OK. I admit. I’m a cat person and Lima’s Kennedy Park has forty-two purring creatures for me to love. But this town is dog happy and an overwhelming amount of them are beyond coyote ugly. They are even uglier than the extraterrestrials that supposedly visited this place. Take for instance, the popular Peruvian Orchid. This hairless variety is the rage, […]
Peruvian Ugly
Sleepy Joe
It was a big day in Lima, Peru. President Joe Biden and Xin Jinping were in town for the APEC meeting. For those of you who are not fluent in acronyms, APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. It also meant lots of businesses were closed in Lima to keep traffic to a minimum, and a chance for me to catch […]
Bahía At Bay
“I see an eagle!” screamed one first grader. “I do, too!” screamed another. I had doubts if an American Eagle escaped to Lima, Peru, in spite of the divisive week in politics. But the week of birdwatching with the elementary students inspired me to do a bit of my own at the Paracas National Reserve, an easy safe bus ride […]
Purple: Mes Morado Month
In Lima, there are no red states or blue states. Everything is purple. Well, at least today. Since I’m too lazy to google what the purple parade and celebration is about, I’m guessing it’s not to honor Barnie the Dinosaur or the Late Great Californian Raisins. It’s Mes Morado, or the Lord of the Miracles Month (I asked someone). This […]
Whiz Kid
Sometimes I wonder if I am ever making a difference in the world. Am I just eating ceviche in Lima, or am I making a difference? Well, this week, I felt as if I was more than a consumer of fish and corrector of grammar errors (By the way, this ceviche below costs less than a specialty Starbucks drink). Well […]
I went to America for a week and all I got was a lousy concussion?
“Ginger! Ginger!” I heard my friend call. I was by my luggage ready to go to the airport, luggage that was bulging with fifty pounds of “Can’t Get This In Peru” whatnot. Chocolate covered cherries. Maple Syrup. Barrels of Costco vitamins, wash clothes, Good N Plenty, and Expo White Board Markers. Except I wasn’t standing by my luggage, I was […]
Why I Walk
Seventeen thousand four hundred steps. That’s enough to work off the calories consumed from a grilled banana. That’s also the number of steps I walk to and from ICSLima (the school where I work) and my abode in Barranco in the Smirnoff Vodka building, formally known as the Pepsi Sabor Building. How long is the walk? About fifty-five minutes each […]
A plumber and a prayer
Life in Lima can be just as ordinary as life anywhere. Sure, there’s occasional earthquakes to shake things up in Peru, buses lit on fire during a city-wide transit strike, parents of students getting kidnapped, and dogs better dressed than their owners. But the daily grind? It’s no more exciting that what you’d experience in Schaumburg. My hiking group is […]
Apu Siquay
Could this be the ancient burial ground of carnival rides?
Comfort Zone
This week, I moved out of my comfort zone. Actually, I sold it. I got the text from while I was sharpening pencils with my first graders in Lima, Peru, that someone wanted a second showing of my condo in Chicago, USA. I didn’t even know that there was a first showing. But by the time I had walked home, […]