Setting goals in life is always an ambitious project. I never seriously fought to set new goals, but on the other hand I never shied away from it. After all, I successfully mastered two courses of study and at least learned to speak three foreign languages fluently. Of course, this is quite impressive and at least something to make me say, that I reached my intrapersonal targets.
But I never fulfilled these goals with a feeling of a proud achievement because I couldn’t build up any emotional level to them. Neither before reaching the goal and nor afterwards. During reaching a goal, I also perceived it as a means to an end.
Drivers license? Not needed to know how to navigate a car. Annoying social obligation for individual mobility. But I did my license anyhow for car and motorbike.
High school diploma? Was funny and joyful, but served at the end only for more qualifications.
Apprenticeship? Well, if I have to. Not a bad idea, but not a good or quaint one either.
Bachelor title? Cost a lot of time to receive at the end only a colorful certificate and nice ceremony.
Master title? Still a realistic goal to skim a bit of my own potential. Literally to do something off the cuff.
I have rarely been fed up or satisfied and have only quickly check marked the goal that has always been reached or sometimes even surpassed. The epigraph was always to hurry on and never rest on own success.
I even wanted to continue after my Master’s with a Doctor degree. But my former university in Spain artificially artificially extended the certification of my master’s degree in an unprecedented act of administrative chaos and professional inability. Hence, after three elapsed registration periods for a possible doctoral program at another university, I finally lost the desire to waste even more patience or time because of some dorks. Funny to mention at this point that I am still waiting for the official title after 2.5 years. Incredible!
Goals only exist to be accomplished. Nothing more. I was much more interested in intangible and immaterial dreams and abstract ideas. Having a dream in life is wonderful. You can color it imaginatively for yourself, always navigate onto it and enjoy it quietly and secretly without being affected by others.
A dreaming dog at a lagoon
Nobody can take away your dreams. But goals can be. It only needs one arbitrary and unprofessional decision maker or some administrational obstacles to cross your plans. These external factors can jeopardize your idea to accomplish the goal. Perhaps this was the reason why I could always build up a higher emotional level to dreams than goals. Because what is nicer than following my individual and perspective imagination of life?
Certainly not pursuing a goal and sharing a lecture hall with 100 fellow students, only to end up holding the same documentary wipe in my hands. This is more of a collective goal developed by society to create a certain claim against others. I prefer to stay with my individual dreams in me in my own hemisphere.
Of course, there are also people who advocate the exactly opposite perspective and dismiss dreams as lies. There’s nothing wrong or right about that. But if they don’t judge me, I won’t do the same.
I have often wondered how much a dream weighs. In contrast to a goal, a dream leaves a mental fingerprint and thus has a weight somewhere. The dream has to be stamped and located in a distant place in the brain and this naturally carries weight with it. A goal, on the other hand, is only achieved or not. But it has no mental burden comparable to a dream.
A baby having very active dreams
There are two dreams that I have followed and lived. One was fulfilled and the other was not. Am I physically heavier than before because of the dream came true?
Ziele im Leben zu setzen ist immer ein ambitioniertes Vorhaben. Ich habe mich nie ernsthaft um die Setzung neuer Ziele gerissen, aber auf der anderen Seite auch nie darum gescheut. Schließlich habe ich immerhin zwei Studiengänge erfolgreich mit Bravour gemeistert und immerhin drei Fremdsprachen fließend sprechen gelernt. Das kann sich natürlich durchaus sehen lassen und repräsentiert meiner Meinung nach das Erreichen von intrapersonellen Zielen.
Mich haben aber diese Ziele niemals mit Stolz erfüllt, weil ich keine Emotionalität dazu aufbauen konnte. Weder vor dem Erreichen des Ziels und danach schon gar nicht. Auch auf dem Wege dazu sah ich das Ziel eher als Mittel zum Zweck.
Führerschein? Braucht man nicht, um ein Auto lenken zu können. Lästige gesellschaftliche Pflicht zur individuellen Mobilität. Trotzdem für Auto und Motorrad gemacht.
Schulabschlüsse? War lustig und amüsant, aber diente nur der weiteren Qualifikation.
Ausbildung? Na gut, wenn es unbedingt sein muss. Keine schlechte Idee, aber auch kein ausgefallener Geistesblitz.
Bachelor? Kostete viel Zeit, brachte am Ende aber nur ein buntes Zertifikat und eine schöne Zeremonie.
Master? Ein bisschen was geht noch, kein unrealistisches Ziel. Nochmal die berühmte Schippe drauflegen und aus dem Ärmel schütteln.
Selten war ich satt oder gar zufrieden gestellt und habe das stets erreichte oder manchmal gar überflügelte Ziel schleunigst abgehakt. Hastig weiter machen wollen und nie auf einem Erfolg ausruhen war die Devise.
Ich wollte nach dem Mastertitel sogar noch einen Doktor dranhängen. Allerdings hat meine damalige Universität in Spanien in einem beispiellosen Akt an administrativem Chaos und professionellem Unvermögen die Zertifizierung meines Mastertitels derart künstlich in die Länge gezogen, dass mir nach drei verstrichenen Anmeldungsfristen für ein Doktorstudiengang irgendwann die Lust auf noch weitere Geduld, bzw. Zeitverschwendung vergangen ist. Lustig zu erwähnen an dieser Stelle, dass ich auch 2,5 Jahren nach erfolgreichem Abschluss noch immer auf den offiziellen Titel warte. Sachen gibt’s!
Ziele sind also nur da, um erreicht zu werden. Mehr aber nicht. Viel eher war ich an den immateriellen und nicht greifbaren Träumen und abstrakten Vorstellungsweisen interessiert. Einen Traum im Leben zu haben, ist etwas Wundervolles. Du kannst ihn für Dich persönlich imaginär ausmalen, Dich stets daran orientieren und ihn still und heimlich genießen.
Ein träumender Hund am Ufer einer Lagune
Träume kann Dir keiner nehmen. Ziele hingegen schon. Da muss nur irgendein Querulant von inkompetentem, bzw. willkürlichem Entscheidungsträger im Weg sein oder eine administrative Hürde und bürokratische Schikane aufgebaut werden. Schon ist das gesteckte Ziel wegen dieser externen Einflussfaktoren in Gefahr, erreicht werden zu können. Vielleicht war es dieser Grund, weshalb ich stets eine höhere Emotionalität zu Träumen als zu Zielen aufbauen konnte. Denn was ist schöner als meiner individuellen und perspektivischen Vorstellung zu folgen?
Mit Sicherheit keinem Ziel hinterherzuhecheln und sich mit 100 Kommilitonen einen Vorlesungssaal zu teilen, nur um am Ende den gleichen dokumentarischen Wisch in den Händen zu halten. Das ist eher ein kollektives und von der Gesellschaft entwickeltes Ziel um ein gewisses Anspruchsdenken zu entwickeln und indoktrinieren. Da bleibe ich lieber bei meinen individuellen Träumen vor meinem geistigen Auge.
Es gibt natürlich auch Menschen, die die exakt andere Sichtweise verfechten und Träume als Schäume abtun. Ist weder verkehrt, noch korrekt. Aber: “Jeder Jeck ist anders” wie der besoffene Kölner an Karneval grölt.
Ich habe mich oft gefragt, wie viel ein Traum wiegt. Im Gegensatz zu einem Ziel hinterlässt ein Traum irgendwo einen mentalen Fingerabdruck und damit Gewicht. Der Traum muss irgendwo im Gehirn abgestempelt und lokalisiert werden und das trägt natürlich naturgegeben Gewicht mit sich. Ein Ziel hingegen wird lediglich erfüllt oder auch nicht. Aber es besitzt keine vergleichbare mentale Last wie ein Traum.
Ein Baby träumt während seiner sehr aktiven Nachtruhe
Es gibt zwei Träume, die ich verfolgt und gelebt habe. Anhand diesen beiden Beispielen möchte ich dezidiert versinnbildlichen, was den Traum ihn mir ausgelöst und was er in mir bewirkt hat. Der eine Traum hat sich erfüllt und der andere nicht. Bin ich durch den in Erfüllung gegangenen Traum nun physikalisch schwerer geworden als vorher?
Fijar metas en la vida es siempre un proyecto ambicioso. Nunca luché seriamente para establecer nuevas metas, pero por otro lado, nunca lo evité. Después de todo, obtuve con éxito dos diplomas de estudios y aprendí a hablar al menos tres idiomas extranjeros con fluidez. Por supuesto, esto es bastante impresionante y al menos algo para decirme a mi mismo que alcancé mis objetivos individuales.
Sin embargo nunca sentí orgullo por haber alcanzado estos objetivos porque no pude construir ningún nivel emocional con respecto a ellos . Ni antes de llegar a la meta ni después. El proceso de alcanzar un objetivo, también lo percibí como un medio para un fin.
¿Licencia de conducir? No es necesario saber cómo conducir un automóvil. Es solo una fastidiosa obligación social para poder transportarse individualmente. De todos modos la obtuve para auto y moto.
¿Diploma de escuela secundaria? Fue divertido y alegre, pero sirvió al final sólo de requisito para poder continuar otros estudios .
¿Aprendizaje? Bueno, si tengo que hacerlo. No es una mala idea, pero tampoco es buena o pintoresca.
¿Título de bachillerato? Cuesta mucho tiempo por recibir al final solo un certificado colorido y una bonita ceremonia.
¿Título de Master?Sigue siendo un objetivo realista para aprovechar un poco mi propio potencial. Literalmente para hacer algo fuera del alcance.
Raramente me harto o estoy satisfecho y solo he marcado rápidamente el objetivo que siempre se ha alcanzado o, a veces, incluso superado. El epígrafe siempre fue apurarse y nunca descansar en el propio éxito.
Incluso quería continuar después de mi maestría con un doctorado Pero mi antigua universidad en España extendió artificialmente el proceso de la certificación de mi maestría en un acto de caos administrativo e incapacidad profesional inolvidable en mi vida. Por lo tanto, después de tres períodos transcurridos de registro para un posible programa de doctorado en otra universidad, finalmente perdí el deseo de perder aún más paciencia o tiempo debido a algunos burros. Es curioso mencionar en este punto que todavía estoy esperando el título oficial después de 2.5 años. ¡Increíble!
Las metas sólo existen para ser alcanzadas. Nada más. Estaba mucho más interesado en sueños intangibles e inmateriales e ideas abstractas. Tener un sueño en la vida es maravilloso. Puedes colorearlo imaginativamente para ti mismo, siempre conducirte hacia él y disfrútalo en silencio y en secreto sin que otros te afecten.
Un perro soñando en una laguna
Nadie puede quitarte tus sueños. Pero los objetivos pueden hacerlo. Sólo necesitas un arbitrario y poco profesional tomador de decisiones o algunos obstáculos administrativos para cambiar tus planes. Estos factores externos pueden poner en peligro tu idea para lograr el objetivo. Quizás esta fue la razón por la que siempre pude construir un nivel emocional más alto para los sueños que para los objetivos. Porque, ¿qué es más agradable que seguir mi imaginación y perspectiva individual de la vida?
Ciertamente, no perseguir una meta y compartir una sala de conferencias con 100 compañeros, solo para terminar sosteniendo la misma limpieza documental en mis manos. Este es más un objetivo colectivo desarrollado por la sociedad para crear un cierto reclamo contra los otros. Prefiero quedarme con mis sueños individuales en mí, en mi propio hemisferio.
Por supuesto, también hay personas que defienden la perspectiva exactamente opuesta y descartan los sueños como mentiras. No hay nada correcto o incorrecto al respecto o correcto en eso. Pero si ellos no me juzgan, yo no haré lo mismo.
A menudo me he preguntado cuánto pesa un sueño. En contraste con un objetivo, un sueño deja una huella mental y, por lo tanto, tiene un peso en alguna parte. El sueño tiene que ser estampado y ubicado en un lugar distante del cerebro y esto, naturalmente, conlleva peso. Un objetivo, por otro lado, solo se logra o no. Pero no tiene una carga mental comparable a un sueño.
Un bebé sueña activamente mientras esta durmiendo
Hay dos sueños que he seguido y vivido. Uno se cumplió y el otro no. ¿Soy físicamente más pesado que antes porque el sueño se hizo realidad?
Siguiendo la tendencia mundial de la oferta gastronómica móvil en forma de camiones de comida, hubo todo un festival organizado en Santo Domingo.No estoy seguro cuántas veces se había realizado anterior a esta. Unos días antes de su promoción en Instagram de la revista dominicana ‘Zoneo‘, que al mismo tiempo era el organizador del ‘Zoneo Fest 2019‘. Como amante, blogger y comedor de comida, era una necesidad para mi asistir y inspeccionar todo.El festival se llevó a cabo en la Zona Colonial, para ser más exactos en La FortalezaOzama.Me sorprendió este festival de comida callejera, en especial la buena comida que tenían allí.Por favor, recuéstesey disfrute de este artículo sobreZoneoFest 2019 ysusabrosa comida de la calle.
¿Qué es elZoneoFest?
A veces, los humanos son contradictorios e inconsistentes en sus aspiraciones.Por un lado, quieren tener todo lo barato y siempre disponible.Por otro lado, se esfuerzan por momentos exclusivos y experiencias personalizadas.Lo mismo ocurre con la comida.Siempre se puede elegir entre la solución barata y la comida rápida preparada o la comida costosa y las experiencias sabrosas en los restaurantes.Siempre me gusta pagar un poco más por la buena comida, pero no puedo hacer eso todo el tiempo.Por lo tanto, busco estos buenos y sabrosos momentos y ocasiones especiales, como elZoneo Fest.Este festival de camiones de comida y comida callejera se llevó a cabo durante dos días, el 29 y el 30 de junio. Gracias al área geográfica en el FuerteOzama, hubo suficiente espacio para muchas actividades de niños, pequeños mercados artesanales, un escenario musical y – por supuesto – los camiones de comida.
