First Week on the Job, Cultural Differences, Cooking Up a Storm

Last week was my first full week at my new job. I was hired as a travel writer for a local travel agency that specializes in customized, mostly luxury trips to Peru (and Ecuador/Bolivia). It was exhausting! I'm using my brain in such a different way when I write professionally and it took me the whole week to really get back into the swing of it. I think I'm there now, but my brain hurts.

Office life is kind of boring. I mean, it's nice to be able to do what I'm doing -- I love writing -- but sitting at a desk 4 hours a day and just writing is very different from the rest of my life. I won't deny that the structure is good for me, it's just that I haven't sat at a desk and worked on someone else's schedule for a very loooong time. It takes getting used to again.

But I like it. A lot. The descriptive writing I'm doing is very interesting and a lot of fun. I spent the first half of the week researching a bunch of other luxury travel Websites and have to admit that I salivated more than once at the trips available out there for bottomless wallets. I never had one of those, but at one point it was definitely deeper than it is now. Oh, the memories...

This has also been a growing week for me in terms of my relationship with Hum. I came to the realization that I'm much less independent than I once thought and need to come to terms with that and figure out how to change it. I'm not good at trusting people and it only took a couple of fights to make me doubt the stability of our relationship. The fights were complete miscommunications and cultural misperceptions that lead to arguments and it is nothing short of frustrating. I just wrote about this to a friend explaining how much more difficult it is for me to explain my life to Hum in my broken Spanish than it is to just write it or discuss it with another English speaker. The extent of my high-school Spanish this time last year was "Hola, como estas?" so naturally for the writer/communicator in me to just easier to talk in English. I'm getting better at expressing myself in Spanish, but exasperation is a sentiment I feel quite regularly. My patience is growing, but sometimes I think it doesn't grow fast enough.

And this doesn't just apply to Hum. It's the every day things here in Peru that can exasperate me. Take, for example, a visit to the pharmacy or one of the stores here. At the pharmacy, I have to go to the counter, tell one of the pharmacists what I need and they go in the back and get it. But they don't give it to me. First, I have to take the ticket they've written up and bring it to the cashier. I wait in line to pay the cashier and then take my stamped ticket to another window where I wait in line again to get my item. It's a pain in the ass.

After going through this at the pharmacy today we also went to the tupperware store. It's basically a store that sells all items plastic (plus glasses, cookware and other household items). You have to hunt down a "helper" who writes down everything you want, gives you a ticket, which you then bring to the cashier and, after paying, bring the stamped ticket to another person who then fulfills the order. Our "helper" forgot to write down one of the items and so I had to wait in line again at the cashier, pay again and then wait in line again at the fulfillment counter. I wanted to shoot myself. But, alas, TIP (This Is Peru).

I just don't get it. Why can't I just take the item off the shelf, bring it to a cashier, pay for it and leave?? Why???

Ok, enough complaining. This is just how it is.

The ridiculousness that is one of these stores...




I've been cooking up a storm at the house in the mornings while we have water. I've now perfected the Pomodoro sauce we want to serve in the restaurant and have modified it to accommodate the Mexican-themed taco meals Humberto is now obsessed with eating. He's created a mighty-tasty guacamole to accompany our taco meals, so I've been enjoying every bite.

I've also made a few baked items with avocado (think avocado chocolate chip muffins) and yogurt (vanilla yogurt cake). I'll be posting the recipes as soon as I can take pictures of the end results -- they just get eaten way too fast to photograph!

