El Progresso and El Centro

I had a ton of fun today. This morning we went to a cooking lesson at the Blue Ribbon International and learned how to make three traditional Peruvian dishes. The first was Papa a la Huancaina, which is a plate of thick-cut potatoes in a yellow chili sauce. The second was Lomo Saltado, which is Peruvian stir-fried beef using beef tenderloin, fresh tomato, onion, garlic, chilies, vinegar and soy sauce. Both of these dishes are delicious. We also learned how to make a very traditional drink known as a Pisco Sour. It has 2.5 oz Pisco with simple syrup, lemon juice, egg white, and bitter angostura.

Later on in the afternoon we went to El Progresso.  This is a part of Trujillo that suffers from extreme poverty. We handed out gifts, food, and hot chocolate. As you can see in the photos, the kids were thrilled to see us. Man, they were relentless but a ton of fun. My buddy Efren dressed up as Santa and you just knew he was gonna get eaten ALIVE, which he did...it was hilarious...like I said, those kids were brutal and relentless. I learned that El Progresso was designed to be an open market when it was constructed a few years ago but the locales whom had no place to live took over. Eventually, the government had no choice but to grant land entitlements to them; when this happens they call it “invacion” which obviously translates into “invasion”. The way these people live is striking, to say the least, and really puts things in perspective. I got a huge dose of gratitude today.

 We just got back from downtown where a few of us ate dinner and checked out the decorations in La Plaza de Armas. All of the Christmas trees are sponsored and decorated by local companies. The Peruvian culture is very interesting and beautiful. Gotta get to bed because tomorrow is our first day of work at our clinics, should be fun and interesting!