Many activities for children during the Zoneo festival
Un boleto de entrada cuesta 200 DOP y es válido para todo el día.Tuve la oportunidad de dejar el área del festival y volver ‘gratis’.Lo que estaba bien, porque pasar todo el día bajo el sol no fue placentero.No envidiaba a los operadores de camiones de comida, que prepararon la comida durante todo el día cuando estaba a 95 ° F (35 ° C) de calor. Y también estan sufriendo del calor de sus hornos, chimeneas y cocinas a gas que estaban usando…
Por supuesto, no he tuve la oportunidad de probar todas las comidas en el festival.No era una cuestión de hambre, porque puedo comer como un elefante si quiero.Es más una cuestión de presupuesto porque la comida buena y de calidad tiene su precio.Por lo tanto, tuve que seleccionar sabiamente lo que debería intentar.Con algunos camiones de comida, fue una decisión fácil.Aquí puedes encontrar mis degustaciones y por qué hubo buenas o malas:
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Doughnuts de alta tecnología
Uno de los argumentos para los camiones de comida es poder observar su preparación.Un pequeño puesto ofrecía donas de alta tecnología con una forma de preparación que no había visto antes:
¡Realmente divertido ver todo el proceso lineal de preparación de donas en vivo y encolor!
No solo la preparación cruda de los donuts, sino también el refinamiento gastronómico, fue digno de ver:
¡Nunca vi una preparación más dedicada y encantadora de Donuts!
Comida venezolana: CasitaVenezolana
La cocina venezolana no me es desconocida, pero hasta ahora solo había tenido muy pocas oportunidades para probar su comida.No sé mucho de la comida venezolana, pero me alegraría mucho que alguien me presente y me invite un día a tener una conversación profunda sobre su comida.¡Incluso mejor que hablar de su comida sería cocinar e intentarlo juntos!
Lo único que probé antes de este festival fueArepas.No estoy 100% seguro de que sea un plato original colombiano o venezolano, pero lo asocio con Venezuela.Todos los colombianos deberían ser indulgentes conmigo si no les concedo que lasArepas sean comida colombiana.Si desea convencerme de su patrimonio nacional, prepareme una versión colombiana deArepas.
Visité el puesto de comida ‘CasitaVenezolana‘ y pedí, por supuesto,Arepacon carne.
‘Casita Venezolana’ offered food from Venezuela
Un saludo a todos los venezolanos del mundo!
Greets to all the nice people I know from Venezuela!
Las arepasconsisten en masa de maíz molida y mi versión estaba llena de carne molida y queso.Me olvido de preguntar qué tipo de queso era.Pero no estaba fundido y todavía tenía una consistencia sólida.
This picture was captioned a few moments before biting in the Arepa
Todavía bueno, todavía sabroso.Si tiendes a tener hambre y buscas un verdadero relleno de estómago.Me encantaría aprender más sobre la cocina venezolana.Hasta el momento, solo conozco su comida rápida o para comer con los dedos, ¡pero me encantaría probar más!
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Comida peruana: comida callejera peruana
Para mí, personalmente, lo que más destacado del festival desde mi perspectiva fue la comida peruana.Los niños pueden preferir el castillo de gorila, y los bebedores las barras de ron.Pero como amante de la comida, debes amar la comida peruana. Pasé casi un año y medio de mi vida y tuve la alegría de conocer la mejor cocina del mundo.Pueden encontrar los artículos anteriores en mi base de datos, pero me gustaría recomendar un artículo en particular a todos los lectores para que lo lean más adelante. Podría tener una idea, por qué la comida peruana es la mejor comida del mundo.
Escribí varios artículos sobre comida peruana, tal vez mi percepción es un poco parcial y otros camiones de comida no tuvieron las mismas oportunidades justas para convencer a mi estómago hambriento.Sin embargo, Luis Pacheco maneja este pequeño camión de comida y se puede encontrar en elMalecón.Preparó el ceviche ORIGINAL PERUANO de lo que me estaba perdiendo desde la última vez que lo probé en los mercados callejeros de Lima.
Luis invirtió no solo una gran dedicación y esfuerzo para preparar una buena comida, sino que también utiliza ingredientes peruanos originales.Bueno, salvo el pescado y el limón.Pero todas las especias y salsas son 100% de calidad peruana.Echa un vistazo a cómo hacer el ceviche peruano.
A picture with the Peruvian Chef Luis Pacheco from ‘Peru Street Food’ during the Zoneo Fest 2019. Dishes, ingredients, and decoration were 100% Peruvian!
Anunció que también tendrá el domingo elAnticucho.Esa fue mi principal razón para regresar al festival.¿Dónde más tengo la oportunidad en este país caribeño de probar el corazón de una vaca?A muchas personas les puede parecer inquietante comer el corazón de una vaca, pero no sabes lo que extrañas si rechazas esta maravillosa comida.
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Para mí, el número uno de todos!
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The original Peruvian speciality ‘Anticucho’ (The heart of a cow – no joke)
Comida china / estadounidense (?) –Omnifoodie
A picture of the food stand from ‘Omnifoodie’
No estoy muy seguro de qué tipo de comida era.En comparación con los anteriores, su nacionalidad no estaba clara.Afilié las bolas de masa hervida (que ordené) con la cocina asiática, pero todos los demás ingredientes tienden a ser chinos o estadounidenses.Sospecho que se trata de un puesto de comida chino / estadounidense, aunqueno habíagente que pareciera china y no estaba definida al 100%.
De todos modos, probé susdumblings:
I ordered their ‘potstickers’ – Without reading ‘dumplings’, I wouldn’t have known what to expect from that dish.
Dumplings with a homemade sauce
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De hecho, pagué 250 DOP (que es $ 5.00) por cuatro pequeñas bolas de masa.Esa es la trampa de turismo de alimentos más triste que pisé desde que estoy aquí en la República Dominicana.El sabor era bueno y la salsa hecha a mano, pero ¿son 4 albóndigas que realmente valen $ 5?Eso es $ 1.25 cada bola de masa.La próxima vez Dumb Phil preguntara, ¡cuántas unidades de bola de masa están incluidas en ese menú!
Para terminar la noche con una sabrosa gota, pedí la cerveza negra Oettinger:
Original German Black Beer
En general, fue un festival genial y bastante bien organizado.Ojalá hubiera tenido aún más variedad de camiones de comida, pero estaba bien.Las únicas cosas menores que tendría que criticar serían las siguientes:
•El inicio oficial del festival fue a las 12 am. Pero incluso a las 3 pm, algunos puestos aún no estaban habilitados y, por lo tanto, la comida no estaba lista.
• No vi la posibilidad de pagar las entradas para los dos días.
•¡Más comida y bebida dominicana, por favor!Vi muchas variedades internacionales emocionantes y elegantes, pero muy pocas especialidades locales 🙂
La comida peruana es mundialmente famosa y especial. Elogié en un artículo antes el gusto de la cocina peruana. Escribí un articulo en Inglés sobre mis 10 platos favoritos del país andino. Definitivamente vale la pena leerlo cuando tendrías más tiempo. Mejor vamos a continuar con este artículo sobre el famoso jugo especial de Peru.
The Peruvian kitchen is world famous and a culinary delight for even the most critical gourmets. During my time in Peru I had the joy to discover a lot of brilliant flavors, aromatic spices and tasty sauces in a variety of excellent dishes. Therefore, it’s not an accident, that the Peruvian kitchen is seen as the…
Pero ¿qué pasa con las bebidas peruanas, también pueden ser especiales? ¿Y es una buena idea llamar a un batido un ‘Jugo Especial’? Y aún más importante: ¿Que hace realmente especial al “Jugo Especial” peruano? Durante uno de mis últimos días en Perú, estaba visitando uno de los muchos mercados en Lima. Lo que realmente me gusta de este tipo de mercados no son solo los precios bajos que paga por todo tipo de alimentos básicos. No, es aún mejor, que muchos pequeños empresarios manejan sus negocios de forma independiente y venden lo que las personas necesitan. En comparación con las grandes cadenas de supermercados nacionales como Plaza Vea, Tottus y Wong, uno tiene este enfoque de cliente individual y también apoya la comida local.
Multicentro La Capullana en Surco
Sin embargo, el ‘Multicentro La Capullana’ se encuentra en la Avenida Ramón Castilla en Santiago de Surco. Muy cerca de mi antiguo alojamiento y a menos de 10 minutos a pie. Me gustaba caminar por las mañanas o a media mañana y comprar algunas cosas que necesitaba. Desde el exterior, no lo reconoces ó parece realmente como un mercado, o (como dicen) un “multicentro”:
Pero desde el interior te quedarás definitivamente encantado con todos los fruteros, verduleros, carniceros, comerciantes en general, etc. y sus verduras, frutas y otros productos frescos que venden. Lo que realmente me gustó fue su esfuerzo por diseñar sus productos de una manera presentable:
Realmente no sé cuánto tiempo pasó con equilibrar y ordenar todas las fresas, pero realmente respeto el esfuerzo para que acomodarlos bien. Si recuerdo de todos los paquetes de plástico que usamos en Europa para tener la cantidad correcta y mantenerlos duraderos, siempre preferiré esta versión fresca e individual.
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¿Jugo especial? ¿Por qué especial?
No obstante, todas mis visitas a este mercado procedieron cronológicamente de la misma manera. Entré en el mercado y antes de comenzar a comprar todo tipo de cosas bonitas, me paraba en la pequeña tienda junto a la entrada para obtener un jugo recién exprimido. Aquí puede tener las mezclas más sanas de todo tipo de frutas exóticas y genéricas. Usualmente prefería los de durazno y mandarinas / naranjas. La mayoría de los prejuicios y preocupaciones de este tipo de mercados en los países de América del Sur son que el nivel de higiene es más bajo que los estándares en los países europeos y occidentales y que es más fácil recibir algunas bacterias debido a condiciones de suciedad. Debo decir que este prejuicio no está justificado, porque nunca vi un nivel de higiene estándar más alto por parte de todos los demás que antes me estaban sirviendo un jugo:
Pero un jugo en su menú fue simplemente llamado “Jugo especial” sin ninguna explicación adicional. Esto ya me dio curiosidad, porque quieres saber por supuesto qué tiene de especial este zumo, respectivamente, cuales ingredientes hacen que este zumo sea especial. Era más caro que todos los otros jugos y eso me llamó la atención también. Es por eso que pedí un “Jugo Especial”.
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Lo que realmente hace que este jugo sea un jugo especial
No fueron las frutas como la papaya, la fresa y el plátano. Mi curiosidad fue saciada cuando observé a la dama preparando mi jugo especial. Ella puso muchas cosas inusuales en la licuadora, que la mayoría de la gente preferiría usar para preparar pasteles. Junto a un torrente de leche de vaca y un huevo (!), Llenó un almíbar de algarrobo negro, miel de abeja natural y esencia de vainilla. Se agregó un chorro de cerveza negra (!!) para redondear todo y agregar aún más calorías. Solo para estar seguro, que no me moriré de hambre después de tomarlo.
De la antigua expectativa de un jugo puro, me presentaron ahora un híbrido de batido de leche / bomba de calorías. No solo la existencia pura me dejó sin palabras, sino que también fue la mera cantidad. Pagué por un “Jugo Especial” y casi obtuve un litro de bebida exagerada. Por supuesto, era demasiado para un vaso, por eso la señora lo puso en dos vasos grandes. Muy generosos estos peruanos!
Si quieres escuchar mi opinión gourmet, escucha el siguiente video:
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Una extraña explosión de sabores entró en mis sentidos, afrutada, dulce, cremosa y sabrosa al mismo tiempo. Para no insultar al barman, me vi obligado a terminar los dos vasos. No quería ser grosero al salir de la tienda después de tomarlo. Pero después de tomar ambos vasos, ya tenía suficientes calorías para dos comidas y me tambaleé a casa con una sensación de saciedad.
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Peruvian food is world famous and special. I lauded in an article before the HQ-tastiness of the Peruvian kitchen. If you have some additional time, you should definitely read the following article about my top 10 Peruvian dishes:
The Peruvian kitchen is world famous and a culinary delight for even the most critical gourmets. During my time in Peru I had the joy to discover a lot of brilliant flavors, aromatic spices and tasty sauces in a variety of excellent dishes. Therefore, it’s not an accident, that the Peruvian kitchen is seen as the…
But what about Peruvian beverages, can they also be special? And is it a good idea to call a shake a ‘Special Juice’?
During one of my last days in Peru, I was visiting one of many street markets in Lima. What I really like from these types of markets are not only the minor prices you pay for all sorts of staple food. No, it’s even better, that many small entrepreneurs run their independently business and sell whatever people need. In comparison to the big national supermarket chains Plaza Vea, Tottus and Wong, you have this individual customer approach and support local food as well.
