rice dish formed into a patty that often had seafood on top.  Yum. There was also a large market selling a large variety of potatoes, coffee, honey, pisco and other items made in Peru. The first picture below shows some potatoes and other root vegetables that were for sell. There is a big big foodie culture in Lima, and it was great to get a taste of it all!

I rolled out of Mistrua, sure I wouldn't need to eat again for days, and on to the next activity. We went to a cultural dance show at the big theater in Lima, Gran Teatro Nacional. The theater was very new and modern. Apparently with the new theater they started a cultural show demonstrating traditional dances from all over Peru. The show runs throughout the year, and at the end of every season they change up the dancers and showcases new dances from different regions of the country. The one we saw, Retablo (alterpiece), demonstrated seven different traditional dances. The last picture below is from one of the dances. The whole thing was great. The costumes were amazing, and the dances were really fun to watch. The audience got really into them and clapped along. I wish I could take the music home with me too. A lot of my day is spent with westerners so I really enjoyed a bit of Peruvian culture. Also there is a lot of diversity among the people in different regions of the country I know I won’t get to all of them so at least I got to experience something from them! 

Bievenidos a Peru-Adventure Number Three

Ok, so it’s not only my third adventure, but here lies part three of my living abroad blog. This time it’s the story of the next nine months as I live and work in Peru.

Last March I finished my master’s degree in public health at UCLA and I am currently applying for PhD programs in Epidemiology. I was fortunate to receive a funded Fulbright/Fogarty fellowship to do public health research in Peru during my year between program. My project is still in the works, but it looks like I will be working on traveler’s diarrhea in Cusco. More details of the project will come as I figure it out.

Thus far, I have safely arrived in Lima. I will be staying here for a while to nail down the details of the project before I move to Cusco. My Spanish is coming back faster than I thought, but I still have a long way to go. One of my goals of the next nine months is to feel more confident with my Spanish conversation skills. There are several Fogarty Fellows who are also in Peru. They have been a great community to walk into providing a beautiful place to stay (a view from the balcony is posted below), advice on how to take the bus, and education on the Peruvian receipt culture. (In case you are wondering about the last one, you get a receipt for everything, there are two types of receipts, and you better take one of them with you.) I am grateful for the support that I have here, but I am still quite nervous with anticipation about what is yet to come.

This blog has evolved as I have over the years. I started it more than six years ago when I studied abroad in the Dominican Republic. It also documents my time after college in Tanzania. My objectives, however, remain the same. I hope to share my experiences of living, working and playing over the next nine months with those that can’t be here to share them with me!