The Day in Cieneguilla /Ericka's Birthday!

My lovely friend Ericka's birthday was last week, so she invited me to her place in a district of Lima called Cieneguilla.  Cieneguilla is on the far east outskirts of Lima and it took almost an hour and a half for me to get there from Miraflores.  I was pretty sure I was getting punked, because at one point, I was pretty much just in the middle of the desert with no one else around.  I was shocked when I arrived to her town and it was probably the most gorgeous area of Lima that I have been to.  Lush and tropical, the Lurin River running through the middle and big sprawling yards with restaurants, hostels, adventure parks and hotels.  Ericka's family own a hostel with some small bungalows and fruit trees everywhere beside there family home. 

 I arrived and my friend Nilma, and her baby Josha were already there.  Ericka made us a delicious drink, made with Pisco and the maracuya fruit that grow in her yard.  After a quick visit, we decided to go for a walk around to see the river and the town.

We arrived back and were greeted by Ericka's family.  Her two kids, her mom, an aunt and her hilarious and adorable grandparents.  Her mom had prepared from scratch one of my favorite Peruvian dishes, Aji de Gallina.  It is basically shredded chicken in a mixture of spices and then slowly cooked.  Served with rice and potatoes.  It was the best I have had!  I love the food in Peru!  Nilma also prepared another fantastic espresso chocolate cake. So amazing!

After lunch, I wandered around and took some photos in the yard.  They grow some of my favorite fruits!

This crocodile is real, but dead and Ericka's grandfather brought it back from the jungle when he was in the war.  It scared me so bad when I saw it that I almost peed myself.  He thought it was HILARIOUS!

 We also did a bit of a mini photoshoot .  This is me and Josh.

Isabella, grandma, Nilma and Josh and me.

Late in the afternoon, Ericka, myself and the kids took the long ride (even longer at rush hour) back into Miraflores.  We went to IK Restaurante, owned by Ericka's friend Franco.  Ericka runs a company called Delectable Peru Tours that does private tours and, tastings and parties all over Lima, so she knows all the best places and knows all the chefs.  Actually she was in charge of the tour when I learned to make Ceviche and Pisco sours.  Ik restaurant was amazing!  

After a fantastic meal, we got a tour of the restaurant and kitchen with Chef Franco.  He is such a nice guy and a talented chef.  

I hope Ericka enjoyed her birthday, because I know I sure did!  Hope you had a great one darling, and many more!

My First Peruvian Soccer Match

Well, actually Football, but not to confuse anyone at home in Canada and the US.  Edwin, from Haku tours hooked us up with Peru Football Tours, a fantastic company in Lima that takes Gringos, that are too nervous to go to the giant stadiums alone with 45000 Peruvians.  Taking the tour was totally worth it, and Josh and I had our friends Colleen and Keith and Matt join us, along with several other tourists from all over the world.  We got picked up from our apartment by Luis Eduardo, in his new Audi A5.  I was NOT complaining about that, but it was a little cramped with me and Colleen and Keith in the backseat!  We met the rest of the van of people at the San Isidro Country Club Hotel and we were on our merry way.  We got beer and snacks on the bus too, so that was pretty awesome.
The match we attended took place at the Estadio Nacional, the largest stadium in Peru near the downtown that holds about 55000 people.  Pretty huge. It is actually a really nice, newly renovated stadium that seemed way easier to get around than any stadium I have been in before.

Alianza Lima and Sporting Cristal were the two teams that were playing.  The are two of the 16 top tier teams that play in Peru.   Josh and I (and our guide Luis) are all Alianza fans, so we came with our jerseys, but we found out that half of the Alianza section of the stadium is closed due to the Metallica stage being set up for the concert on Thursday, so we had to sit in the Sporting Cristal section.  This meant no jerseys for safety reasons.  Unfortunately I only wore a somewhat inappropriate (for a white girl in Peru) tank top because I was just going to slip my jersey overtop, so I spent the game a little uncomfortable. It actually was not nearly as bad as I though in the 30000 men and one white girl sense.  No different than anywhere else, just the "what the hell are you doing here" kind of looks.  I think that fact that they don't sell booze at the stadium (I was actually really happy about this) makes it a little more laid back.
The match started off with a lot of noise and music and fire and confetti and gallons flying everywhere.  So much fun!  I love how passionate the people in Peru are, it is a different level of sport fan than you will find in North America. Football really is life.

Colleen, Keith and Luis Eduardo

I was a little disappointed in the food choices... bags of Lays plain chips and chicken sandwiches.  Although there was some sort of yummy sausage dog things and popcorn at the concession.  And you can't buy water!  Only Coca Cola!

the roster.

I did not mind watching the warmup!