Multicentro La Capullana
However, the ‘Multicentro La Capullana’ is located on Avenida Ramón Castilla in Santiago de Surco. Very close to my former accommodation and less than 10 minutes walking distance away. I liked to walk there in the mornings or mid-mornings and buy a few things I need. From the outside, you don’t really recognize it as a market, or (as they say) a ‘multicentro’:
But from the inside you will be definitely delighted about all the fruiterers, green-grocers, butchers, general dealers, etc. and their fresh and promising vegetables, fruits and other goods they sell. What I really like was their effort to design their commodities in a presentable way:
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I don’t really know, how much time she spent with balancing and ordering all the strawberries, but I really respect her efforts to let it look good. If I remember all the plastic packages we use in Europe to have the right quantity and keep them durable, I will always prefer this version.
¿Jugo especial? Why special?
Nonetheless, every of my visits at this market proceeded chronologically the same. I entered the market and before I started to buy randomly all sorts of nice things, I stopped at the little store next to the entry to obtain a freshly pressed juice. Here you could have the healthiest mixes of all sorts of exotic and generic fruits. I usually preferred the ones with peach and mandarins/oranges.
Most of the prejudices and concerns of these types of markets in South American countries are, that the level of hygiene is lower than the standards in European and Western countries and that it is easier to pick up some bacteria due to dirty conditions. I must say, that this prejudice is unjustified, because I never saw a higher standard level of hygiene from everyone else who was serving me a juice before:
But one mixed juice on their menu was simply called “Jugo especial” (special juice) without any further explication. Already this made me curious, because you want to find out, what is so special about this juice, respectively which ingredients make this juice special. It was more expensive than all other juices and that raised as well my attention. That’s why I ordered one “Jugo Especial”.
What really makes this juice a special juice
It was not the fruits like papaya, strawberry and banana. My curiosity got satisfied when I observed the lady preparing my special juice. She put a lot of unusual things into the blender, that most people would rather use to prepare pastries. Next to a torrent of cow milk and an egg (!), she filled in syrup of black carob tree, natural bee honey and vanilla extract. A shot of black beer (!!) was added to round it all up and admix even more calories. Just to be sure, that I won’t starve after drinking.
From the former expectation of a pure juice, I was presented now a milkshake/calorie bomb hybrid. Not only the pure existence made me speechless, it was also the sheer quantity. I paid for one “Jugo Especial” and almost got one litre of an overblown drink. It was of course too much for one glass, that’s why the lady put it into two big glasses. Very generous these Peruvians!
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If you want to hear my gourmet judgement, please listen to the following video:
A weird explosion of tastes entered my senses, fruity and sweet and creamy and savoury at the same time. To not insult the barkeeper, I was kind of obliged to finish both glasses. Didn’t want to be rude to leave the store after one drink. But after incorporating both glasses, I had already enough calories for two meals and lurched home with a surfeited feeling in my paunch.
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¿Con qué frecuencia usé esta pequeña rima simple para “impresionarla”? No lo recuerdo, pero se desarrolló como una palabra alada. Incluso después de la 4,328 vez, ella todavía reprimió su molestia y se mantuvo amistosa con una sonrisa más amplia y blanca que jamás ví en mi vida.
Entonces, ¿quién es Su? ¿Quién es esta mujer con el nombre más corto del mundo? Tuve la oportunidad de conocerla en 2014 en Lima, fue en realidad la primera muestra peruana que vi en mi vida. Y cuando la vi por primera vez en el largo vestido de cóctel bailando en el césped del jardín del apartamento en el que me acababa de mudar, nunca hubiera esperado que la mantuviera como una buena y cercana amiga mía.
Fue difícil mantenerse en contacto en 2014, porque mi semestre en el extranjero en Lima fue una experiencia desenfrenada para mí, con muchos encuentros de corta duración. Por lo tanto, uno nunca sabe durante el primer semestre en el extranjero y la primera vez en otro continente, quiénes son las personas con las que puede contar y con las que vale la pena mantenerse en contacto.
Y Su definitivamente valió la pena y también fue la razón por la que visité las clases de Muay Thai. Practiqué algunas lecciones con ella los lunes por la mañana a las 7 am (!!),porque esta clase era la única coincidencia para encontrarnos. Como estudiante en el extranjero, debes comprender cuánta dedicación significa sacrificar un lunes por la mañana para que una chica te dé una paliza en una clase de Muay Thai.
Eres bienvenida Su, incluso años después. No hay necesidad de agradecerme por eso 😉
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A lo largo de los años nos mantuvimos en contacto y cuando regresaba a Lima después de cuatro años, el destino nos unió, a ella y a mí nuevamente. Me ofreció quedarme un par de días en su apartamento, mientras buscaba un lugar propio para quedarme en Lima. Casualmente, uno de sus compañeras de piso dijo un día después de mi llegada en enero de 2018, que se quería mudar del apartamento y coincidencias de la vida, ¡de repente había espacio disponible para mí!
Durante todos los años en el extranjero, viví con muchas personas juntas y cada una tiene sus propios hábitos. Algunos son más sociales, mientras que otros solo piensan en sí mismos. Susan era y es una persona…) muy social y me ayudó varias veces a salir de las miserias y problemas peruanos. Ella me integró bien en sus círculos de amigos y conocidos e incluso me presentó a los miembros de su familia. En comparación con la cultura familiar relajada de Europa Central, significa mucho, si eres bienvenido de una familia de amigos.
‘El camino de Susan’
¿Una fiesta, party, celebración y evento en Barranco sin Susan? ¡No imaginable! Durante mis siete meses en Lima, salimos juntos varias veces y nos divertimos mucho con la extraña y alegre población de Barranco. Mientras escribo el texto me estoy riendo de nuevo sobre todas las personas y abogados divertidos que conocimos durante las noches 😉
“El camino de Susan” se estableció por primera vez gracias a ella y luego se convirtió en un famoso tour nocturno Limeño. Si alguna vez alguien tiene la oportunidad de pasar algunos días en Lima, debe intentar de planificar un fin de semana allí. A Susan le gustaría guiarlos todos los viernes a partir de las 11 pm en “La noche de Barranco”. Debido a los mejores contactos con la vida nocturna, ella podrá conseguir unas mesas en cualquier momento, sin importar que lleno esté el salon. Para ella, es el bar el lugar perfecto para liberarse de la semana laboral de estrés e incluso celebró su cumpleaños allí.
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Alrededor de las 3 am del día siguiente, el tour continuará a un lugar super secreto llamado “El Bar de Nico”, al que solo se puede acceder para una cantidad limitada y selecta. Pero no se preocupen: Allí también tiene algunos buenos contactos disponibles para abrir las puertas secretas de uno de los mejores lugares del distrito.
Bailando con una sonrisa
Cuando otras personas toman sus bebidas o hablan entre ellas, ella es la única persona en la pista de baile que siempre está en movimiento. Susan baila. Susan sonríe. Susan baila y sonríe al mismo tiempo. Ella es feliz y otras personas también se alegran al observarla.
Normalmente hay una canción que te hace bailar. Susan y yo también tenemos una canción favorita. Es ‘El Baile y el Salon’ de Cafe Tacuba. Sentí como una ignición, cada vez que escuchábamos esa canción. Ella definitivamente quería bailar, cuando los tocadiscos tragamonedas tocaba esta canción.
Por supuesto, no hay una sola canción, que la hace querer moverse. Ni siquiera se necesita estar fuera de casa. Susan es una persona que puede bailar en casi todas partes, la única premisa es la música alta:
How often did I use this simple and amateurish little rhyme to ‘impress’ her? I can’t remember, but it developed as a winged word and even after the 4,328 time she still suppressed her annoyance and remained friendly with a smile showing the widest and whitest smile I have ever seen in my life.
Soooo, who is Su? Who is this woman with the shortest name of the world? I had the opportunity to meet her in 2014 in Lima, she was actually the first Peruvian specimen I saw in my life. And when I first saw her in the long cocktail dress dancing on the grass in the garden of the apartment I just moved in, I could’ve never expected to keep her as a good and close friend of mine.
It was difficult to remain in contact in 2014, because my semester abroad in Lima was a wild and rampant experience for me with a lot of short-time encounters. Hence you never know during your first semester abroad and at the first time in another continent, who are the people you can count on and worth to keep in touch with.
And Su was definitely worth it and was as well the reason why I visited Muay Thai classes. I practiced a few lessons with her on Monday mornings at 7am (!!), because that was the only timely overlap we could visit this class. As a student abroad, you should comprehend, how much dedication it means to sacrifice a Monday morning to get your ass kicked in a Muay Thai class by a girl.
You’re welcome Su, even years later. No need to thank me for that 😉
Over the years we kept in contact and when I was going back to Lima after four years, destiny put her and me together again. She offered me to stay for a couple of days in her apartment, whilst I was looking for an own place to stay in Lima. Coincidentally, one of her roommates said one day after my arrival in January 2018, that she wanted to move out the apartment and as coincidence commanded, there was suddenly room for me available!
During all the years abroad I lived with a lot of people together and every single one has his or her distinct habits. Some are more social, whereas others only think for themselves. Susan was (and is) a very social personality and helped me several times out of Peruvian miseries and troubles. She integrated me well in her circles of friends and acquaintances and even introduced me to her family members. Compared to the lax Central European family culture, it means quite a lot, if you are welcomed from a friends’ family.
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‘El camino de Susan’
A fiesta, party, celebration, happening and event in Barranco without Susan? Unimaginable! During my seven months in Lima, we went out together several times and had a lot of fun with the weird and tipsy population of Barranco. Meanwhile I am writing the text, I am laughing loud again about all the funny people and lawyers we met during the nights 😉
‘El camino de Susan’ was first established by her and got lather then promoted to a famous Limeñan nightlife tour. If you ever have the chance to spend some days in Lima, please try to plan a weekend there. Susan would be very happy to guide you every Friday from 11pm at ‘La noche de Barranco’. Due to best contacts with the nightlife, she will be able to get a table for you anytime, no matter how full the scenery will be. For her, it is the perfect bar to let loose from the stress work week and she even celebrated her birthday there.
Around 3am of the consequent day, the tour will be continued to a top-secret location called ‘El Bar de Nico’, that only can be reached from a limited and selected amount of people. But no worries: There she has certain good contacts available as well to open up the secret doors of one of the top spots of the district.
Dancing with a smile
When other people are sipping from their drinks or talking with each other, she is the one person on the dance floor, who is always in motion. Susan dances. Susan smiles. Susan dances and smiles at the same time. She is happy and other people get happy as well observing her.
There is usually that one song, that makes you wanna dance. Susan and me have a favorite song together as well. It is ‘El Baile y el Salon’ from Cafe Tacuba. Felt like an ignition, every time we listened to that song. She definitely wanted to dance, when the jukebox played this song.
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Of course, there is not this single song, that makes her wanna move. It’s not even needed to be out of home. Susan is a person, who can dance almost everywhere, the only premiss is loud music:
El Ojo Bermúdez
Unfortunately, the Peruvian national soccer team was only allowed to play three matches in Russia during the World Cup 2018. That’s why the most of my international readers probably won’t understand the following joke fully. But there is a funny little striker in the team called Edinson Flores. He was called several times during their matches from the TV-commentator ‘El Oreja Flores’, because of the following reason:
Although it might not seem nice, to reduce this player to his outstanding and obvious hearing organ, it became during the matches something like a running gag and welcome addition to entertain the audience. When Susan and me were going out at night, something very unusual happened to her sensory organs as well, but not to the ears. It was more her eyes, who didn’t really want to behave as she wanted to behave. Especially her right one:
Susan doesn’t like violence. But once, she looked like she was beaten and had something like an infection on her eyelid. That exacerbated her generic ‘problem’ with her eye and made it even more distinct:
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The crazy cat lady
Although Susan told me, that she doesn’t want to have kids, she is already a mother. Her brood are two impertinent and gorgeous cats, whereof one is a very hoggish specimen. I once wrote an article about the cat and also produced a video. You should definitely check it out – Then you know her cats and that the cats love her and seek always her presence. Especially a warm body to sleep.
Do you know this character from the Simpsons who is throwing with cats at strangers? The crazy cat lady? Definitely I can see parallels and am concerned, that flying cats will be used in Lima as weapon. Especially her obese tomcat Lugh can become a weapon and tear down an opponent with his weight. If you are walking at Avenida Paseo La Castellana in Surco, you should wear a helmet.
Susan is a snow first-timer
Did you ever see snow falling yourself? Smelled it? Felt its cool temperature, that numbs your fingers? I am always surprised, if my friends and acquaintances from South America have the desire and longing to know how it feels to touch snow?
If you grew up in Central Europe, you get annoyed by snow sooner or later in life. As a child, you may love snow for all its appealing additional bonuses like snowball fights, building snowmen and outages of classes. If you are older, you hate to freeze and the terrible traffic jams caused by snow.
I am very glad to be the one who shared Susan’s first experience with snow. Somehow there is not a difference between a little girl and a grown-up lady. If they see both snow for the first time, they don’t really know what to do. Later they dare to dare and touch it and get used to the unique texture of the frozen water. Finally, they have fun and can’t stop touching it.
A lot of good Sundays
If we didn’t finish devastated at 6am (or later!) at the bars of Barranco, we usually spent a lot of great Sundays together. Mostly eating good food in Cevicherias, watching preparation matches of the Peruvian squad for the World Cup or visit some far neighborhoods in and around Lima to pass a great day before preparing for the next working week.
A few very nice Sundays I put together in the slideshow below:
So much fun is such less time
I have actually so much more funny stuff and stories to tell about her, that I sometimes forget how confident they are exactly. Maybe it’s better sometimes to keep quiet and enjoy thinking about these funny moments. But there are a lot of other good moments that I captured with my phone to tell a story:
My plan was to go to a Sushi restaurant, order the ‘All you can eat’-menu and eat at least 100 Makis. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it due to different reasons and only highscored 91. But Susan came with me and helped me emotionally with that big challenge. I’m proud to have finally found someone, who supports my gluttony!