We had a few friends over for dinner the other night and while the intention was to cook stuff from the restaurant for everyone to try, we ended up making enchiladas and tacos -- foods sorely missing from the Peruvian diet as well as the menus of most restaurants. And when they are offered, hoo boy, do they suck. Ours did not. I bought some Pyrex-type cookware and went to town. Dinner was lovely and it was nice finally having a little party at the house.
Dinner at our house
Jacob trying to open a bottle of wine with a hammer and nail -- don't ask.
Dessert: A Yogurt Cake with fruit and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake (I'll post the recipes soon)

The restaurant is also moving along. Our carpinter is buying the wood this weekend and the bar should be ready no later than April 5. That gives us 3 weeks to put together the rest of the restaurant to be ready to open no later than April 15. The menu has been written and almost all of the recipes tested. A few more need perfecting, but it'll happen this week. I'm still working out a good mac and cheese with the ingredients I have to work with down here. My cheese options are kind of limited, so trial and error seems to be the name of the game. I'll get it down soon though, and when I do, stand back...

Carnavale Madness and All the Technical Difficulties in Between

Oy, Carnavale. It's almost over, thank goodness. I remembered it from my time in Cusco last year, when the main square and all the little squares in between are laden with juveniles throwing water, foam and silly string at each other and the unsuspecting tourist. It was not my intention to venture out today because of this and the fact that despite my newly acquired tan from my recent travels I'm still a few shades lighter than your average Cusquenian and sadly still fall into the latter category of "tourist." At least I'm not unsuspecting. I know what you sneaky, water-gun toting little bastards are up to.

My DVD player broke. Sigh. The timing couldn't have been worse, as Humberto went to visit his family for a couple of days and I was finally going to catch up on the shows/movies that I know he has no interest in watching (namely the entire miniseries "Pillars of the Earth"). Damn, damn, damn. So I took my little machine to El Paraiso, another one-stop shopping locale with a couple of electronics technicians in the back. It's an easy walk, but I'd have to pass through the Plaza de Armas (main square) to get there. And the thought of further damaging my electronics due to water inundation is not in my budget at the moment.

So I hopped into a taxi and placed my DVD player into the (hopefully) capable hands of a couple of high-school-aged boys at Paraiso. It should be ready tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

And since my Internet in the house sucks, I brought my laptop along with me to find a wifi spot on the way home. It's just another one of those frustrating things I have to deal with, which means I have to leave the house every time I want to do more than check my email (I can usually get enough bars to check email, but that's about it). On the brighter side, it gets me out of the house, but unfortunately means I have to cough up money for a cup of coffee. Another "not in the budget" item for me right now.

So, yes, I'm trying to watch my budget a little more because of the restaurant. We're not blowing hundreds and hundred of dollars, but that's where all of our efforts are being placed at the moment and managing money is not my strong suit. I never had to worry about the financials of life before now (thanks, Mike) and so it worries me a little. I've had a few sleepless nights because of it, but I'm confident everything will work out. I just need to spend less time on the Internet and fixing broken DVD players.

So my wifi perch today is a swanky tourist-filled spot close to the main square. It has outside sofa seating and it's generally protected from the Carnavale madness but it also gives you a birdseye view of the frivolities. Not bad, for a 7-sole cappuccino. I'm gonna stay until the battery dies on my computer to make the most of it.

The conversations around me are interesting. I don't usually hang out at places like these and so I've perked my ears to enjoy the spoken (English) word -- mainly beacuse I forgot my headphones. I'm sitting behind a pair of tourists (the only people who would pay 7 soles for a cappuccino) and am listening to them share their world views with each other (it sounds like they met here and are kind of on a "first date") while interspersing commentary about the passersby. I don't have those kinds of conversations anymore because I'm usually so immersed in trying to live a normal life here in Cusco. The people hanging out at cafes like this are just visiting, and their conversations reveal that. But I do live here, and listening to them is a nice reminder of that.

Work has picked up a lot. I've been taking clients regularly which is wonderful, as it serves as therapy for me, too, and I started my new job as a travel writer for a luxury travel agency. I'll eventually link you to their site (after I've rewritten it) so you can see what I've been up to. I went in yesterday for a few hours and will be there every weekday from 9-1 and then on Saturdays from 9-12. The office has a great energy -- the employees seem generally happy and dedicated to their work. Good stuff. Plus, this job is giving me some structure to my life -- finally!

