PERUVIAN FOOD...

I don't want to brag but I just have to. Peruvian food is THE BEST FOOD EVER! That is, when you actually have a good cook making the food :P Ok fine, I'll admit to being biased. It's the only food I've ever really eaten and my mom is a pretty damn good cook and I don't say that just because she's my mom.

WHAT'S PERUVIAN BREAKFAST LIKE?

• EATING AT HOME. As we all know, desayuno (deh-sah-YOO-noh: breakfast) is the most important meal of the day. However, breakfast in Peru isn't like a typical American breakfast you would find at IHOP or Waffle House. We don't have pancakes, waffles, sausages, grits, hash browns, french toast, bagels, muffins, etc. Breakfast at home consists of drinking either milk, tea, coffee and sometimes fruit juices. To eat, you can have some sourdough bread with ham, or a fried egg, or avocado with salt. Yes, I know avocado with salt on bread sounds weird but it's what we eat here. Some other options are toast with butter or jam. We even eat saltine crackers with butter and drink tea with it. My fiance thought it was quite strange but to me it's perfectly normal. He loves it now but I think that's just because it reminds him of me. Avena (ah-VEH-nah) which is often referred to as quaker (KWAH-ker: oatmeal), is another option as well. On weekends when there is time to eat calmly, we have a few options. Tuna with onions, lime juice, and salt on bread or with crackers. Tamales (tah-MAH-lehs) with onions, lime juice, and salt (I'll call it onion salad). And on very special occasions, we eat fried pork pieces known as chicharrón (chee-cha-RONE) with fried sweet potato slices, and onion salad on bread. Definitely not the healthiest meal but it's sooooo good! 

             *NOTE: I'm not encouraging anyone to eat pork while they're here. I got sick from eating pork
                           chops when I first arrived and those were the worst three days of my life! I didn't even get
                           sick like that in Mexico when I was there for a month. My stomach hurt so much! So.... eat
                           pork at your own risk.You may get sick from eating pork and be stuck in bed for a few
                           days which will ruin your plans if you're on a tight schedule. However, I do encourage you
                           to try to make it at home, wherever you come from. Just put some salt on the pork pieces
                           when you fry them. Not everyone likes fried sweet potato so you can omit it if you want.
                           It's good either way :)

• EATING IN THE STREETS. People all over the world these days don't have much time to eat sitting down so they get breakfast on the go. In Peru, a lot of people get their breakfast from any little breakfast cart on the street. Most offer a few types of drinks which are really good for you such as quinua (KEE-nwah), quaker (KWAH-ker) which is a drinkable form of oatmeal, maca (MAH-ka) with or without milk, and emoliente (eh-moh-LIEN-teh). Quinua, quaker, and emoliente are my favorites but it all depends on how the person made it because it's not always good. The drinks are usually S/.80 cents each and almost always come with a refill. These little carts also offer sandwiches of all sorts. You can choose from sandwiches that have slices of fried sweet potato, or a fried egg, or fried egg with chives or broccoli, or avocado on sourdough bread all for S/.80 cents each. You can also get tuna on bread but it's a bit more. A sandwich and a drink will cost you S/1.60 which is the equivalent to 58 cents right now. At times, the drink can even cost you just 50 cents but this is most common in places outside of Lima. Breakfast in the streets is usually served from 6-9 a.m. but it can sometimes go on until 10 a.m.

• BREAKFAST IN RESTAURANTS. If you go into a cheap little restaurant then you can find just about the same thing but it's definitely not as cheap. Prices range from district to district depending on how much you want to eat, what specials they have, etc but it's usually all under 15 soles. A lot of small restaurants in tourist areas also offer "American" breakfast as well. For those of you who skipped all the delicious food I described above to read this part, just take a deep breath. If you're staying in a hotel that provides room service then they'll probably have "normal" breakfast available. McDonalds is also an option lol. Of course, fast food places here are pretty expensive unless they have some sort of special going on.
  

WHAT ABOUT LUNCH?