But it’s not always about quantity and ‘All you can eat’. Especially in Peru – a country that celebrates eating – you can find a lot of high quality food. These dishes are actually so heavily tasty, that you don’t want to leave a single piece or drop on your plate, before the waiter comes to clean up the table. Su would like to show you in the following video, that table manners are in Peru defined as followed:
Believe it or not, but that’s pretty normal in Peru. And maybe also in a lot of other countries of the world. But the difference is probably to usually not do that in public 😉
If someone nourishes herself with good food, she should be also in a healthy state:
Next to cats, she has also a heart for plastic giraffes and the brightest smile I have ever seen:
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What a powerful lady!
The more I think about Susan, the more respect I have for her and the way she is able to manage her life. It’s not easy to live as a woman alone and independently in this world. But trying the same in South America and in a macho dominated culture how she has to face it every day in Peru lets me compel respect from her. Especially if Lugh eats up the half of her monthly budget.
It is a sad thing in life, if you don’t know for sure, when or if you are able to see each other again, isn’t it? I think, that it is.
Sometimes, the ways of two different people cross each other surprisingly again. Same happened after all with our first reencounter in January 2018. But when will be the second reencounter? And where? And why? It definitely won’t be for wedding or birth-related happenings, that’s for sure. Neither she nor I have any intention to follow the mainstream rules and rather want to live an individual life.
But one thing I know for sure. No matter when we are meeting each other again or how long it may take to see each other again. I am pretty sure, that we will still have the same trust and faith in each other, still laugh about the same childish jokes and still the same deep and profound conversations about life and all its challenges. I miss talking to her. She was like a big sister to me, who I never had.
Ich habe mich entschieden, den folgenden Artikel über Pozuzo in Deutsch zu verfassen. Hurra! Holdrio! Donnerlüttchen!
Schild am Ortseingang von Pozuzo
Gleichzeitig stellt dieser Artikel somit ein Novum auf meinem Blog dar, da ich bisher lediglich in Englisch und Spanisch schrieb. Ich erhoffe mir dadurch natürlich einerseits das Interesse meiner Freunde, Familienmitglieder und alten Weggefährten, die eventuell weder mit Englisch noch Spanisch mithalten können, bzw. dann an der Fremdsprache schnell das Interesse verlieren. Zum anderen jedoch glaube ich, dass ich diesmal um die ein oder andere deutschsprachige Vokabel nicht herumkomme, denn was ich auf meinen knapp zwei Tagen in Pozuzo erleben durfte sprengt die Vorstellungskraft eines jeden Lesers.
Um den Artikel so authentisch wie möglich zu halten, nahm ich mir sehr viel Zeit bei der Erstellung. Sie, werter Leser, benötigen ebenfalls ein gewisses Zeitpolster, bis Sie mit allen Texten, Bildern und Videos durch sind. Nun aber genug der einleitenden Schwafelei: Lehnen Sie sich zurück und tauchen Sie mit mir in ein bizarres Reiseziel ein, das Sie sich nicht einmal in Ihren kühnsten Träumen hätten vorstellen können.
WAS MACHT EIN REISEZIEL EINZIGARTIG?
Diese Frage gilt übrigens nicht nur für Reiseziele, sondern praktisch für jedes Produkt oder jeden Service. Aus Marketingsicht wird immer gerne der U.S.P. (Unique Selling Proposition) verwendet, also das Alleinstellungsmerkmal, das einen Wettbewerbsvorteil eines Produktes gegenüber seiner Konkurrenz darbietet. Gewiefte Marketing- und Kommunikationsstrategen versuchen daher zuhauf, einen U.S.P. in ihr Produkt in Form von Vokabeln wie „einzigartig“, „ausschließlich“ oder „einmalig“ kommunikativ zu untermauern.
Die Realität sieht jedoch anders aus, liebe Freunde. In Wirklichkeit gibt es gar nicht so viele einzigartige Produkte zu erwerben, wie sie denn kommuniziert werden. Erst Recht nicht, seitdem die Globalisierung den problemlosen Import indischer und chinesischer Schrott-Imitate ermöglichte. Aber das ist ein anderes Thema.
Gleiches gilt ebenfalls für Tourismusdestination. Möglicherweise hat auch Ihnen die gelernte Reiseverkehrskauffrau im lokalen Reisebüro bereits weismachen wollen, dass Sie diese eine Reise, die Ihnen überteuert angedreht werden soll, ein einzigartiges Reiseziel darstellt. Der naive Idealist mag zwar auf einen solchen Trick reinfallen und die Reise buchen, bevor es zu spät ist. Wohingegen der kühle Realist feststellen wird, dass es möglicherweise auch in anderen Ländern Strände, Berge, Wälder, Tiere und Hotels gibt, wie es der Urlaubskatalog verspricht.
Und Recht hat er! Es gibt nur wenige generische, einzigartige Reiseziele auf der Welt, die von Mutter Natur selbst geformt wurden. Und selbst falls das einmal der Fall sein sollte, so war es bestimmt nicht die Absicht von Mutter Natur, dass der Mensch ihre natürlich erschaffenen Ressourcen als Reiseziel auslobt, um diese dann kapitalistisch auszubeuten und zu verwüsten.
Meistens sind dann diese Reiseziele von Menschenhand erschaffen, wie das teuerste Luxushotel oder das höchste Bauwerk der Welt. Aber was, wenn man mal von den vielen einzigartigen olympischen Disziplinen á la „Höher, Schneller und Weiter“ absieht und nach kulturellen, bzw. herkunftsbedingten Merkmalen sucht?
POZUZO IST DIE EINZIGE ÖSTERREICHISCHE KOLONIE DER WELT
Ich hatte die Gelegenheit, ein Reiseziel kennen lernen zu dürfen, das den Titel „einzigartig“ mehr als gerechtfertigt verdient hat. In Peru gibt es die einzige österreichische Kolonie der Welt. Da kommen Sie womöglich ins Zweifeln und auch mir ging es beim ersten Mal genauso.
Wir haben ja alle schon einmal etwas von den vielen französischen, niederländischen und britischen Kolonien gehört. Die Spanische Krone hat vor knapp 500 Jahren gar einen halben Kontinent unterjocht und kolonialisiert. Aber wie um alles in der Welt haben es denn die Österreicher geschafft eine Kolonie zu gründen? Noch dazu als Binnenland auf dem europäischen Kontinent ohne eigenen Hafen?
Hierzu empfehle ich das folgende YouTube-Video, das ihnen komprimiert die wichtigsten Fakten vermitteln wird:
Jenes Video sollte einen ersten groben Eindruck dessen vermitteln, was ich in dem kleinen Dörflein selbst erleben durfte. Allerdings habe ich mich nach Betrachrtung des Videos natürlich wie so oft über die deutsche Lügenpresse, verfälschte Berichte, schlechte Recherchen und mangelhaften Journalismus geärgert.
So auch diesmal, denn eine Vielzahl der von der Redaktion von Galileo vorgestellten Informationen sind geschönt, nicht authentisch oder schlichtweg falsch. Wie so oft wird dann dem Zuschauer – hier diesmal von Pro7 – ein falsches Bild vorgegaukelt, was leider nicht den Tatsachen entspricht. Dies soll natürlich nicht ungesühnt bleiben und wurde mit einem saftigen und deutlichen Kommentar meinerseits zu dem Video sanktioniert:
Anstatt des überbezahlten Moderators Harro Füllgrabe hätte ich selbige Rundführung für Galileo völlig kostenlos gemacht, wäre authentischer rübergekommen und hätte niemals so viel unwahres Zeug dahergeschwafelt. Und viel schlechter als der Moderator sehe ich auch nicht aus!
Wer sich also bis hierhin alle Informationen angeschaut und durchgelesen hat, dem sei gesagt, dass es noch nicht zu spät ist: Eine Umkehr zum seelenlosen Massenmedium ist noch stets möglich und Sie dürfen gerne das Schäfchen bleiben, dass dem Pro7-Massenmedium bedenkenlos folgt und alles glaubt, was ihm vorgezeigt wird. Möchten Sie aber dem Pro7-Schäfer abtrünnig werden, aus der Herde ausbrechen und einen Insider-Report über die einzige österreichische Kolonie der Welt nach authentischen Maßstäben lesen, der mit einem Kommunikationsstil á la ‘frei von der Leber weg’ serviert wird, so dürfen Sie gerne weiterlesen. Kleinere Rechtschreibfehlerchen natürlich inklusive!
Es la primera vez que intento escribir un artículo en mi blog en español. Para mí, es algo difícil de hacer, porque no es mi lengua materna. Por lo general, escribo en mi blog en el inglés para llegar a un público amplio. Aunque el inglés no es mi lengua materna tampoco, lo hablo con fluidez y sé cómo escribirlo después de muchos años escolares, estudios y trabajos internacionales.
Nunca aprendí español en la escuela, pero visité algunos cursos básicos aquí y allá durante un par de meses, pero nunca leí un libro en español, etc. Para mí, fue más ‘aprender haciendo’ y obtuve todo mi conocimiento de mis tiempos en Perú, Ecuador, Paraguay y España teniendo conversaciones y escuchando.
Nunca tuve la oportunidad de escribir un texto profundo en español. Ahora hay una oportunidad y me gustaría alcanzar a todos mis amigos y conocidos que hice durante mis tiempos en Sudamérica para compartir algunas líneas. Tal vez por lo general no leen mis artículos, porque están en inglés. Quizás porque nunca hay suficiente tiempo libre en nuestras vidas estresantes para leer un artículo. Para mí ya es un honor si continúas leyendo hasta aquí. Y si tiene unos minutos más de tiempo, me gustaría profundizar en mis pensamientos y recuerdos.
El primer contacto con América del Sur tuve en 2014:
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Era febrero y aterricé en Lima para hacer un semestre en el extranjero durante mis estudios de ‘Marketing internacional’. Para mí fue la primera vez que salí de Europa y pasé tanto tiempo fuera de casa. A pesar de que tenía 26 años, no era realmente maduro y no tenía idea de lo que estaba pasando en un continente diferente y cómo es la vida en una metrópolis en el otro extremo del mundo. No sabía nada de Perú, excepto Machu Picchu, Lamas y algunos futbolistas que jugaban para los equipos europeos.
Aparte de eso, era un completo principiante y novato. Pero aprendí rápido.
Lo que aprendí fueron las diferencias entre Europa y Sudamérica en términos de disfrutar la vida. Música rítmica, comida sabrosa, bailes impresionantes, hermosa naturaleza y destinos turísticos únicos. Todos estos elementos ayudaron a dar forma a una cultura extrovertida y una mentalidad orgullosa y segura de sí misma.
Y especialmente esta mentalidad orgullosa y segura de sí misma es lo que me impresionó y lo que definitivamente es una mejora de la cultura fría y poco inspirada que crecí en Europa Central. La gente sale y baila en las calles, siempre está en un estado de ánimo ruidoso e hilarante, toca instrumentos y sonríe todo el tiempo, a veces, incluso si no hay ninguna razón. Simplemente son más felices y modestos con lo que tienen, a pesar de todos los problemas económicos y políticos causados por sus políticos corruptos.
Y muy pronto comprendí que todos estos elementos tal vez faltaban en mi vida antes. Después volver a Alemania en agosto 2014 me sentí como la piedra en la siguiente imagen:
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Me entiendes? Como el único que esta diferente en su masa. ¿Quizás esta cultura va mejor conmigo? Me di cuenta de que me gustaría pertenecer a esta cultura expresiva de alegría y felicidad más que a la cultura aburrida en la que viví toda mi vida en Alemania. Por supuesto, hay razones económicas detrás de muchos otros argumentos como la oferta médica y la estabilidad política para preferir vivir en un país como Alemania. Pero, ¿realmente quiero consumir cerveza y salchichas todos los días hasta el fin de mi vida? Levántate, trabaja, vuelve a casa y duerme otra vez? ¿Un círculo vicioso sin salida??
No lo hice e intenté regresar a Sudamérica en junio de 2017 para hacer una pasantía de graduación para mi estudio de maestría en la Secretaría Nacional de Turismo en Paraguay. Mi objetivo era terminar mis estudios (¡listo!) Y después del estudio vivir (¡listo!) y trabajar (¡error!) En América del Sur.
Siempre fue mi sueño regresar a Sudamérica y vivir y trabajar durante unos años. No importa dónde o en qué país o ciudad. Simplemente diviértete, gana mucha experiencia en el extranjero y perfecciona para hablar español. Hice todo lo posible por encontrar un trabajo desafiante e incluso estuve dispuesto a evitar una gran cantidad de salario y otros beneficios que un empleado buscaría en Europa. Pero no tuve la suerte de encontrar lo que estaba buscando y perdí bastante tiempo, dinero y potencial durante la búsqueda de trabajo en Perú.
Especialmente para un extranjero como yo, era muy difícil encontrar un trabajo. Muchos peruanos me dijeron exactamente lo mismo que estaba describiendo en el primer párrafo. No importa cuánto lo intentes o cuán bueno seas, todo funciona con conexiones. Y, por supuesto, un extranjero como yo en realidad no tiene muchas buenas conexiones con una nueva ciudad en la que quiere vivir. Los pocos contactos que tengo, han tratado de ayudarme, pero que no tuvieron éxito con sus esfuerzos. Hay tantas empresas que buscan empleadores internacionales con experiencia laboral y que pueden hablar varios idiomas, pero nadie está dispuesto a ayudar con la visa de trabajo o patrocinarla a un extranjero. ¡Una situación absurda, que nunca podré entender!