It's also letting me use a different part of my brain. When I write here on the blog, it's free flowing. I don't have to think about it too much. It's just my life in words. Writing for someone else requires a lot of thought and I haven't done that in a loooong time. I also forgot how tiring it can be to think out of the box, but I also get a different kind of satisfaction from this type of work.

The restaurant is coming along. The guy we hired to paint the place also does electrical and plumbing stuff so the wiring for all the lighting and the piping for the sink is now in place. I'm a little worried about our carpenter though. He's a little overstretched in terms of work right now and I don't know if he'll be able to complete our job in the timeframe we want. And the problem is, he's not going to tell us that. Hum went to meet with him yesterday and found him drunk as a skunk, taking advantage of his day off, I guess. After a couple of beers, Hum realized that a productive conversation about the restaurant wasn't going to happen (yes, it took the consumption of 3 beers to conclude that) and left it for another day. We shall see. Cross your fingers for that, too.

3 Hours of Water a Day, an Introduction to Different Foods, and a New Job (Because I Didn't Already Have Enough on My Plate)

So apparently there's something going on with the water pipes up here in San Blas. They're doing work on them -- or so I've been told -- and we've only been getting water in the mornings here at the new house. This is a bit of a pain in my ass. I feel so compelled to take full advantage of the few hours of running water that I've intuitively been waking up at 6am to shower and do anything/everything in the kitchen for the entire day before it runs out. This has made me super productive, but I think Hum's about ready to kill me.

Yesterday's big cooking event at 6:30am was Apple Oatmeal Muffins. They're going to be a staple for breakfast in the restaurant. The recipe:

1.5 cups flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup sugar
4 apples
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/8 cup vegetable oil

Peel and slice the apples and place them in a pot of water (with the water just covering the apples). Bring to a boil and let simmer until the apples are nice and mushy.

Mix flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and cloves together. In separate bowl, mix eggs, vanilla, sugar and veg oil. Add to the dry mixture and stir gently. Add apples (you can also sprinkle some sugar on your apples before adding them to the mixture if they're too tart for your taste).

Pour mixture into muffin tins and bake for about 15-20 minutes. I live at uber-high altitude now (and am still cooking in an easy-bake oven), so my cooking times will vary from yours. Just use your judgment and check the muffins as often as you deem necessary.

They came out lovely and delicious. I'm already eating my second one today. I'm going to try to include more recipes in here as the restaurant progresses so you can play at home with me while I'm putting together/changing the menu for the restaurant. And...if any of you have recipes to suggest, I'm all ears.

So I think it's time to tell you a little more about the restaurant. It's going to be a pasta place, as there's nothing like that here in Cusco. The menu will be small -- 6 sauces -- plus desserts (2 a day) and a salad of the day. There will also be one oven-baked pasta per day (lasagna, mac and cheese, etc.). The big thing here are "menus," which is a prix fixe menu (the actual paper menu is called "la carta") for lunch and/or dinner. They can be as cheap as 2.5 soles and it includes a soup and entree and there's usually enough rice or potatoes on the plate to feed an entire family. Most of these cheap menus aren't very good. They're sufficient if you're cheap/poor/hungry, but if you value the quality of your food, you're not usually going to eat a 3-sole menu (though I do know of a few 4-sole menus worth consuming).

Our lunch menu will be around 8 soles. It will include garlic bread, salad and your choice of 2 sauces (a veg and a meat). If you want a different sauce, you can order a la carte. The dinner menu will cost more but include dessert and a glass of wine in addition to the other items. I imagine that many of our ideas will morph as we move towards opening the restaurant, but the general theme will stay the same. And the name of the place is awesome (you'll have to wait a little longer before I reveal that publicly).

So, back to everyday life. Last week I introduced Hum to tacos. Well, he'd already eaten some good ones with me in Arequipa a few months ago, but he didn't realize just how easy it is to throw a bunch of stuff into a tortilla and call it a taco. The previous night he had made a beautifully delicious guacamole-type salsa and we had a lot left over. So I boiled some rice, cooked up some ground beef, cracked open a can of black beans and mixed it all together. I smeared the guac mixture on the bottom of some heated tortillas, poured the rice mixture on top of that and added some chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese. He was in heaven.

