We had an Expat Thanksgiving today at our apartment as a great excuse to gather and break bread. The American teachers introduced the holiday to a few newcomers and taught them how to eat too much. Alex and I picked up three roasted chickens from Plaza Vea (one of the few massive supermarkets here) and everyone brought delicious treats and beverages to round off the feast. We played a few card games to build up our appetite. Gluttony and games.
Brandon brought some pre-dinner snacks. This Chorizo was amazing. South American pepperoni.
Our good friend Connie had us over for dinner and entertainment this past Saturday night. She lives a complicated cab ride away but it was so worth the adventure. After a delicious traditional meal, Alex and Connie performed an awesome Peruvian Jungle Dance for us with costumes and all:
After their amazing performance, they let us guys try on the powers of the head dress:
Our arched gate and our flowers flowing off our rooftop terrace
Our garden and a little volcanic stone walkway into the serenity. Behind it is the outdoor patio to a restaurant I actually haven't eaten at yet. This morning two little girls ventured into the garden from the restaurant and were picking flowers. They saw me and ran away screaming (obviously).
Our roommate Karina in the garden!
Our view from our rooftop terrace at night. You can see the towers of the Plaza De Armas.
This is our new barrio in Arequipa. We live right behind this beautiful plaza. Plaza Yanahuara is known for its beautiful view, El Mirador de Yanahuara. The plaza sits on top of a hill and has signature old volcanic stone archways, serving as gateways to your viewing pleasure.
Mirador de Yanahuara. There is a steep decline down and to the right that provides a great view. Our apartment is similarly located atop the same hill which gives us a spectacular view from our rooftop terrace.
In the plaza itself, there are beautifully manicured palm trees that are constantly trimmed by men atop incredibly tall ladders. Around the plaza there are a handful of restaurants, bakeries and bodegas. There is also an American restaurant that we thus far have refused to try (even though it looks kind of good).
The yellow building is the Municipal building of Yanahuara (it has recently been painted white with yellow accents). The majority of the plaza is to the left and the view (mirador) is to the right. I'm not sure what the story is with the totem pole, but it's a serious work of art.
Alex standing outside a bakery in the plaza that we frequent. It's a dangerous place to enter sometimes...
In addition, there is an old volcanic stone church, La Iglesia de San Juan. There are many weddings here and even more husbands and brides come to the plaza just to have their wedding photos taken. On my way home from class today, there were 3 different couples having their wedding photos taken at once at the plaza.
La Iglesia San Juan
This alley is off the side of the plaza and leads to our apartment. This is also one of the more popular backdrops for wedding photos and there is often a bride (in her gown) and groom standing under this archway. Excuse us.
These flower pots line the streets of Yanahuara. This was taken in the alley shown above on my home.
We met up with Ren, Jacob, Brandon, Sam, Connie, and my student Romel and headed to Chilina. It wasn't exactly what we expected. There was no live music nor reggae music to be heard. They had a DJ playing dubstep in some guy's backyard behind a retirement home and they were selling cheap beer and food. They had a drum kit and mics set up just teasing us for over 3 hours. However, they did have bungee jumping....
No. None of us tried it. I didn't think a backyard party in rural Peru was the best location for a first attempt. I'm sorry to let you down.
Despite it not being what we had anticipated, we had a great time and headed back to our place around sunset for Dominos. It was delicious and had to happen.
It was horribly buggy and I had bug spray in my bug-out bag. You're welcome, Jacob.
you won't do it...
Roomies!
This guy was pretty hilarious.
I love this backdrop. Backyard party.
We waited for reggae until the cows came home
Ren enthusiastically leads the charge back to our place. Amazing.
Arequipa has streets full of small buses, called combis, that circle the city. They range in size, pollute like hell, and each has a different route with minimal signage to inform you as to what that route is. In the front window, they display two to four locations the combi will pass through (Cayma, Yanahuara, Saga, etc.).
A conductor or attendant stands in the doorway and yells out the destinations and direction of the combi as it approaches anyone standing still on the sidewalk. These conductors also take your fare as you depart the combi. The fare is either 70 or 80 centimos, which is roughly 30 US cents. For the most part, there are no "bus stops", rather there are locations where people know combis will often stop. You can also chase down a combi and jump on one anywhere, as long as you can catch the attention of the conductor. If you do this, be careful, cars behind the combi will honk and the driver may be quick with the gas pedal.
The combis are often crowded with standing room only. You often find yourself playing Human Tetris with your busmates. As a gringo, it takes some getting used to but it's cheap and you don't have to wait more than a few minutes for a combi going your way if you are in the right location. It's also a great way to extend your reach in the city, it's an experience and riding them makes me feel like I live here.
The destinations of this combi are posted in the middle bottom of the windshield and are also called out by the conductor who hangs out of it as it passes me by.
One conductor stands in the open doorway of his full size combi while another hangs out the window of his smaller sized one. The larger combis are more comfortable for us gringos (more headroom).
A line of combis are stuck in traffic on Ave Ejército
Here's my first attempt at uploading a video from my DSLR. Still can't figure out getting the 1080p to upload and keep the quality. But alas, here's a video of combis picking up some customers on Ave Ejército:
Sunday Funday! We slowly assembled and headed towards the mountains to a neighborhood (and street) called Arancota on the outskirts of the city. Our friends and fellow teachers, Jacob and Thijs, told us that this is the place Peruvians go on Sundays. They told us Arancota is known for their Chicharron (fried pork) and live salsa music. They were right. We went to this restaurant/bar called La Cecilia, which was packed and the music was rocking with a 4-piece horn section. The food was nothing spectacular, but the beers were cheap and the music was good and loud enough to get you dancing on a Sunday afternoon.
Waiting for Sam on the patio/entrance to our new apartment
Tres Mesas at La Cecilia. Great hanging with Tina and her roommate Ino! (Tina is 2nd from the right and Ino is at the head of the table)
Alex and Ino shaking it up front and center. Obviously.
These hills were beautifully golden with houses bravely reaching up them
Fried pork overload on this street
La Cecilia
The combi (small bus or large van) ride back was Brandon's first so I had to document it. Tina is on the right pretending not to know me but Sam's being a good sport.