Por supuesto, gané aquí y allá un poco de dinero cuando me contrataba como traductor y redactor. Pero esta no es la razón por la que estudié dos veces, ni lo suficiente para llenar un programa semanal o mi estómago hambriento. Y las personas que me conocen me confirmarían que tengo un estómago muy hambriento y puedo comer tanto como trabajo.
Sin embargo, es el momento después de todos estos meses para reconsiderar lo que es mejor para mí. Creo que fue mi madre (?) Quien dijo una vez: “Nunca está mal tener un sueño y orientarte a eso”. Y me gustaría saber qué diría sobre un sueño que no se realizó. Probablemente, ella estará muy feliz de tenerme de vuelta 🙂 Y eso es lo que realmente significa la realidad: si no puedes hacer realidad tu sueño, será mejor que vuelvas a la realidad y tal vez vivas la vida que se suponía que debías hacer antes.
Entonces, regresaré a Alemania. ¿Qué vendrá después de eso? No tengo ni idea, pero buscaré un trabajo en el sur de Europa, preferiblemente en España, por supuesto. Después de tanto tiempo viviendo en una mentalidad diferente, no es posible en ninguna otra parte que no sea en el área mediterránea tener una experiencia de vida comparable a la de América Latina.
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Dudo que regrese a Lima / Perú nuevamente. En 2014 vine a este país para estudiar, en 2018 para vivir. Conozco casi todos los destinos turísticos notables del país y apenas hay algo completamente nuevo para descubrir. Y si no se me concede trabajar en Lima / Perú, no veo una razón real para regresar. Algunas veces, el amor no es recíproco y permanece unilateral.
Entonces volviendo a la realidad, ¿eh? El caballero de la fortuna busca su suerte en otro lugar del mundo. Sería increíble, si alguien tiene un radiestesista o detector de metales para encontrar lo que estoy buscando y estaría dispuesto a prestarme. Alternativamente, estaré más que agradecido por cada ayuda inspiradora o última charla antes de dejar Perú y Sudamérica. Un pequeño adiós-comentario sería bueno también.
Yes, I really love and appreciate the Peruvian kitchen with all its spices, rare flavors and diversity. How often should I repeat that? Until all of my friends read and understood my blog with all my explications:
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However, you can eat even in the expensive Peruvian capital of Lima relatively cheap and you will still receive a good quantity and sufficient quality. That’s the case for every middle-class restaurant and especially every low-class diner. You get what you pay for. So what about dining at the upper class restaurants? Is it really worth to try high priced Peruvian food? Does a man like me with a quadruple stomach like a cow gets satisfied with a small gourmet portions? I made the self-experiment in the Barranco Bay area and had a charming companion.
The first good thing about the bay of Barranco is, that it is very difficult to reach. That means at the same time, it is quite safe and no plebs is trying to annoy and molest at night. You need definitely a car/taxi to reach this place over the highway, there are no public transports or opportunities to walk to:
Anyway, I had the opportunity to wait for 20 minutes at the bay, because I was waiting for my plus one. And it was probably the first time since I’m in Peru, that I was not too late (!) and even earlier than agreed (!!!) at the meeting point. I was quite surprised, that I saw a clear sky at night. That doesn’t happen often during the winter months in a coastal city like Lima. What surprised me even more was the fact, that the crescent was parted vertically.
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Hmmm, not sure if I am the problem this time. But I could swear, that the crescent is divided horizontally in the northern hemisphere!? Maybe I never paid that much attention before to the cold shining moon. Anyway, it’s for me one of the last days in Lima and I was enjoying the rush of the marine water at the surge:
When Rosse – the lady I was having an appointment with – finally arrived, we entered the high quality restaurant La Trastiendaand were very professionally welcomed and escorted to our reserved table. The restaurant was almost empty at 8:30pm and they arranged for us a table at the seaside. Not a big deal if half of the restaurant is empty. But still a better place than between kitchen and toilet.
My biggest fear visiting a gourmet restaurant is always to remain hungry after dining tiny little portions. As a member of the Gluttony-Hall of Fame I know what demolishing impressive quantities really means. Once I visited an All-You-Can-Eat restaurant and had to pay twice. So, I was like always concerned, that the suggested quantity of the plates won’t be enough for the black hole in my stomach.
Rosse and me ordered first fruity cocktails to get into the right eating mood. Hell, already the cocktails tasted like an intensive adventure. From that moment on, I didn’t want to drink anything different again in my life. Maybe it was the best one I tried so far. And the most expensive in South America for me so far as well. Ordering a $9 cocktail might not seem much, but for Peruvian proportions it’s quite a price for a cocktail.
My cocktail was simply called Barranquito as the name of the beach:
Pisco is the traditional Peruvian liquor made of grapes. Since ever there a rivalry between Chile and Peru who invented Pisco. If you want to annoy a Peruvian you can always compliment the nice Chilean culinary things like Pisco and Ceviche. I’m pretty sure, that you’d be admired more after that statement. Viruta de Roble (Oak chips) and Hierba Luisa (Lemon Beebrush) gave it a spicy taste, passion fruit and granadilla made it fruity tasty.
Accompanied by these two excellent cocktails, we ordered Anticucho. As I wrote before in a different article on my blog, Anticucho might not be Average Joe’s first choice, if you tell him what they really are. For me they are a delicious snack and perfect as a starter. And these ones were as well the best ones I have ever eaten in Peru. Usually, Anticucho have a juicy and smoky taste if you chew the soft meat. This one was a savory and aromatic masterpiece in combination with the French Fries and cooked corn it came with. Although the usual spits are taller and it comes with three units per kind, it was worth ordering them.
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Unfortunately, I can’t find my main dish on the online menu they have. But I’m pretty sure, that a picture’s worth more than 1,000 words. Please be inspired from the spicy sea food experience I made:
I need to sadly admit, that the photo quality of some shots isn’t the best due to the sparsely illumination over the table. But what you can see here is HQ-food. Isn’t wan’t much in fact and my quantity prejudices were unfortunately confirmed by what was on the plate. But I could also swear, that the better quality of the food in combination with the spices filled my stomach at least a little bit. Satisfied it was one way or the other. Not only with the food, but also with the nice companion I had:
How to end an elegant dinner? With a sweet temptation in the form of a dessert. Next to generic options that probably every menu would offer, we decided to pick a plate with a mix of various Peruvian desserts:
Might be quite a thing now to explain every little piece in detail of the Sweet degustation. Maybe the following picture could help me out here:
Five little and sweet portions to make everyone happy and satisfied. Although I’m actually a fan of hearty desserts as the French kitchen with its cheese desserts has to offer, this one was worth the order as well. The only thing, I maybe didn’t really like was Crema Volteada on the right side. A strongly tangy tasting dessert, which can be maybe compared with the Argentinean Flan. Not really my highlight, but the other four rectified successfully.
I can recommend everyone interested in good and tasty food to visit La Trastienda. It’s Peruvian food in completeness and worth the money!
One cocktail isn’t enough of course. That’s why Rosse and me walked a few meters to another bar called ‘Qincha Bar Resto Arte’. A nice place as well and I ordered a fruity cocktail, which was served with decorative blueberries and mint on top:
¿Qué es realmente especial de destinos turísticos? Para algunas personas es el encanto estar lejos de todo lo que les es familiar en su vida acostumbrada. Otros prefieren simplemente relajarse y desconectarse de todos los problemas y penas en el hogar. Para mí es la curiosidad de contactar y comprender a personas con una mentalidad diferente para entender su forma de vida y adaptarme en fases a su cultura ancestral. Lo que hace que la cultura sea interesante y distinta para los demás son las costumbres, tradiciones, vestidos, bailes y música. Este artículo quiero dedicar al Huajsapata: Un trago endemico de Puno.
Para mí, aparte de eso, siempre es interesante conocer la comida y las bebidas de las personas y lo que tienen que contar al respecto. Y Puno – la ciudad más grande en el Lago Titicaca – tiene un trago caliente que solamente puedes tomar por allá. Durante mi último viaje a las tierras altas del Perú también viajé a Puno. Esta ciudad es famosa por el lago Titicaca y se encuentra a 3810m sobre el nivel del mar. Puede hacer bastante frío aquí durante las noches de los meses de invierno y tuve la alegría de visitarlo en julio, que es al mismo tiempo un de los meses más fríos en promedio según las estadísticas climáticas:
La vida parece ser dura e inhóspita en una ciudad como Puno. Debido a eso, la gente local depende de una bebida durante las horas de la noche para calentarse. Esta bebida es ‘bastante nueva’ y solo se consume desde hace más de 40 años, cuando fue inventada por un barman local de Puno.
Huack…?! Huaç…?! Huatsch…?! HUAJSAPATA!
Todavía necesito reírme un poco sobre este nombre, porque tuve mis problemas al principio para pronunciarlo correctamente. Huack …?! Huaç …?! Huatsch …?!
Huajsapata! Con una J: intenta pronunciarlo como un hhrrr e intenta imitar el sonido animal de un gato montés. Un silbido salvaje. “Sapata” casi se pronuncia solo, eso no es realmente difícil. Huajsapata – Afuera de Puno, los Peruanos no conocen ni la bebida ni el nombre difícil con su pronunciación. Por lo tanto, es una bebida súper endémica y exclusiva de Puno y serás uno de los pocos que probarla.
Y nuevamente, es difícil obtener informaciones adicionales sobre una bebida peruana como Huajsapata. Sin entrada oficial de Wikipedia, sin historia, sin existencia. Como si la gente de Puno guarden un secreto en torno a esta bebida para que brille un poco más misteriosa de lo que ya es su nombre. Así que tengo que profundizar un poco más para encontrar lo que estoy buscando.
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“Cerrito de Huajsapta, testigo de mis amores, tu no mas estas sabiendo la vida que estoy pasando.”
Sí, una melancolía subliminal siempre está parte de un peruano cuando se habla de su hogar. Al menos estos fueron los pensamientos del barman que inventó este cóctel caliente para calentarse durante las noches frías de Puno. La bebida obtuvo su nombre de un cerro que está cerca de Puno. Pero, ¿qué es exactamente parte del Huajsapata que se puede tomar?
Huajsapata Menu
Vino caliente significa aquí vino tinto. Pero créanme por favor, si les digo, que esto en combinación con Pisco (un brandy destilado hecho de uvas) y esencias de frutas es una fórmula que les incluso lo calentarán durante los calurosos días de verano. Pero no hay días calurosos de verano, si recuerdas la estadística que te mostré antes. Por lo tanto, se calienta durante las frías noches de invierno.
¿Esencias de frutas? Eso es bastante vago para Huajsapata, ¿no estás de acuerdo?
Sí, estoy de acuerdo y le pedí al camarero que me explicara cuales esencias de frutas hay exactamente dentro de este cóctel caliente. No se limita a nada específico y puede significar esencias con sabor a granadina, amargo de naranja, especias como canela o clavo de olor, y a veces incluso un poco de cáscara de naranja. Woah, que mezcla tan salvaje!
Huajsapata – La bebida endemica de Puno sirviendo en una copita ceramica
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Como describí anteriormente en un otro artículo en mi blog, es muy común que la cocina andina sirva alimentos y bebidas en una vajilla de cerámica. Esa también es una gran idea para el Huajsapata, porque te quemarías tocando un vaso con los dedos. Huajsapata es una alternativa económica para tomar una bebida. Pagué quizás 8 soles, que no son más de $2.00.
Solo congelar durante una noche fría en Puno es más barato.
What is really special about tourism destinations? For some people it is the charm to be away from all what is familiar in their everyday life. Others prefer to just relax and disconnect from all the problems and sorrows at home. For me it is the curiosity to contact and understand people with a different mindset to understand their way of life and adapt in phases to their ancestral culture. What makes culture interesting and distinct for others are customs, traditions, dresses, dances and music. For me it is apart from that always interesting to get to know the food and drinks of people and what they have to tell about it.
Especially local and traditional drinks are rare to find in times of nationwide distribution of all sorts of soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, etc. Or are you really happy when you see another sign at a restaurant or kiosk, that Heineken, Coca Cola or Red Bull is sold and offered? It’s probably more difficult to find local drinks in a visited region than typical plates. And especially this search makes it very interesting to find something typical that you didn’t know before.
During my last trip to the highlands of Peru I also traveled to Puno. This city is famous for the Lake Titicaca and located on 3810m above the sea level. It can get quite cold here during the nights of the winter months and I had the joy to visit it in July, what is at the same time the coldest months in average according to the climatic statistics:
Life seems to be tough and inhospitable in a city like Puno. Because of that, local people are relying on a drink during the evening hours to get warmed up. This drink is ‘quite new’ and only consumed since more than 40 years, when it was invented by a local barman from Puno.
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Huack…?! Huaç…?! Huatsch…?! HUAJSAPATA!
I still need to laugh a little bit about this name, because I had my problems at the beginning to pronounce it correctly. Huack…?! Huaç…?! Huatsch…?!
Huajsapata! With a J – Try to pronounce it like a hhrrr and try to imitate the animal sound of a wildcat. A wild hiss. Sapata almost pronounces itself from alone, that’s not really difficult. Huajsapata – Outside from Puno, Peruvian people don’t know either the drink, nor the difficult name with its pronunciation. Therefore, it is a super-endemic drink from Puno and you’ll be one of the few to try it.
