Mancora Top 7

Right in the north of Peru, within sight of Ecuador, is Mancora - busy with tourists, mostly Peruvian or backpackers - we stayed about 3 km south on Las Pocitas, which doesn't translate to exclusive rich showy-offy beach houses, but if it did, it would be a better translation.

Met with maracuya sorbet at the house, we pretty much kicked back and relaxed for 6 days. Bubble was not even - well, only briefly - burst when at breakfast, facing us in the sister house also settled down to breakfast, was one of my GCSE students. Fortunately quite a good one, so my skinny white frame should remain free from Facebook and I won't be cyber stalked by the Biebber generation.

Here are some glimpses:

Conclusion: I could definitely winter there.

Food in Peru

You hear a lot about the food in Peru. Everyone talks about how good the food is. The food revolution, gourmet tourism... all of that. It's not as interesting as all of this.

This is what you don't hear enough about, what now amounts to almost an entire shopping trolley's worth of comedy.

Allow me to give you a tour of your standard Peruvian supermarket:

Correct. Those are Bimbo burger buns, then Wanka fruit, thenFanny tuna.
All available at Wong. That's just Wong, isn't it? 

Tea. No, not tanning oil. Just plain old, er, tea. 

Clearly inspired, the service station opposite offer the following classic combo deals. 

Kraps, anyone? Goes nicely with Bailey's, and Wanka fruit. 

Bosh bosh zoom zoom biscuits. Tosh. 

And I am missing Batti Mix (Yoghurt) and Bum Bum Sticks (Lollies). Photos to follow, with any luck. 

 

Last but not least, here's how you can choose your ice cream flavours. I say flavours, but they mean colours, don't they?

Yes, that would be how you explain what chocolate ice cream tastes like. 

And here's vanilla. No, sorry, pistachio. That's a white dude, with acne. 

Strewth.

Terremoto

First proper earthquake this morning, details here. The school has a seismic alarm, which sounded just before 8am, but was quite slow. Most of the kids had already screamed and were heading for the exit points.

We've had a few tremors, but nothing more than a low purr. Recorded at a mere 4.3 about 40km away from the school. Nothing, comparatively. But this morning was the first one I have felt.

Windows wobbling, ground a-shakin', kids a-screamin' - rather like that moment on a plane when suddenly turbulence feels threatening, but the moment you feel that, it's over. No real fun at all. I see  why everyone who has experienced one describes earthquakes in terms of how long they last, not the numbers.

To be honest, I will be happy if I never experience anything more than that. Having spoken to people here who were here in the big ones - 1971, and November 2007 - and to friends in Christchurch who describes what one of these really feels like, nothing more than 4.0 is plenty.

Lima life

A couple of pics of the girls' life here. 

Maia's 2nd birthday at her nido

Leah, perfectly attired for her Saturday swimming classes. 

What's worse than texting and driving?

An original twist on an old story, drivers in Lima, but I had to sneak a photo of this fella on my regular combi, the Pachacamac to La Punta express. 

Stuck in traffic, Billy the Bus Driver considered giving it some horn. 

It took drives more than the duration of my journey to finish reading the article. Maybe - and I might be jumping to conclusions here - he was being distracted by the naked chic on the left.

What the UK looks like to an Argentine.

Here are a few of my favourite anecdotes that makes me look at the UK the way an Argentine does.


From a kid I used to teach, now working as a gap student. A couple of gems in here. 
I can see some notable differences with Argentineans, such as the sense of humor, which I think is sometimes "healthier" here. Also I was very surprised by the "pub" culture, where you do not buy your own drink, each one buys a 'round'. That's not very frequent in Argentina; and, also, you go several times a week. I can say that I havent noticed any negative aspects yet. The people I work with are always in a good mood and laughing. I dont know if I was lucky, or just the people here are very kind, I guess you can give me some info on that, haha.


Info: the people you are working with are drunk and/or foreign.  


A story a friend tells about visiting the UK with his Argentine fiancee, now wife:   
After going around the country, catching up with friends and meeting family, as we were leaving someone's house, Agos spun around and said: "Does anyone eat anything in this frikkin' country except f*ck*ng lasagna?" 


It is the middle class food of choice, isn't it?

After a kid flew to London for a public speaking competition:

Me: - How was London?

Kid: - Yeah. Really really organised. 

(I expected him to mention the architecture, the Thames, Big Ben... the food?)

Me: - Oh. How do you mean?

Kid: - Well. One day we were waiting for a bus. And there was a timetable, with the times the bus would come, And then, when the time arrived, the bus arrived. Things like that, but all the time. 

* Wow. Britain to Argentines is like Germany to the British. Now I realise why all those German tourists in Argentina looked a little... lostconfused *  

From another student I used to teach, after a school cultural exchange. What's the best thing about the UK? 

You feel a lot prettier when you're there. 

PS Everything's Amazing, Nobody's Happy

Louis CK's Amazing and That Makes Me Happy. A much much funnier version of the previous blog entry.