I also introduced him to meatloaf and mashed potatoes, which were a big hit. Yeah, sure, Peruvians occasionally eat potatoe puree here, but mashed potatoes are seldom on the menus here. And certainly not MY mashed potatoes. These are by no means healthy, but they are damn good (boiled potatoes, butter, evaporated milk and a hard shredded cheese). I just need to find a better potato masher next time. And Gruyere cheese would be nice, but I know I'm pushing my luck there.

New Job!!
So, I have a new job! Yes, I'm still opening a restaurant and yes, I'm still a massage therapist taking clients (that will NEVER stop), but I applied, interviewed and was offered a position as a travel writer for a local travel agency. It'll be 4 hours a day and I'll be reworking a lot of the copy on their Website, updating their social media connections on Facebook and Twitter (note to self: need to learn how to use Twitter) and eventually help them write a blog, which I have ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE doing. Should be a blast!

That, of course, leaves Hum in charge of the restaurant, which is exactly how I want it. I don't want to be the boss -- I just want to cook and schmooze with the diners. He can deal with the complicated stuff (and he does it much better than me and in a nicer tone of voice). So, if you're looking for a job, ask Humberto. I'm just there to smile and look pretty.

Moving Day (Week)

Oy, what a week. We got back from our travels less than 2 weeks ago and are already in a new house. Ok, let me start from the beginning…

On our way over the border, there was a lot of rain. A LOT. A deluge. Like streets becoming rivers. It didn’t seem to be a big deal to us on the bus – we figured we’d get there nice and dry and be fine. I should’ve known better. Upon exiting Ecuador, the Peruvian border guards told us that since there were only 5 people left on the bus (there were about 50 of us squished in an hour earlier), our vehicle could go no further. Instead, they put all of us into one little taxi with all of our luggage. That’s 6 people (including the taxi driver) and 5 suitcases/backpacks. Oh, and did I mention that it was pouring?

Somehow we all fit (although the trunk didn’t close all the way and all of our stuff got soaked) and made it to Peru’s immigration control about 20 minutes away. Since I was the only non-Peruvian, I was the only one who had to get out of the taxi and go into the building. And immigration was flooded (not with people).

So, I had to WADE my way through immigration and put on my less-annoyed face to ask for another 6 months on my visa. Fortunately they were in a generous mood for being inundated with water and gave it to me with little more than a glance. Whew.

Immigration...

Yes, those are his flip flops floating next to him...

I crammed myself back into the taxi and we headed to Tumbes, another 30 minutes away. About halfway there, our taxi broke down. Of course. Hum and the driver got out to fix it and I took the opportunity to call Niki back home in Cusco to share my adventures with someone in English and confirm that we were going to have to vacate our house soon (she sent me an e-mail a couple of days earlier with the news). Nothing had changed – we had to be out of the house by the end of March, as the landlady was finally planning to sell (she’d been threatening for quite a while).
This wasn’t too hard a pill to swallow. While I love that house, I was ready to start looking for a new one. After years of being my own landlord, following someone else’s rules was getting old – especially when one of the rules changed that wasn't really conducive to the way I wanted to live. The other rules weren’t too hard to follow but rules are rules – and when you’re not the one making them, well, you know…

We spent a morning walking around Tumbes and this was what we found...



So after 3 days of bus travel from Ecuador, we finally got back to Cusco unshowered, smelly and ready to collapse. I don’t recommend 3 days on a bus to anyone. A day here and there is fine (like how we got to Ecuador), but trying to get home in one fell swoop was more than I could take. I did catch up on a lot of movies (albeit with English subtitles – and only because I asked the driver’s assistant to turn them on), but sleeping well was out of the question. When we got back to Cusco we crashed for an entire day.