And again it’s difficult to obtain additional information about a Peruvian drink like Huajsapata. No official Wikipedia entry, no history, no existence. As if the people from Puno keep a secret around this beverage to let it shine a little bit more mysterious than its name already is. So I have to dig a little bit deeper into it to find what I am looking for.
“Hill of Huajsapta, witness of my loves, only you are knowing the life I’m going through.”
Yes, a subliminal melancholy is always attached to a Peruvian native soil when talking about home. At least these were the thoughts of the barkeeper who invented this hot cocktail to warm up during the cold nights of Puno. The drink got his name from a hill that is close to Puno. But what exactly is part of the Huajsapata?
Hot wine means here red wine. But believe me, if I say, that this in combination with Pisco (a distilled brandy made out of grapes) and fruit essences is a formula that would even warm you up during hot summer days. But there aren’t any hot summer days, if you remember the statistic I showed you earlier. So it warms up during cold winter nights.
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Fruit essences? That’s quite vague, don’t you agree?
Yes, I do agree and asked therefore the waiter to explain to me which fruit essences exactly are inside of this hot cocktail. It’s not limited to anything specific and can mean essences flavored with grenadine, orange bitters, spices like cinnamon or cloves, and sometimes even a bit of orange peel. Woah, what a wild mix!
As I described it earlier in another article on my blog, it is very common for the Andean kitchen to serve food and drinks in a ceramic crockery. That’s also a great idea for Mr. Huajsapata, because you’d burn yourself touching a glass with your fingers. Huajsapata is an economic alternative to have a booze. I paid maybe 8 Soles, which are not more than 2 Euro.
Only freezing during a cold night in Puno is cheaper.
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As I wrote earlier in another article on my blog, Peru has the best cuisine of the world and is rich of completely different types/styles of food. But many people merely know the seafood and coastal influences to the Peruvian kitchen. No wonder why: It is it of course the Peruvian capital Lima that attracts the most of the international people. And they get to know of course the coastal kitchen, because Lima is a coastal city. But you have to go a little higher than sea level to get introduced to the real soul of Peruvian food and plates with tasty spices and ingredients you won’t dare your own eyes.
The Andean food of Arequipa is as rich in history as it is in flavor. I had the chance to discover the traditions of this mountainous region. The food of the Peruvian mountains is hearty and nothing for lovers of sweets. But that doesn’t mean, that you won’t enjoy the miraculous food the Andean kitchen has to offer.
Wood-fired ovens and ceramic pots preserve the flavor through a slow and aromatic cooking process
Well, maybe the title is been a little too martial and gonzo. But it doesn’t change the tasty and surprising content, that this article about the Peruvian kitchen will show to you. The Peruvian kitchen is world-famous and a culinary delight for even the most critical gourmets. During my time in Peru, I had the joy to discover a lot of brilliant flavors, aromatic spices and tasty sauces in a variety of excellent dishes. Therefore, it’s not an accident, that the Peruvian kitchen is seen as the best kitchen in the world. At least if you ask every Peruvian.
During my time in Peru, I had the joy to discover a lot of excellent Peruvian dishes. You should imagine the Peruvian dish as a language. All are very proud to speak it, but there are a lot of dialects and everyone likes poems. The coastal kitchen with all fish and seafood dishes is way different than the Andean style where it is tradition to prepare native animals or the Amazonian cuisine where many local fruits and sometimes insects are used for the dishes. The mixing of all different cultures and the variety of climates within the country determine the variety of local cuisine. This would be actually worth another blog article. But I would like to focus this time on the best dishes I discovered during my time in Peru.
There are dishes you wouldn’t even imagine of their powerful tastes. I was more than cosseted and blessed with all the brilliant flavors, aromatic spices and tasty sauces in a variety of excellent dishes, that the Peruvian kitchen has to offer. I would like to show all people the 10 best national dishes I tried during my time in Peru.
The good thing about Peru is, that you can have it all. The Andean country has 90 different microclimates, including 30 of the 32 world climates, making it one of the most diverse countries in the world in microclimates. So what ever you want to see, be sure that Peru can offer it to you!
Six hours away from Lima you can find an authentic and green area in the mountains, called ‘Reserva Paisajistica Nor Yauyos-Cochas’. I had the opportunity to travel to Huancaya, a very small village in the Peruvian mountains:
Where is Huancaya?
Needless to say, that it is a green area in the mountains, you can already see that yourself at Google Maps. What you can not see yourself are the following pictures and videos I made during the last weekend. I was really astonished, because I like hiking, mountains and being in the nature. So for me it was a wonderful relaxing weekend.
What also helped relaxing and disconnecting, was the situation with the cell reception. I could not receive a signal with my mobile phone and a world without mobile phone and internet can be beautifully relaxing and efficient. Why efficient? Because I felt living more time at the same day and wasting less time with our modern times, where you are fully dependent on the Internet, WhatsApp, communication, etc. It was very refreshing to see on the one hand how slow, rhythmic and stable the life in these segregated communities works. On the other hand it helps to gain more empathy in transforming your mind in a living scenario where is no use of internet and mobile phones or any hospitals, supermarkets or discotheques exist. For the generic urban blockhead like me it is a good challenge and exercise to change suddenly your usual behavior and adapt to new and unknown environment. But I do really like it, because the expected ordinary life with all the repetitive occurrences let routine and boredom emerge.
Every new situation and incident is always welcome and doesn’t shriek me off. Far from it! I’m even looking for these challenges and therefor I can consider the trip to Huancaya a welcome opportunity and change to see and discover something new.
Huancaya should not be mistaken with Huancayo. Huancaya is a village of maybe 400 people whereas Huancayo is a city of 400.000 habitants. What can also confuse is the distance of these two localities, because they are only 137 kilometers away from each other or three hours with the car. If you now notized, that three hours with the car is quite a lot for 137 kilometers, you’ll probably understand as well, that the consistency and quality of the Peruvian streets – especially in the mountain areas – might not be the best.
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If you now noticed, that three hours with the car is quite a lot for only 137 kilometers, you’ll probably understand as well, that the consistency and quality of the Peruvian streets – especially in the mountain areas – might not be the best.
The architecture of the buildings and streets Huancaya is quite simple. I only made a few pictures of the buildings there, but they use mostly stones and simple tin roofs to construct their houses.
Generally, they even don’t heat their own houses, although it was bitterly cold. Rather putting on additional clothing to not freeze. And the nights can be very cold there. Especially at the end of Aptil, when I visited Huancaya. So that’s why I wear in most of the pictures and videos warm clothes as well, because it was simply too cold to put on only a shirt.
I went with Pakary Travel, a specialist for Tours to Huancaya and Vilca, for one night or two days to Huancaya. The travel schedule and program they set up was very stiff and there was not much time to stay somewhere. All was more focused on seeing as much as possible, especially nature. The focus they set was on hiking experiences and water sports, things I like to do very much.
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Everyone who has ever heard of ‘Ciudad Perdida’ knows what the following pictures are about. Peru, respectively the Huancaya region has an own little abandoned village as well:
Only rests of stones of approximately 15 buildings are still standing in the hilly area. Knowing, that this is of course not as impressive as ‘Ciudad Perdida’, it is very similar, that there is an abandoned ghost town (or village) and no one knows what has happened to its population. After years, decades or centuries, the buildings collapsed and only loose heap of stones remained in place.
One of the local Huancayan specialities is the ‘Trucha’ (trout) and you can see on the following video a fresh preparation of it:
I had the opportunity to try one of them and I must say, that the Peruvian trout is a very tasty fish with only a few fishbones.
Huancaya is on 3,554 m and the mountains where I was hiking almost on 4,000 m. Typically the altitude sickness occurs above 2,400 meters and I was in the past also very sensitive to that. No matter if I was in Huaraz, Quito or Cajamarca, I always have had problems with places who are in high or very high altitudes. This time I haven’t had any problems and I am very glad about that, because I could enjoy my time in Huancaya to the fullest.
And speaking about enjoying to the fullest, it’s always a question what type of personality you are. Some people like deserts, some people like fluvial areas and some people beaches. At a beach area I get bored after more than two days, because there is quite less to see and do. Same happened to me in Mancora, when I traveled there in early March. But in these green areas like forests, jungles or these mountain areas I feel very good! Not only because of the landscapes, but they are supporting to the happiness, that delights me, when I see things like this:
Was ‘Lord of the Rings’ shot in New Zealand or in Peru?
This wonderful natural landscape I filmed during a hiking tour in the Huancaya region of ‘Reserva Paisajistica Nor Yauyos-Cochas’ to the so-called ‘Bosque del Amor’, the forest of love.
A perfect place to go for a challenging hiking tour and if you’re lucky with the weather, you’ll soak up the sun on a stone plateau. Almost everything there consists of mountains, green scenery and water. The air is purified clean and respiration was never that pleasant for my urban lungs.
‘Bosque del amor’ had a really dense vegetation of different trees. It happened a few times, that I hit my head on a branch.
I don’t really know, why they call it the forest of love, but I couldn’t find it there. Maybe I have to go to Paris, the “City of love’, soon to manage that. Although I love all this nature and hiking experiences, I could not survive for long in a mountain area. There are too many urban temptations, the mountains can not fulfill or compensate. But being in the mountains for a while is always a good and balancing alternative to relax and disconnect from all the city lifestyle stress.
On the following two pictures you can see, that I am on my way to ‘Laguna Huallhua’ and ‘Cascada de Chuchupasca’.
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Huancaya is a waterlogged area where you are surrounded of sheer unlimited water resources. Waterfalls which rise from the 4.000m high mountains flow down and sometimes agglomerate in one of these beautiful lagoons. Does it sound too childish, if a ‘that’s amazing’ would follow a ‘Wow’?
Anyway, I was visiting ‘Laguna de Huallhua’, which had cristal clear water. I can not remember, if I could see before in my life from the water surface to the lake bed. All thanks to freshly sputtered natural spring water and no pollution in the air. The right boat was the transport to the waterfalls. No engine, no gasoline, only manpower was rowing the passengers to the waterfalls.
The man on the right side of the first picture – our ferryman – was already old, I would guess maybe 55+. Nonetheless, he was capable to row his boat and 11 passengers for a few kilometers to ‘Cascada de Chuchupasca’. My deepest respect to him, he told me, that he is doing that back and forth for about ten times a day. With his performances he could as well qualify for the next Peruvian rowing team for the Olympics.
The waterfalls are A wonderful place to go and relax and their roaring noises of the water can calm someone down. Water in general has a relaxing effect on me. No matter if it is rain or the sound of the sea or a waterfall: The noise of the nature relaxes my mind.
Many bridges in the Huancaya area are not build out of stone or concrete, but simply made out of wood:
If you got scared now, because I was not using my hands for the suspension bridge, don’t worry: I had everything under control 🙂
Nature, nature, nature. I can not stop to upload more pictures and videos and get happy again because of all these beautiful memories that rise up again to my mind. When was the last time, that you saw something beautiful like that:
Can you see me on the following pictures? Human is so small in comparison to the mountains…
Animals play a key role when you go into the nature and see something new. There are many many interesting birds flying around the Huancaya area. I couldn’t capture pictures or photos of them, because they were simply too fast. But I am not a professional bird watcher, so I could only take videos from these animals.
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According to their voices, the first two animals sound hungry to me. The cat and dog fight is just a traditional conflict, that will probably continue forever.
Wow, I see now, that I already made it up to more than 1,700 words until now. Maybe it’s better to find an ending before the ending finds me. Although I could continue with a lot of stories more, I don’t want to overcharge my readers. So I want to let the nature speak again with a few videos and say ‘See you next time at my ensuing blog post again’
Every visitor, traveler and tourist might have heard already something about Barranco. Where old Colonial buildings and atmospheric bars project a bohemian neighborhood amongst all the graffitis, street musicians and artists. So far so good, but not anymore an insiders’ tip, more a necessity for every visitor of Lima.
A real insiders’ tip is the picturesque little city of Callao. You’ll find here as well many incredible and colorful graffitis, street musicians who play the sounds of Latin American music and many interesting museums. The whole district around ‘Monumento Callao’ pulsates of culture and you can breathe history at every corner.
First thing I learned during my visit was, that Callao isn’t part of Lima, but independent. It is even an own district in the inner Peruvian geopolitical classification and doesn’t belong to Lima, neither was ever part of it. This surprised me a lot, because it borders directly with Lima and is only 15 kilometers away from the city centre. Callao was found in 1531 and is now 487 years old. Therewith it is even older than Lima, which was found four years later. And I’m pretty sure, that no one else who read this text, knew that before.
First time I visited Callao was in early April, it was a nice and sunny Sunday. With the two local Peruvian friends I was travelling with – Susan and Giuliana – we have had a wonderful day there. Both told me, that Monumental Callao is a ‘Must’ for everyone who loves graffiti, neo-fashioned arts and culture. Thus, the perfect destination for someone who has these interests like me.
Callao has many interesting corners with a lot of colors and unusual things to show, every street is a mystery and you’ll be curious what you can find here.
What I really like about some art objects in Callao, is that the artists seem to give a f**k about what society thinks about their work and have love and passion for detail as you can see on the following pictures showing a stallion made out of metal…
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Callao was a problematic region of Peru and it still is. People are very humble in this area and live in simple housings. Daily life happens there for the people on the unpaved roads. It happened often, that I heard people in Lima talking about Callao with caution and a certain dose of awestruck respect.
