We were having ice cream for breakfast and toast for dinner. During our first week in the land of the Incas - we arrived on the 16th of September - the days went strangely fast and unrealistic. We were on an imaginary roller-coaster. I could blame the painful jet lag and the fact that we felt like foreigners in a new country - although having a familiar language, Spanish, helped a lot.
I love the first few days of any posting - Peru would be the fifth in our list, by the way. When I wake up in our new house, the very first day, I am floating in a big bubble suspended in the air. My head spins at an unusual speed, like a washing machine, trying to coordinate what I eat, do, feel or say. I feel...I don't know, a bit tipsy without alcohol, emotionally and mentally.
It was 5.10 am, Tuesday16th of September. Nick woke up earlier than me and went for a walk in Barranco, our new neighbourhood. I was preparing my coffee, stronger than ever to fight the headache I had for the lack of sleep - the baby was partying from 11pm until 3am. It is quite fancy and very pretty, Nick said happily from the clean yellow sofa underneath the big windows that faced the sea. His eyes got lost staring at the surfers below. Then, he asked me excited so, what do you think? I smiled back and replied Lima? It feels right.
The beginning of a posting gives you an initial pleasure of excitement for the new adventure but also an uncomfortable sensation of being unsettled, disorientated because you don't know anyone or anything. Everything is totally new, and you are not on holidays. This is it, it is your new life, the life you were talking about for two years when you were in another posting, in Philippines.
As the days pass by, the champagne little bubbles pop in your head and the reality becomes more real. Slowly, things start making sense. Soon you meet people with useful advice about where to buy good bread and meat, or to have a nice cup of coffee. Everybody helps you and offers their support for the sake of understanding that one day they had been in your shoes - or they will and would like someone to help them too.
Two weeks after that conversation I had with Nick I am grateful this beautiful country and its people opened the doors to us with a warm welcome heart. Can't wait to discover all the things it offers, specially the gastronomy which is "emerging as a new global culinary epicentre with a mind- blowing produce" (Conde Nast Traveler article 23 September) - for example 3,000 varieties of potatoes!
From the plane, Lima was more a desert - it is a desert, actually - than a real city but now I see it with different eyes. It has a nice mix of the bohemia part of Buenos Aires and the Madrid Antiguo. If I make some comparison to Manila, which was our most recent posting, Lima doesn't seem too crowded. It has less tall constructions, and definitely better traffic, despite the warnings we received before coming here. I remember Nick and I banned Friday nights out in Manila because of the terrible traffic which created lot of frustration and spoilt our party mood.
The air is fresh and cool, and the breeze from the cold Pacific Ocean cleans our lungs like a vaporiser. The sound of the waves at night helps the kids, and us, to sleep deeply so profoundly that I really have to make an effort to get out of bed in the mornings for my daily run around the cliff tops, or malecon as it is called here.
If you are lucky, the sun comes out! A local told me during my first grocery shopping in Wong supermarket in Miraflores, a fancy suburb of Lima. The garua o calabobos - a light rain - is usual but does not appear everyday, all day. Spring in Peru started last 23rd of September and the weather is getting better but cool enough to wear a warm jacket. I love it. I just spent three years in the hot sticky Philippines so I am enjoying every single drop of that light water.
My eldest daughter Aurelia is amazingly brave, made new friends in a new local school. I had not doubted Aurelia would do it well but I was surprised she did it in a remarkable short time: two weeks. She is setting an example for her two little brothers who look up to her sister as their model to follow.
Gabriel and Juanan go together to a sweet nursery place or nido, similar to the one Gab used to go in Manila. I am pleased, and lucky, to have found the same "Filipino" style of teachers, warm, happy and caring, for my two boys.
And me...I am less anxious. I am able to direct my life, and my family's, in the right direction. I am learning to let things fall naturally into their proper place.
I know from experience that they will because Lima feels right.
My family has now quinoa - well known as a "super food" as it is the only grain with the 9 essential amino acids - for breakfast in the form of porridge, for lunch in a stew (cooked like rice) and for merienda, in sweets like biscuits or cakes - it comes in flour, flakes or grains, and there are a few varieties.
Quinoa biscuits
This is my adapted version of Galloway's lemon Anzac biscuits.
- 1 cup quinoa flakes
- 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
- 1/3 cup quinoa flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup oats
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 125g butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Preheat oven to 170C. Grease two trays.
- Place the first seven ingredients in a bowl. Melt butter and honey together in a small pan. Mix the baking soda with two tablespoons boiling water and add to the dry ingredients along with the melted butter mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
- Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and slightly flatten. Place them on the trays and bake for 20 minutes or until dark golden brown colour. Cool on a rack.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are more than welcome. Thank you!