And then we went out and bought a Rueda, the Cusquenian newspaper devoted entirely to classifieds. We knew we wanted to stay in San Blas, our neighborhood, but there were only 2 listings that fit the bill. The first one was $250 and right down the stairs from our house. It was an absolute DUMP. $250 is a lot of money for rent here and landlords think they can get away with it in San Blas because it’s the neighborhood everyone wants to live in. But the only thing worth paying for in that apartment was the view. Nada mas.

The second property was a small private house about 3 blocks from where we were living. The house was adorable – there was a real kitchen! – and the landlady was incredibly sweet. The energy of the house was calm and inviting. We fell in love with it immediately and took it that day.

Hum then left for Sicuani (his hometown about 2 hours away) for the weekend to see his family and get some TLC from his mother, as he was nursing a bad cold and only a Peruvian mother can coddle her sick son the way he needs coddling. I was planning on meeting him there in a few days to see the family and check up on Flor, the puppy we gave them for Christmas. Unfortunately I never made it there as it rained all weekend and Whitney ended up spending more time at my house trying to finish her TEFL certification (she completed the course 8 months ago but still hadn’t turned in her paperwork – neither have I – for shame!) and would be leaving Cusco the following week.

Hum returned on Monday evening (still sick), but anxious to sign the lease on the new house. We met the landlady the next day, signed everything, handed over money and got the keys. And then we began the move. For the record, I warned (and apologized to) Hum in advance that I was an OCD mover. I’m one of those people who has to unpack as soon as the movers drop the boxes. And since WE were the movers and the house was only a few blocks away, the process took an entire week. We bought new furniture, including a fridge (there was a real kitchen but it lacked appliances), and woke up early (on my insistence) to organize as much as humanly possibly throughout each day.

Now you have to remember, I’m working with Peruvians here. Peruvians have a very different sense of urgency than Americans. In other words, urgency is not in their vocabulary and their favorite word is “mañana” (tomorrow). And then when you switch me on into hyperactive overdrive for something like a move, stand back, I might blow a gasket.

But, low and behold, I’ve changed quite a lot since I first got here. While the old me would lose patience quickly and be a terror to work with, the slightly newer me was rather calm and composed during the move. And persuasiveness is completely underrated.

Hum was great. He’s a perfectionist though, which can get on my nerves at times when I just want things DONE. But to his credit, the house looks good because he took his time to arrange things just so. We’re waiting on one more piece of furniture (which will be ready in about a week) and, gulp, a TV.

A few things I learned during this move:
1. A refrigerator will fit in a taxi (station wagon).
2. For about $10, you can get someone to help you move just about anything.
3. Having running water all day in your house is overrated.
4. Hot showers, however, are not (our new shower is GREAT).
5. When drying dresser drawers (that were annoyingly wet when you bought the dresser), remember that dried wood expands and may not fit back in the dresser – without a hammer.
6. You don’t realize how much you missed having a fridge until you have one again.
7. New vocabulary words arise, like clavos (nails), arreglar (to fix), jala (pull), callete (shut up – ok, I already knew that one, but it came in handy a few times this week).

The only times the move was a real challenge was when we brought things in a taxi. The street we now live on is the only road that leads into San Blas. And it’s one way and narrow, which means we perform a Chinese fire drill every time we pull up to our front gate. We jump out of the car, run around to the back, pull everything out and pile it on the sidewalk while all of the taxis behind us honk their horns. This was especially fun with the fridge and the sofa (separate trips).

All in all, it was a long week but we’re nice and snug in our new abode. It’s a 30-secomd walk to our new restaurant (which we start working on this week), I can finally cook in a real kitchen, we have a beautiful patio (that I plan to use more AFTER the rainy season) and I even have space for massage (and already have new clients!). There’s also a spare bedroom that we furnished with two beds and an armoire. We’re planning on renting it out for $10/day or exchange for work in the restaurant (but you need to know your way around a kitchen for us to consider that option). You’re all invited to visit and I promise to cook for you, too!