• ON A TIGHT BUDGET? One of the things you've got to love about Peru is how cheap the food is here. You can get lunch for under 3 bucks! The cheapest lunch you can get around, also referred to as menu (meh-NU), costs 5 soles and consists of a refresco (reh-FRES-koh), something to drink, usually a homemade herbal drink, an entrada (en-TRAH-dah: starter), and a segundo (seh-GOON-doh: main course) which is sometimes referred to as plato fondo (PLAH-toh FONE-doh) and sometimes a small postre (POHS-treh: dessert). Now I'm not saying it's always good or that the "restaurant" is nice and clean, but you can get pretty decent meals and hey, if you're looking to save a lot of money, then this is the way to go. Not every district has 5 sol lunches. The average price is 5-10 soles but it can be a little more. 

• TIGHT BUDGET AND YOU DON'T LIKE PERUVIAN FOOD? Although I find this to be unlikely, a lot of fast food chains are now offering specials, so you can get something to eat  for about 7-10 sols. That doesn't always include a drink and it's not a whole lot either.You definitely need to try BEMBOS (BEHM-bohs) if you're going to eat fast food. 

• HAVE SOME SPENDING MONEY? You can find a lot of decent restaurants which offer menus for 20-30 soles. These slightly more expensive menus usually offer a soda and dessert and are definitely much nicer than the cheap little restaurants. If there is no menu available, your meal is still likely to cost less than 40 soles depending on the prices of the starters and drinks. 

            *NOTE: Menus are usually sold from 12-3 p.m. Monday through Saturday only. They can
                          sometimes be sold a bit earlier and last until 4 p.m. It's really until the food runs out. If you
                          miss menu time then you're out of luck.You have to pay separately for everything and
                          sometimes they don't have food ready for a couple of hours.

Larcomar

• MONEY'S NOT A PROBLEM? Then there are plenty of nice restaurants for you to eat at. If you want to eat in a place overlooking the beach in Miraflores, then you can head over to Larcomar which is a shopping center in front of the Marriott hotel but you actually have to walk down to get into it. Depending on where you eat, prices can range from 15 to over 100 soles. There's also a restaurant called La Rosa Naútica which was built on a pier and can be seen from Larcomar. I haven't been there yet so I can't really say anything about the food or service. 

La Rosa Naútica

WHAT TO EAT FOR DINNER?

• At home, Peruvians usually have dinner between 8-10 p.m. which is unusual to some. We usually have leftovers from lunch or something else is made. At night, there are plenty of restaurants both cheap and expensive, opened until at least 11. If you don't want a full course meal, we have a lot of sandwich places around as well. Dinner in a restaurant can be the most expensive meal of the day because you have to pay for everything separately if you're eating in a nice restaurant. Don't worry because it can still only cost between 20-30 sols and in a lot of cases you can find it for less but that's highly unlikely in hot tourist spots.

ARRIVING IN LIMA....HOW TO GET AROUND

For first time travelers in Lima, it can turn out to be the experience of a lifetime or one you'll somewhat regret because of complications during your trip.

You'll first arrive at Jorge Chavez Airport in El Callao (pronounced kah-YAOW). It's a bit overwhelming because once you go through customs and walk out of the door, you'll see a large crowd of people waiting for their loved ones and  there will  be many people in the front holding up name cards of people they're there to pick up. I remember when I first arrived I was so confused. I couldn't see my family but I just kept walking like I knew where I was going :P You can exchange your money at a small exchange desk that's directly in front of the door from which you come out of. I'm not sure how many feet away it is but just keep walking straight and you should get to it in about a minute. It's close to the escalator you see in the picture. If you have no one waiting for you, then as soon as you walk out of the door, you can walk to the exit doors directly to your right so you avoid the crowd.


NEED TRANSPORTATION FROM THE AIRPORT? YOU HAVE A FEW OPTIONS:

• Take a taxi directly from the airport. Those guys are right outside the airport exit doors and they have prices posted on a board that tell you the fares for each district. It's also much safer to go with them. However, they tend to charge you 10 or more sols (that's the currency here) than a taxi driver from the street would. 

• If you're trying to save some money, then you can walk out of the airport and walk towards the street. Just turn to the right and follow the sidewalk until you get to the airport entrance.You can use the luggage cart thing most of the way but you can't take it out of airport property which means you will have to carry your bags for about less than two minutes to the bus stop that's on your right. If you're confused now, don't worry because as soon as you pick your bags up to start walking, some men are probably going to walk towards you or they may even already be there asking you "taxi? taxi?" They'll also help you carry your bags. 