From the socio-political point of view, Callao might not have the best reputation. Whether this is justified or not, Callao could be perceived as a problem child. A few years ago, Callao was completely restored from resourcefully architects and city planners and finally it was modelled a showable and proud face to the world.
The most important thing about arts (similar to satire), is that there are no rules, regulations or limits. Every limitation robs the artist the air to breathe and the possibilities to express their creativity. So if you take a look at the following pictures, which were taken at the ‘Plaza de Armas’ en Callao, would you agree or disagree, that it has something to do with arts? For me it was at first glance shocking to see this in public…
I can recommend to invest a day trip to Callao, but at least to spend five or six hours there. Public bus transport to Callao exists, but please don’t ask me how to get there. I never understood the chaotic public transport system of Lima and always preferred to take a taxi. Driving to Callao with a cab might cost you – Depending on your own location – between 5 and 8 dollars. The best would be to go during the day at noon. I heard several stories about the danger to be in this area at night, so better go there when you have the opportunity to see everything during the day. Graffiti are anyways easier and better visible at daylight 🙂
You can reach and see all the things by yourself without being in need of a tour guide. Although it might help of course to get a lot of background information if desired, I think, that this is the perfect location to discover yourself. Callao was for many weeks and months on my “To see”-list, but I always postponed a visit. Damned, I wish, that I would have done it earlier!
The second time I visited Callao was only one week after the first time. There was a festival about electronic music, which is at the same time very special, because electronic music is quite difficult to find in Peru. And it was a rooftop party with the option to see the whole skyline of Callao illuminated at night. Very beautiful, especially the harbor looks terrific at night.
So if this didn’t convince you yet to make a visit, what else can I write to support my assertion, that Callao is the fanciest and most breathtaking place of Peru? I can only recommend to add Callao Monumental to your travel schedule, if possible. You won’t be disappointed!
Who of you people thought about Buena Vista Social Club when you read the headline? I had exactly the same reasoning and thought about the most famous song of the Cuban band when I had the option to visit Chan Chan?
“How can I visit a song from Buena Vista Social Club”?
You can. And you should as well. Chan Chan is the largest still existing pre-colombian city in South America. To save myself some time I will quote Wikipedia here to give the basic infos:
“The name is probabilly derived from the Quingnam “Jiang” or “Chang” which means Sun, from which Chan-Chan would be literally: Sun-Sun. Chan Chan is believed to have been constructed around 850 AD by the Chimú. It was the Chimor empire capital city with an estimated population of 40,000-60,000 people. After the Inca conquered the Chimú around 1470 AD, Chan Chan fell into decline. In 1535 AD, Francisco Pizarro founded the Spanish city of Trujillo which pushed Chan Chan further into the shadows. While no longer a teeming capital city, Chan Chan was still well known for its great riches and was consequently looted by the Spaniards. An indication of the great Chimú wealth is seen in a sixteenth century list of items looted from a burial tomb in Chan Chan; a treasure equivalent to 80,000 pesos of gold was recovered (nearly $5,000,000 US dollars in gold).
In 1969, Michael Moseley and Carol J. Mackey began excavations of Chan Chan; today these excavations continue under the Peruvian Instituto Nacional de Cultura.”
Can you believe how big the areal might have been, if they are busy since more than 50 years with the excavations? Although these figures of 40,000 – 60,000 habitants might seem to our nowadays time a quite small amount for a city you should not forget to imagine how difficult it must have been these days for the Chimu to control and lead the life of their people. In our times, architects and construction workers build skyscrapers to solve the problem of missing living space and use modern techniques and the aid of machines. But the Chimu hadn’t had these possibilities and needed to build everything from hand and maybe smaller primitive mechanical facilities.
And this is the next big thing, that stunned me. How could it happen, that such a huge city was forgotten for such a long time? People think when they hear about Peru always about the Inca and Machu Picchu. Probably because they were in charge of the reign when the Spaniards arrived. But the Inca were only in charge for 62 years (below in yellow color on the graph). That’s not quite long, is it?
Timeline of ancient high civilizations in today’s Peru
But for me as well the people of the Chimu were complete unknown and I’ve never heard about them before. Apparently they had 570 reigning years in what we call now Peru. Neither do I know anything about the people of the Moche. Looks like there is much more to learn for me!
Anyway, let me now after this far too long introduction talk a little bit about the day itself. I was in a very bad shape and upset my stomach two days before. In the overnight bus ride from Cajamarca to Trujillo (The next bigger city) I didn’t sleep at all and haven’t eaten much. So all in all my energy and motivation level was at this day of the travel the lowest and I needed some external motivation help from my travel companion Dimixtrix.
I traveled with no one else as much with the bus as with Dimixtrix
He convinced me to stay for one more day in Trujillo and visit Chan Chan and Playa Huanchaco. Without his help, I would’ve probably taken the next bus back to Lima and would’ve missed a wonderful tourism destination.
From Trujillo you can take busses who drive to Huanchaco. On half way there is the entrance of Chan Chan. We didn’t inform us upfront and haven’t planned enough money and time for a full visit at Chan Chan. But as a recommendation to everyone I would say, that you can plan 4 – 5 hours time, if you use the service of a tour guide and transportation service. And this you should definitely do, because the areal is too spacious to walk and the opening times of the archaeologic site of Chan Chan are limited from 9AM to 4PM. Cheap tour guides can be found at the entrance, one operator requested 40 Soles from us, what are not even 10 Euro for four hours of work. A good deal, but we didn’t use it, because we had different plans for the afternoon.
Chan Chan is placed at a huge areal and we had to walk for 3 kilometers under the hot sun from the street to the entrance. It was definitely worth it and I wished that I would have been in a better shape to do the full tour. So we could only see two of the four possible sights (Plaza Ceremonial and the museum). But still what we saw was impressive. It didn’t happen often in my life that I visited archaeological sites, but this time I somehow could imagine how difficult it was to live as a civilian 1,000 years ago in Chan Chan. As distinguished from the pyramids in Egypt – Which are a good comparison because they were built as well in a desertic area – the stone ruins of Chan Chan were not in a good condition.
After the temple area, Dimixtrix and I walked the way back to the road and took a visit to the museum. In front of the entrance was a friendly desert dog sitting and enjoying the sunshine:
Doggy suffers from the heat and sunshine
Chimu were proud people and carried their kings on a palanquin:
All in all I wasn’t really feeling it this day because of the sickness I carried around. But still not sick enough to pose for a few pictures:
Tired, but happy
Supervising the area
Twins
Yes, it is definitely worth to visit Chan Chan. It’s more than just a song from a Cuban band.
Shit – What has happened to the headline? There are some alien signs you never saw before in your life. But don’t worry: Neither do you need to read the text from the right to the left, nor to download the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.
Maybe it is better, if I let the person I want to introduce to you people hidden and dangerous in the dark. I think, that this would be exactly how he wanted it to be. Let’s just say, that these strange signs in the headline are luckily not Arabic, but from the Greek alphabet. And let us call this man Dimixtrix, following how some Peruvians tried to pronounce his name and made us both laugh. People from South America had enough problems to pronounce his name correctly and thought all the time that he would be Russian. But he does not have a lot in common with a Vodka drinking and Russian Roulette playing psychopath. Far from it! I am talking now about one of the finest and sharpest personalities I met so far during my time in South America. And if Don Felipe compliments people (what usually doesn’t happen too often) AND writes a dedicated blog article about this person, there must be something true inside of his words!
I had the chance to meet Dimixtrix for the first time in October 2017 when I was new in Quito. Everything was new for me in that time: New country, new city, new apartment, new people, new daily rhythm, new everything. I lived in a very huge house with about 35 living quarters. My time in Ecuador was not very successful: I had heavy problems with my health, completely incompetent doctors to deal with and a job that was not corresponding and matching my talents and skills AT ALL. Besides that I couldn’t fix my Visa problems, because I was dependent of my official documentation from UCAM, the worst university of Europe. Without that kind of documentation I couldn’t apply for a working visa.
All in all not the very best arguments to look finally back and say: “Yes, that was a great time”. But luckily I met one person, that was really worth it and will be always a precious friend and contact. Dimixtrix was my neighbor in that huge house, that was more suitable for exchange students and social volunteers from Europe and the U.S.A.
When I met him for the first time, I was highly surprised: He was Greek. And during all my years abroad I barely met any Greek students, tourists, etc. They mostly stick to their country due to different reasons. Dimixtrix luckily received a scholarship, which made his time in Quito possible. So it was just luck, that we met each other at the right time at the wrong place. I write wrong place not only because of me, Dimixtrix prefers as well living closer to the beach area to listen to the waves than living up in the mountains.
We had directly a click, because he is from Thessaloniki, the second biggest city of Greece. It is a really beautiful city and worth to visit. My uncle migrated 30 years ago to Greece to a little fisher village maybe 50 kilometer away from Thessaloniki. So I was surprised, that he knew this little fisher village and he was surprised, that I had already visited his hometown and could tell him a few stories about his city. A good conversation and a good start for a buddyship!
During that time I already had the luck to perceive him as a very energetic and active personality, without any fear of strange or unknown things and with the willingness to first eat something and then later ask: ‘What is that?’. So exactly this ‘I’ll do it, come hell or high water’-attitude also represents me. How many people don’t want to exit their own comfort zone and prefer to stay safe and secure in their rhythm and routine? Dimixtrix is so far away from his own comfort zone, if he turns around and tries to look for it he would probably need binoculars to find it. A real explorer and curious adventurer.
After three months of a lot of trouble for me I finally decided to leave Ecuador and headed to Peru. In the week when I was leaving town, he asked me: “Will you be in Lima in March/April? I’m planning to travel to and through Peru.” I told him, that probably I will be but can’t promise anything to him. He answered me, that he will visit me for sure. Okay, nice words. But how many people have already told me, that they would visit me and have never shown up?
Dimixtrix also says these words, but what is indeed more important about him: He realizes them and make them happen. There are not many people in the world who let nice words consequently nice actions follow. Mostly it remains BlaBla. Well, I found a very nice Greek specimen it seems. And I am very grateful to that!
So Dimixtrix contacted me again in February and told me, that he will travel to Peru and if I would like to join him for one week. I didn’t need to think for long and agreed to his idea. We met in Mancora, what is in the north of Peru, very close to the border of Ecuador. He came from the north, I came from the south and we met almost in the middle. And it was probably one of the most exhausting bus rides I ever made: 20 hours in a normal travel bus, without the comfort of a sleeping bus.
Bus from Lima to Mancora: 21 hours
So we started together in Mancora for two nights, went from there to Piura to catch a bus to Chiclayo. In Chiclayo we have visited ‘El mercado de las brujas’ what means something like ‘The Witch Market’ and which has to offer a lot of weird voodoo things to interested people.
His first Peruvian Ceviche!
At the beach in Mancora
Dimixtrix plays Billiard
So from these seven days we were unfortunately most of the time in a bus. Maybe 2.5 days from these seven days were wasted/spent on the roads of Peru. But it was nonetheless worth it!
When we arrived at the hot springs in Yumagual I was very disappointed about the site: An indigenous tramp requested 5 Soles charge at the entrance of this free place from us and indigenous people were washing their clothes at the hot springs. So all in all that day was a little bit disappointing. But Dimixtrix was still in a positive mood and did not show any displeasure about our situation.
I traveled with no one else as much with the bus as with Dimixtrix
Dimixtrix and me in Chiclayo
All in all I am very thankful to have made this trip with him, because I saw a lot of things which I probably never would see so easily again or on my own. But Dimixtrix is very energetic and could motivate me several times to continue although my inner energy reserves were running low. I like to remember the last day in Trujillo, when I was after an upset stomach and no sleep in an overnight bus close to book a ticket back to Lima. But he convinced me to stay for one day longer and thanks to this decision I had for example the joy to see the oldest Pre-Colombian city Chan Chan in South America.
Dimixtrix and indigenous washerwomen
Dimixtrix in abandoned ruins
After returning to Lima, we also had a couple of good days together, e.g. at the evening with Coline and Lea (Two old housemates from Quito) or at ‘La casa de Nico’.
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And Dimixtrix loves ice cream! Whenever he had a good meal and his tiny stomach is already full, he is still looking for an ice cream:
Ice cream with Susan and Dimixtrix
Although it’s quite stupid and wasteful what the Peruvians did here: Installing a motorized gas compressor to operate an ice cream machine including its cooling system. But Dimixtrix wanted to have an ice cream.
Not all about Dimixtrix is perfect of course. He has the typical Greek “I love to be late” mentality. In South America it didn’t really matter, because these people here love the same mentality. when he made an appointment, the other person was late as well. So if both people are 30-60 minutes late, at the end they were punctual. Another little careless thing is to travel to South America without a smartphone. The only advantage is, that none South American criminal can steal his phone. The disadvantages are the missing GPS, the missing clock, the missing possibility to contact him, etc.. It’s not very easy to travel without a cellphone through South America in our modern times, where everyone relies on the internet. My deepest respect, but it also complicated our trip sometimes 🙂
Dimixtrix and his friend Thanassis – Who joined for a South America trip as well – continued traveling to Ica, a city in the south of Lima. He took another bus of four hours and wanted to see the desert and the oasis of Huacachina. I didn’t go with him, because I already saw these places before. He has some more big travel plans: Go to Santiago de Chile, after that back to Cuzco and then to Buenos Aires. Of course everything in bus.
I wish him all the best, a safe and secure trip and a successful finish of his studies. One more semester and he is done with his shite. If destiny wants it, we will sit one day together in Thessaloniki and eat Bougatsa, a traditional Greek breakfast and drink Frappé, a traditional Greek coffee.