Some of the Sporting Cristal section (light blue)

The start of the match on the deck up from us.

Little kids came out on the field to start the game like they do at hockey games at home.  Too adorable!

fire getting bigger!

The Alianza Lima side across from us.  Insane!

Me with a giant Sporting Cristal balloon thing, only because there were no Alianza ones on our side.

Matt with his Sporting Cristal balloon, he cheered for them. Boo.

The match started out with Alianza scoring a GOLLLLLLLLL (how they say it here but with a lot more LLLLLLs) just a couple minutes in.  The next one was scored at the very start of the second half while we were still in line for popcorn.  There were 2 more goals throughout the second half and the final score ended up being 2-2.  Unfortunately there is no extra time in these matches as they are not finals.  

In this picture you can see the goaltender and the guy closest to him running toward each other.  The picture below is the result of that.

See above description.

Scoreboard after the first goal.

The end of the game.

Right after the game is over, the National Police surround the officials and escort them off the field so no one tries to get revenge.

We headed back out of the stadium, and a couple people stopped to buy jerseys (of the wrong team) and then back on the bus.  I still can't get over how the place was not crowded at all,  you didn't have to push through or get pushed through. 

Check out the TV broadcast of all of the goals that were scored HERE.

And some of the craziness of the Alianza Lima fans HERE.

There were a lot of police and police dogs everywhere!  So cute!

We had a fantastic experience and I want to go back to another match ASAP!  But this time sit on the Alianza side so I can fit in (fit in is a loose term).  If you have the chance in Lima, check it out.

Peru Football Tours

Fab Friday Faves 3.14.14.

Happy Friday my darlings!  I've had a busy week, and like usual, I'm not sure doing what.  Sunday, I went to my Montreal friend Vanessa's for a Canada party (see below) and then Jules and I went to Madam Tusan for dinner, and then back to the Canada party.   I had acupuncture on Tuesday... while I was walking there I ran into a 3 foot concrete post and hurt my knee.  Totally not my fault haha.  Yesterday, I headed out to a community on the very outskirts of Lima called Cieneguilla.  This is where my friend Ericka lives with her two children and her mom and grandparents.  It is a beautiful area, and they run a hostel in a yard with many different fruit trees and birds and animals.  It is located along the banks of one of the many rivers that run to Lima and nestled in the beginning of the Andes mountains.  It took forever to get there by cab, but was so worth it.  Nilma and her son Josh were also there for a short while and we ate one of my favorite dishes, made by Ericka's mom, Aji de Gallina which was amazing and had a delish birthday cake made by Nilma.  We walked down to the river and swam in the pool.  Too much fun.  Ericka, the kids and I came back to Miraflores after and enjoyed an amazing meal at IK Restaurante.  We then had a sleepover so that they didn't have to do the 1.5 hour cab ride at midnight.  I will have a whole blog about my day at Ericka's coming this week.

Sunday is a big day for us, we are going with a few friends to watch the 2 top Peruvian football (soccer) teams take each other on at the National Stadium.  Then on Thursday we are going back there to see Metallica!  It has been years since I have seen them so I am pretty pumped.  We will see how I do in a crazy Peruvian Stadium with 60000 people!

So here are my Favorite things of the week!  Check back again next week!

                         

1.  So as I was getting a tour of Ericka's families home, and all the fruit trees, I noticed something looking at me from an avocado tree... A huge crocodile.  Obviously I had a minor freak out, and her 96 year old grandfather thought it was the funniest thing ever.  He had brought the crocodile back with him from the jungle in the 40's when he was in the army.  Pretty amazing, but my heart was racing for an hour!

2.  When Colleen and I were in Chinatown on Tuesday, we saw a guy set up on the side of the street (nothing new about that) with these amazing wire sculptures.  They are crafted from one long piece of wire and he has some amazing different designs.  Check out his Facebook page Martes Moon.  Oh and this cost me about 9 dollars.

3.  So obviously I had to get this notebook.  I found it in the discount back to school section of Wong.  School started last week so I was hunting for a bargain and how could I not get a sparkly, princess notebook?

4.  There are my new sunglasses I got on my birthday at Polvos Azules.  The white are "Ray Bans" and the pink and clear are "Carreras" (note the quotations marks, because these were bought at the black market)

5.  On Sunday, I enjoyed a Canada party with 2 other Canadians, and American and a German.  We made poutine and mad maple Syrup and Whiskey.  Sooooo good !

Today I am linking up with:

Lulu @ Simply Lulu Style

Lauren @ The Lauren Elizabeth

Lauren @ Style Elixir

Jennie @ The Dairy of a Real Housewife

Casey @ We Took the Road Less Traveled