• If you're a backpacker and you're REALLY trying to save as much as possible, then you can always take a bus from outside the airport entrance as well. Most tourists stay in Miraflores. There's this one combi (KOHM-bee), a small bus, I know of that you can take. It's mostly white and red with some black. If you have any doubts about where the bus is going, just ask the cobrador (koh-brah-DORE) the person charging you the bus fare, and he'll tell you. The last time I went, the fare was S/2.50 to Miraflores. These buses are tiny so it may be a little uncomfortable but they get you to Miraflores in about less than 30 minutes early in the morning. I've never taken one at night.

*NOTE: You can always negotiate the price of the taxi fare with the street taxi drivers. The fee they tell you initially is usually slightly higher because if you're willing to pay it, then it's better for them but if not then you can always get him to bring it down to the normal fare. Taxi fares are a little more expensive during rush hour times. To have an idea of what the normal fare is, ask a few taxis before you decide to get into one. You can even ask the airport employees that are at the airport entrance preventing you from taking the luggage carts before you go to the taxi/bus stop area. Whatever taxi you take, make sure to put any valuable bags/purses that you take with you in the front, on the floor as a precaution. Some people will break windows to steal your things. I'm not saying it always happens but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Once you begin taking street taxis it's EXTREMELY important that you ALWAYS ask how much the fare for a taxi is going to be before you get in it. Foreigners usually get charged much more because they are thought to have lots of money. I can not stress how important it is to have a general idea of what the normal fare is. I went on vacation two months ago to the mountains and two tourists got charged 60 soles to be taken to the airport when the original fare was only 20. Also make sure you give them some sort of reference to a main street and tell them which block it's on or close to. If you don't know or you forgot to ask the receptionist from the hotel or hostel you're going to be staying at, then look up the address here. Even if you DO know the address, it's always nice to have an idea of where you're going.

To get a map for an address in Lima, just follow these simple steps.

1. Select the name of the district you're going to in "Buscar en."

2. Type in the street name where it says "Calle." Don't forget to include whether it's an Av (Avenida), Jr (Jiron), Ca (Calle), Psje (Pasaje).

3. Type in the block number where it says "Cuadra."

4. Click on "Buscar" and you should have a list of addresses appear underneath.

5. Click on the one that best applies to you. A map will appear on the right.

So just to be clear. If you need to get to Av. Arequipa 4736, then type in the following information like so. I can now tell my taxi driver that I need to get to the 47th block of Arequipa and that it's close to Av. Angamos.

Street taxis can be a little dangerous in Lima, so if you don't feel comfortable just getting into any taxi then you can call a taxi company for one. Two common companies are Taxi Seguro and Taxi Satelital. I believe both of those taxi companies have small vehicles enough for two people with three or four suitcases depending on the size. If you need a bigger vehicle then please look at the previous link. They usually charge 60 soles or more depending on how many people they need to pick up.

Most tourists choose to stay in safer districts such as Miraflores and San Isidro. In some cases, Barranco, San Borja and Surco are also potential options. San Borja is about 30 minutes from the airport without traffic. With traffic, it can be more than an hour. The cheapest taxi fare from the airport to San Borja is 25 soles.
I assume going to San Isidro is between 25-30 soles and to Miraflores it should be between 25-35 depending on where you want to go. I'm sure you can find it even cheaper though. Taxi drivers tend to charge a little more for Miraflores and San Isidro because "rich" people live there or stay there.








USEFUL PHRASES:

IN THE TAXI.

Buenos dias/buenas tardes/buenas noches ¿Cuánto me cobra a la cuadra (20) de (Arequipa)?
Good morning/afternoon/evening. How much will you charge me to block 20 of Arequipa? 

Está cerca de....
It's close to...

Nada menos?
Nothing less?

______________________________________________________________________________________
ON THE BUS.

¿Va a ....(Miraflores)?
Do you go to...(Miraflores)?


Me avisas por favor
Let me know when we're there please.

¿A (San Borja) cuánto?
How much is it to San Borja? 


¿A que parte de..... (Angamos/San Isidro)?
Where exactly on (Angamos)?
Where exactly in (San Isidro)? 

______________________________________________________________________________________
IN THE STREET.

Disculpa, usted sabe cuánto es de aqui hasta (el centro de Lima) en carro/taxi?
Excuse me, do you know how much it is from here to (Downtown Lima) by bus/taxi?


Una consulta, usted sabe que carro tengo que tomar para ir a .....(Barranco)?
Quick question, do you know which bus I have to take to get to....(Barranco)?