Who has ever heard about Otuzco? You probably thought, that in the headline is written “Cuzco” or it could be a typo. But it’s not. Even people from Peru got confused and not anybody knows where or what Otuzco is. Read the story about an insiders’ recommendation and a worthy tourism destination.
After the great success of the first report about Playa El Silencio (one of the most read articles on this page), I thought, that it would be time to visit another beach.
So I chose one beach that I already knew from my first visit in Lima in 2014. I visited the beach in April and it was a very quiet beach with almost no people there. No people means no one annoys you when you are laying lazy on your chair and try to take a nap. Reality looked different in 2018, but maybe it was because it is still holiday time in Peru. And holiday means a lot of families with a lot of children. But this time it weren’t the children who tried to catch the attention. Read the second beach report about Playa La Herradura and find out, who broke the peace.
Accessibility ☀☀ All the people who don’t have own cars need to go by taxi, because there are no public transport system reaching this beach. Fortunately, taxis are not very expensive in Lima due to high competition. Thanks to Uber, Cabify and Taxibeat, this competition even raised and let prices drop more. For a 20 minute ride I paid only 10.50S/.($3.22 or 2.61€).
Good price!
Value for money ☀☀☀☀ The entrance is free, because it’s a public beach. Lending two beach chairs and an umbrella costs 15S/. ($4.60 or 3.73€), regardless for how many hours you want to have it. So that’s a quite fair price compared to other offers.
Supply system ☀☀
I felt not oversupplied, but rather undersupplied. No ice cream seller shows a lack of entrepreneurship. I do not understand why there are several vendors of towels and sunglasses, but nobody thinks about a wonderful and refreshing ice cream. If I go to the beach, I have of course my towel and my sunglasses with me and don’t need more or new ones. No need to wear a second pair of sunglasses or lay on a second towel. This situation doesn’t change, if the vendor passes twelve times my chair to control if I am still wearing sunglasses or if I am still using the same towel. I simply don’t need more of the things I already have.
Please change your business strategy and try to sell ice cream from now on.
Surface quality ☀☀ During a very hot day (That was as well burning my poor skin) the sand heated up merciless. No way to walk to the shore without burning your feet. But not only the hot sand made a walk to the water a real challenge. Nearly the half of the beach width’ was constructed of huge stones. It was more a balancing act to reach the water than a safe walk. At least the children had fun throwing stones around.
Safety ☀☀☀☀ The beach itself is not very width, maybe half a kilometer long. Because of that, there is only one little outpost of lifeguards. Surprisingly the members of this unit wore shirts and caps with “Police” on it. I’m not sure if they were real members of the police, because I’ve never seen a police representative with short pants and no shoes on.
Tranquility factor ☀☀ Compared to my first visit four years ago, I must say that it was more quiet in 2014 than now. Maybe because of the high season are now much more chairs visible at the beach. More visible chairs at high season mean also to host more guests. But it weren’t the guests who were making the noise, surprisingly it was the one who was renting out the chairs who broke peace:
I have really no idea, whom he wanted to impress or attract with these dances. For a moment I was thinking that I entered up a gay beach, but regarding all the families there that couldn’t be the case. Later on, the same half-naked dancing clown tried to attack guests from a neighbored place:
Activities ☀ Nothing to see, nothing to do at this beach. A little boring.
Level of cleanness ☀☀☀ The beach was semi-clean. Between the sand there were some bottle caps and other rest of the products what people consume. The normal suffer at a beach.
Suitable for Families with children? Yes it is. Ignoring the inappropriate behavior of the half-naked dancing clown, also children have a good time at the beach.
Dogs allowed? Not sure, if dogs are allowed or not, but at Playa La Herradura I didn’t see anyone with a dog, but a few stray dogs. Sad to see!
I am very curious, what I will see on my third expedition to the local beaches. The first two ones were already funny and promising.
The only valuable information regarding “Playa El Silencio” I found at tripadvisor.com. Here most information are in Spanish language. Although it is semi-interesting, to read the experiences from several people, there is only a total star rating from 1 – 5 available. Categories like the above mentioned hard factors (accessibility, value for money, security) are not visible on first glance. They might be written in the contribution of the users from tripadvisor.com, but all in all it is a high effort to collect all valuable information together. squeezing out an orange for a glass of juice can be more easy. I didn’t find amongst all the opinions of the user not a detailed report.
A panorama picture of Playa El Silencio taken from the entrance
So I thought to write about the beach and check the quality, at tripadvisor.com the beach received a four star rating. But how should I know, if the beach is suitable for families with small children? Are dogs allowed at the beach? How expensive is it to access the beach. Read now the first beach report about “Playa El Silencio”.
Accessibility ☀☀☀
It’s not difficult to access the beach, but you have to take quite some time in consideration, regardless if you drive with an own car or use the public transport. Both the traffic in Lima is everywhere awful, in my case I was heading from the centre to the south on a Friday noon and that was quite exhausting. It seemed like the half of Lima wanted to take the highway to go for a long weekend outside of the town. I took a bus from “Mall del Sur” to the closest station of the beach.
That took maybe 30 – 40 minutes and cost 3.00S/. ($0.93 or 0.75€). Arriving at the middle of the highway you have now the option to take a taxi or go by feet the rest of the distance. I chose to go the rest of the distance.
Bullshit! It took half an hour maximum. How does Google calculate the walking distance? With old people on crutches?
For me it was kind of funny to see billboard of Uber. I can’t remember, that I have seen any advertisement of Uber before in my life.
Anyway, unfortunately I underestimated the force of the sun on 11:30am and walked these 30 minutes without putting sunscreen earlier. Quite naive, so I got burned a little bit, but didn’t feel it, when I arrived. But when I arrived, I put on sunblock as I should. Lesson learned!
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All in all, it took 70 – 80 minutes until I arrived. And I think, that this is quite a lot but still bearable for a Friday traffic chaos in Lima.
Value for money ☀☀☀
Good and low are the costs for the public transport to access the beach. The entrance is free, because it’s a public beach. All the rest is far off consideration and quite exclusive. Lending two beach chairs and an umbrella cost 30S/. ($9.30 or 7.50€), regardless for how many hours you want to have it. Avarice is a vice, but in my perception, this is quite a lot to not lay in the bear sand and get a stiff bag. To avoid these vexations, I had to bite the bullet. At least the usage of the sanitation facilities of one of the restaurants was included. Everything else to buy and consume was quite expensive in my opinion.
Supply system ☀☀☀☀
Wow, although it’s a public beach, there was no lack of everything. The beach is definitely well equipped with restaurants and beach vendors. It was actually a little bit annoying to enter the beach and get directly molested from five different people who want to bring you inside of one of the restaurants or sell you the beach chairs. Only on bazars in Arabistan it might be more annoying and a pain in the arse than at this beach.
At the beach itself I felt very oversupplied of all the beach vendors. You can’t sit quietly for 30 seconds in your chair, because then the next expert wants to impose you his products.
I was quite surprised, that irrespectively of the ratio of 1:3 (one tourist and three vendors) their business was still successful. No cannibalization, even if you could ice cream every minute of the same company. Even if you would erase the half of these nuisances, it would have been still enough to make every guest at the beach happy.
Not sure, if selling books is a good idea at the beach…At least this beach vendor doesn’t need a gym membership, if he is carrying these heavy books in his hands all day long.
Surface quality ☀☀☀☀☀
Wonderful gritty sand with just a few shells or stones. Not too hot, not too cold.
Safety ☀☀☀☀
There might have been sufficient lifesavers and other security guys walking around. At least I didn’t feel insecure of any threats like thefts. But the only thing that made me wonder was the yellow flag, although there were some crazy intense waves. Some people, especially young fellas, had their little problems to swim and get back to the shore.
Tranquility factor ☀☀
The beach is called “El Silencio”, but the last thing you can expert there is silence. You can’t take a nap, if all 30 seconds someone yells at you to buy a cold beer. The good level of (over)suppliance gets down the tranquility of the beach. I simply can’t eat an ice cream and drink a beer every minute. That’s not possible, even if I wanted to or had enough money for it.. At least there wasn’t any loud music to hear from the restaurants or other tourists.
Activities ☀
Maybe the only thing, that was really missing. There weren’t any extrinsic activities possible at the beach. Nobody wanted to teach me how to surf or hire out a jet ski. Neither were there any beach volleyball pitches or other activities possible. I wasn’t bored because of that, but expected at least something when going to a beach.
Level of cleanness ☀☀☀☀☀
Wonderful! In combination with the fine sand, there wasn’t anything to complain here. No glass, plastic or other garbage to evade to walk on. The beach was very clean and even every beach vendor picked up the garbage from the tourists along their walking paths. Were they obliged from someone to do that or proceeded with it on own motivation? No matter, but at least the beach was nice and clean.
Suitable for Families with children?
Yes it is. Maybe a bit boring, but definitely suitable for families with children. Parents might be not able to take a nap because of missing activities for the children, but that’s the price you have to pay when going to the beach. But keep always an eye on your youngsters when you let them inside of the water. Remember the crazy waves when showing only the yellow flag?
First I was laughing and wondering about someone who tries to sell a swimming pool at the beach. But offering it to a family for little children is a good idea.
Dogs allowed?
I don’t remember that I saw any signage regarding a ban of dogs. Neither did I see a dog. I think, that’s a ‘Yes’. Well, actually a ‘No’ then. I suppose, that dogs aren’t allowed.
Well, I can just recommend to go and make a visit at Playa El Silencio!
The South American cuisine has many things to offer for hungry stomachs: Lomo Saltado, Empanadas, Vori Vori, Mbeyú, Chrurrasco, etc. Some would say, that vegetarians could have a difficult time to find a for their conviction a suitable dish. And that might be true: Especially BBQ’s are popular for South American families at the weekends. And BBQ’s contain most of the time? Yes, exactly: Meat. But one South American dish might be a worthwhile alternative to try.
All hardcore vegetarians or vegans miss of course many opportunities for good dishes. Speaking of myself I can’t even imagine to not eat meat or fish. This scenario never popped into my head, not even when one of my ex-girlfriends tried to make the whole vegetarian style tempting to me. There is no way, that I will ever try to avoid meat. Unfortunately there is too many good food that includes meat or fish. And I don’t want to miss that.
If someone would ask me the question: “If you have to stop eating either meat or fish, what would you chose?”I would probably not be able to give a profound or well argued answer. Simply both would be sad to avoid eating. Probably I would chose fish, because it’s more difficult to acquire and therefor more expensive. Meat on the other hand is easier to produce for a costumer and better available.
The most tasty South American fish-dish is Ceviche. It has also regionally different names like Cebiche or Seviche. But these names look very wrong in my eyes so forget about the alternative spellings. Ceviche comes originally from Peru, but has emerged in different American countries, like Ecuador, Chile and Mexico. All of these countries have adapted the Peruvian idea of preparing raw fish with there own tastes and styles. And Peru loves Ceviche! The Peruvian government declared 10 years ago June 28 the ‘Day of Ceviche’, a yearly commemoration day to honor their traditional dish. Since 2005 it is even a national cultural heritage. According to a resolution of the Ministry of Production, which was published in their official gazette, the decision aims to
“promote and disseminate the Peruvian seviche, both nationally and internationally, as a national prestigious dish, stimulating its culinary consumption.”
Although they wrote Ceviche with an S, it reads like a love letter to their own food. I had the luck to try so far the Peruvian, Chilean and Ecuadorian version of Ceviche. The Mexican one I didn’t try so far. But I would like to share and compare the other three ones I tried.
Chilean Ceviche
First I must say, that I only tried one single time Ceviche from Chile. In 2014 I was for a couple of days in Santiago and tried a local dish of Ceviche. Spoiled after spending some months in Lima and eating the original version, the Ceviche from Chile was more than disappointing and not worth the money. Besides the very sour taste, the garlic and chili was marinated as well. It also contained mint, which really didn’t belong there. I didn’t take any photo of the plate, but here you can see a video about other food travelers who compared Peruvian with Chilean ceviche:
Not my favorite, I wouldn’t order it again.
Ecuadorian Ceviche
A complete different style is the Ecuadorian Ceviche. You have more options to choose your main component you would it like to prepared with. Generally spoken, Ceviche Ecuadorian style is more expensive than the other in the two other countries, but this is due to the higher living costs in Ecuador. And it comes as well with a complete different style of preparing, check the following picture:
Different than the Peruvian one. It has it’s color and taste because of the addition of tomato.
What we see here is almost a soup. although the fish is already dead, it swims inside of tomato sauce. Same reason for its taste is the different color. The idea with tomato is interesting, but changed the taste of the whole dish completely. Both examples here did not taste like lemon or a comparable sour flavor. The left one ($11.50) was with prawn and fish, the right one ($9.00) with a mix of various tastes. Not one both pictures visible are popcorn, Corn (fried corn) and Chifles (fried banana chips), what is typical side dish for Ecuador.
Peruvian Ceviche
The original! The icon! The legend! Peruvian Ceviche comes with a sour taste and several side components. Slices of raw fish are marinated in freshly squeezed key lime or bitter orange juice. Nicely prepared and stacked over one another with eatable seaweed on top. Next to that it was prepared with sliced red onions, chili peppers, salt and pepper.
Next to the actual ceviche, the whole plate came with two sweet potatoes, fried yuca and corn. The second best after the unmistakable taste is the price: I only paid 31.00 Soles ($9.50). More than fair for a bunch of good food.
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