Pls Read. Thnx, A

Before I dive in to this entry's topic, I'd like to make one last observation about the half marathon. During races like this it is almost universal to have water booths periodically spaced throughout the race with cups of water available to the runners. Because you're running, it's much more likely that you will throw the cup on the ground after you manage to get none of the water in your mouth (try drinking out of cup while running. It's about as effective as a BP Top Kill. Too soon?) rather than throw it in one of the provided trash cans. Over time the ground becomes littered with cups, but it's not a big deal since they get smooshed and aren't treacherous to run over. The Lima Half Marathon organizers creatively thought to provide a light snack at several of the hydration booths...halved bananas. You can probably imagine the unfortunate result of this: a roughly 200 ft stretch of road littered with banana peels. I didn't see any injuries caused by the peels, but come on people! Why not also provide complimentary snack packs of ball bearings and Nike-brand single roller skates?

Sorry for the internet silence during the past week. It seems I ate a bad ceviche and came down with a case of food poisoning. Don't worry, I have no reservations which would prevent me from enjoying more seafood during my trip, but I certainly did not feel inspired to write any blog entries. Also, there wasn't much to write about since I spent most of my time sleeping, watching movies, or following the PAMP diet (popular for generations of upset American stomachs, the BRAT diet is commonly prescribed to steer the sick individual away from irritating foods. Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast becomes the PAMP diet in Spanish [Platano, Arroz,Manzana, Pan tostado]). Riveting stuff, right? I was still working, however, because last week was Melissa's final week in Huaraz and there were tasks that needed my attention. Susana was absent most of the week at an educational conference so I took the liberty of turning the office into a small theatre so I could finally perform my one-man, spoken word rendition of "Phantom of the Opera." The chandelier scene was a serious pain in the llama, but the audience was really blown away.

While some of that last statement might not have actually happened, I definitely did receive quite the flow of emails from Susana. I appreciate the convenience of email, as well as its accessibility, reliability, and speed. However, I will often bemoan its impact on written English (I know, I know. I can be a guilty party too, and far be it from my to say this writing isn't flawed). Weird abbreviations and acronyms dominate sentence fragments which are sometimes so unfamiliar as to seem some sort of cryptic code. That may be an exaggeration, but many emails can be hard to read because there are so many assaults on the conventions of written English. I try my best to write even brief emails grammatically, mostly in the fear that cutting corners in email will eventually ruin the rest of my writing. Some of you might be thinking, "Hey Andrew, you know what I find hard to read? Parenthetical insertions and unrelated asides! How about a little fluidity, Jack?!" You have a point, and my name isn't Jack. However, I like quick little changes in topic because it rather reflects how I think. And good luck finding another Lima-American-expat-roofdog-wig search blog. Anyways, I was complaining about the state of English in emails. Let me be the first to tell you (Caution: I may not be the first to tell you) that the same "time-saving" language tools seen in American emails are just as ubiquitous in Spanish emails. For your consideration:

Andre, pr fa, trascribe esto para Jim, si tuvieras alguna duda consultalo con Karla. Gracias.

Slu2,Su.

And now, the English translation:

Andre, please, translate this for Jim, if you have any doubt consult Karla. Thanks.

Sincerely, Su.

Now besides spelling my name wrong, she also shortened "por favor" to "pr fa" and somehow transformed "Saludos" into "Slu2." And let us not forget the excessive commas and run on sentencetation. I know that she wrote this on her computer (as opposed to a smartphone), so I can't understand why it's necessary to save a couple milliseconds with these eye-burning writing techniques. Granted, I was probably more irritable last week because I felt like I had the bird flu (and I mean South American bird flu, not the cupcake American variety), but I still find this kind of writing highly sloppy and painful to read. Of course, don't feel like you can't write me emails with abbreviations and acronyms. Just make sure that I didn't order the Tuesday lunch special from Costa del Sur.

Fortunately, I was fully recovered by Friday night. I wanted to spend this weekend enjoying some relaxing morning US Open coverage and exploring parts of Miraflores and San Isidro (the upscale districts) which I hadn't yet seen. I set off walking from Barranco and headed north. Along my travels, I ate a chicken empanada from a street cart (great value at 1.5 soles. Flaky crust, chicken that really tasted like chicken, and plenty of tender sauteed mushrooms), bought a half kilo of almonds (25 soles), and purchased a croissant from French bakery, La Baguette (2.5 soles, wasn't light or flaky enough though the flavor was estimable). I also ate a quick lunch at a slightly upscale Chinese restaurant I had been meaning to try. They are the only place I've seen in Lima that serves tofu, and strangely I was craving the soybean wonderfood. I ordered the Mabo Tofu and was promptly disappointed by the in-your-face saltiness of the sauce, but the side of fried rice was excellent so I didn't have any regrets. Once I reached the northernmost part of San Isidro I intended to visit, I almost failed a cab to take me back to Barranco. Then I saw a restaurant named "Como Agua Para Chocolate" or "Like Water for Chocolate." I remembered seeing the name listed as one of the only Mexican restaurants in Lima. There are some that claim to be Mexican, like Los Tacos in Miraflores. I asked them if they served burritos. The owner said, "Sure we serve those." I looked at the menu and saw no burritos (and no definite Mexican dishes either), and I told him that I couldn't find the burrito section. He then told me, "Oh we have tacos. Those are burritos." FAIL. So when I saw Como Agua Para Chocolate I was appropriately excited. I went inside and was immediately reminded of the colorful Mexican restaurants in the US with lots of flowers, bright murals on the walls, rustic stained wood tables, and arched recesses next to the booths. The sort of place that gives you a bowl of greasy and impossibly crispy tortilla chips that sometimes stick together and a liquidy red salsa and of course a variety of combination plates which revolve around enchiladas, tacos, and chile rellenos. Follow me? After seeing the atmosphere, I had a good feeling, and this was confirmed by the menu which was full of typical Oaxacan (the menu told me, I actually didn't know) specialties. And "two-tortilla" burritos. Hubba, hubba! I was really full from eating basically nonstop on the way there so I couldn't do my civic duty and order one, but you know I'll be back this week. I hadn't realized how much I missed burritos (Mexican or otherwise), but seeing them prominently displayed on the menu rekindled my love affair. I am afraid of the burrito being delicious because San Isidro isn't exactly convenient, and if I got addicted I would be spending a lot on cab rides. Oh well, my cross to bear.

More photos in the Flickr account!