New Mall in Surquillo

For those of us who may not know where Peru is located, it's in South America and is bordered by Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia.

I know this is kind of boring but I have to break this down so you have an idea of how Peru works. Peru is divided into twenty-four "departamentos." If you're American, then I would think of the "departamentos" as states.

Amazonas Ancash Apurimac Arequipa Ayacucho Cajamarca Cusco Huancavelica	Huánuco Ica Junín La Libertad Lambayeque Lima Loreto Madre de Dios	Moquegua Pasco Piura Puno San Martín Tacna   Tumbes Ucayali

I got this information from wikipedia:

The province of Lima is divided into forty three districts. In Spanish it's called "districtos" which are administered by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima. The urban area of Lima is generally considered to be formed by thirty of these districts. The remaining thirteen districts consist of mostly rural and sparsely populated desert and mountainous areas. Of these peripheral districts, many of the coastal ones serve as beach resorts and their population —which is considerably smaller than that of the urban districts— increases during the summer months.

Today I'm going to be talking about Surquillo. It's a pretty small district around the middle of this map. It's bordered by Miraflores, which is an upscale tourist spot, San Isidro, the financial district, and San Borja and Santiago de Surco (Surco for short), which are residential areas. Surquillo is well-known for being a dangerous district although I don't think it's that bad at all because I've seen worse! But it can be pretty shady at night so you have to be careful if you're walking through there. I believe it was in December 2009 when they began building this ENORMOUS mall on the corner of Angamos and Tomas Marsano Ave. I used to call that intersection "acrobat ave" because there used to be a bunch of street kids that would do flips, juggling, etc for money when the street lights were red :P

Open Plaza Angamos was inaugurated about two weeks ago. Over 100 million dollars were invested into this new shopping center which was built in the course of thirteen months over 33 thousand meters squared. It's expected to generate a million visitors a month but at least 15 million visitors it's first year. It's comprised mainly of Chilean chains such as Sodimac a homecenter store, Saga Falabella, retail store, Tottus, a supermarket, Casa & Ideas, etc.  It can be found on the corner of block 18 of Angamos and block 12 of Tomas Marsano.

They have escalators and these conveyor belt type things that you find in some airports. The conveyor belts make it easier to transport children in strollers and to move your shopping cart around from floor to floor.

Chilean chains in Peru are a somewhat controversial topic. Peruvians have considered Chileans rivals since the late 19th century when they were at war in the "war of the Pacific." I don't know all the exact details but a brief summary that I was told was that Chile invaded Peru and for many years both countries fought over the Arica and Tacna departments until they finally came to an agreement that Chile would keep Arica while Peru kept Tacna. Chilean businesses have definitely boosted the country's economy and although rivalry isn't as aggressive as before, I would be cautious about bragging to be Chilean in certain places if you're visiting. "Plaza Vea," a Peruvian supermarket chain, constantly competes with successful Chilean supermarket chain "Metro" all the time. Their advertisements usually say "comprale al Perú" which means "buy from Peru" aka promote Peru's economy not Chile's. 

Anyway.......I have a tendency to get side tracked so back to my topic :P

Open Plaza has three floors. I went in there briefly yesterday only to take pictures and I'm sure there was a fourth floor but I didn't see any stores at the top so I assumed it was just there so people could get to the 4th floor parking lot. The food court and cinema are located on the third floor. Aside from having regular theaters, the cinema also includes a 3D and the first XD theater in Peru which I believe to be similar to an IMAX theater. I'm not sure what the exact price was because the evil lady at the counter wouldn't let me take a picture of the prices but I think that regular admission is 10.5, 3D is 19.5 and XD is 24.5 soles. In dollars that's about 3.75, 6.97, and 8.75.

The food court has fast food chains like Burger King, China Wok, which has good Chinese food, Pizza Hut, KFC. Coney Park, a sort arcade/game place for children, is located in the food court as well.

From the food court you have a view of Surquillo and Miraflores.There's no doubt that within a few years Surquillo will have completely changed. This new mall is supposed to attract people of all classes but since it's surrounded by districts that generally have middle and upper class residents, then changes will definitely have to be made in order for them to feel "safe" on this side of town. I've been here for almost a year and Lima has definitely changed a lot since I got here. Can't wait to see what new changes will be made.