Parrilla para 2

Posted on May 22, 2010 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

Occasionally we order a “parrilla para 2”, or “grill for 2” from the Tablon restaurant chain. There’s a ton of yummie food and in our case, it’s more like a “grill for 2-and-a-half”, plus leftovers. Goes great with a Cerveza Cusqueña or a glass of wine.

Parilla para 2 ... y medio

Now Cusco isn’t exactly Texas when it comes to steak. Instead of a 32oz T-bone, this “parilla” has a small steak, a pork chop, various types of sausage plus a bunch of food you wouldn’t typically see in the US: tongue, heart and some other pieces that I don’t quite recognize 😉

I don't know what most of it is either 🙂

Peru is a poor country with only a small percentage of arable land due to the mountains, desert (coast) and jungle, so it is only natural that many types of food are standard fare. Here in the mountains we eat mostly chicken and pork, but I’ve also had goat, alpaca and of course “cuy” or guinea pig, a local specialty.

New park

Posted on May 15, 2010 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

Many moons ago I ranted about the people in our apartment complex who refused to allow the mayor of Wanchaq to build a nice new park in our complex. Their main objection was that a nice new park would attract teenage couples and people looking for a place to get drunk. Personally I was never worried about that, since these guys can chase of a dozen drunk people quicker than you can say Cerveza Cusqueña.

But good news! Our alcalde, Willy Cuzmar del Castillo has long since struck a deal with the folks in our complex and the new park was recently finished.

I missed the grand-opening ceremony because I was on a trip up North (really North), but Patricia was able to snap a few pictures:

Grand opening ceremony

New park

And here’s our little goose playing in the park.

Mommy and Brianna playing in the new park

The new park in our prestigioso Conjunto Habitacional Pachacutec came out really nice and I’m grateful for it. Here in Peru the local politicians campaign strongly on their record of obras, or public works, so go Willy Cuzmar del Castillo, hombre de palabra! 😉

Partido robado

Posted on May 7, 2010 by wwelvaert under Life in Peru

Unfortunately, when you sit down to watch Peruvian soccer chances are you’re not going to have a very good day – and that’s coming from a Belgian, we haven’t had a good team since Jean-Marie Pfaff in 1986. But last night, things got really ugly when riot police got out onto the field during the Copa Libertadores match between Alianza Lima and U de Chile:

SOCCER, U. DE CHILE VS. ALIANZA LIMA

Original photo here.

El Comercio has the video, but I can’t seem to embed it here.

Bottom line futbol-wise, the play should have been whistled dead when the line judge flagged offside. But drama sells, and sadly the media and powers that be in these parts seem to love nothing better than a good Peru-Chile controversy.