I've just discovered about a fruit called prickly pear. It's called tuna in Spanish and not to be confused with the fishy thing we call tuna. That's atún in Spanish.
It's apparently a prickly pear-shaped fruit of a kind of cactus. I think I've seen them at home but never paid any attention to them, as one does.
Anyway the reason they warrant a mention is that I've read an article about them in El Comercio and it seems that it's just the best thing ever for diabetics and does wonders for the colesterol level too. It was used by the natives to treat lots of conditions, from fever, to hernias to ulcers. Amongst various others.
Some cafes and restaurants sell tuna juice. Have stocked up on them in the flat and will be having one daily. There's a special technique for pealing them which my pal taught me today. My blood sugar today level was at it's lowest level since I stared testing it. Don't know if the two are connected. I didn't really eat much today so maybe not.
Anyway if you have diabetes or colesterol problems, and at least one of you does, then a prickly pear a day may be just what the doctor ordered. This blog will not be held reponsible for any unexpected outcomes.
I probably won't be issuing any more medical advice but you never know.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
EARTHQUAKE
It was indeed an earthquake I felt when I was sittng here on Friday writing my blog. It was reported as being of magnitude 6.9 on Richter scale and centred round a town called Ica which is about 185 miles south of Lima.
No people were killed but buildings and houses were destroyed. It shook buildings here in Lima but caused no damage in the city. It was near to where a magnitude 8 quake killed more than 500 people in 2007. Though I was not in Lima at that time I visited the area and saw all the damage it caused. The doctor I use in Cuzco went to help out with field hospitals there and showed me some of the photos he had taken for their records.
Quite frankly I'm glad I don't live in an earthquake zone. But you just get on with life and don't think about it. The locals take it all in their stride and don't even mention that they felt the tremor.
Malkovich made a joke on Thursday night, before the quake, to the effect that he was doing a world tour of earthquake zones with his play. Funny at the time but would have been less so in other circumstances.
This is now Sunday afternoon and I'm off out to see the world and pay one last visit to the book festival which closes on Tuesday.
No people were killed but buildings and houses were destroyed. It shook buildings here in Lima but caused no damage in the city. It was near to where a magnitude 8 quake killed more than 500 people in 2007. Though I was not in Lima at that time I visited the area and saw all the damage it caused. The doctor I use in Cuzco went to help out with field hospitals there and showed me some of the photos he had taken for their records.
Quite frankly I'm glad I don't live in an earthquake zone. But you just get on with life and don't think about it. The locals take it all in their stride and don't even mention that they felt the tremor.
Malkovich made a joke on Thursday night, before the quake, to the effect that he was doing a world tour of earthquake zones with his play. Funny at the time but would have been less so in other circumstances.
This is now Sunday afternoon and I'm off out to see the world and pay one last visit to the book festival which closes on Tuesday.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Malkovich conquistó Lima
Went to see John Malkovich last night and he gave one hell of a performance. The above was the headline for today's review in El Comercio. I'm sure I don't need to translate it.
Not like anything I've ever seen before. It was a play with an orchestra and two sopranos supporting him. I guess it was a cross between an opera and a play. Just very different.
Malkovich's performance was quite astounding. Funny, terrifying and quite too believable. He speaks with what he describes as European accent, but it didn't sound like any accent I've ever heard in Europe or anywhere else. His pronunciation of some words is just a touch out, enough to make you smile just a little, though not sure if the Peruvian audience picked up on this. We had simultaneous translation on screen above the stage.
It's the true story of a serial killer, who eventually commits suicide. Or at least as true as we want to believe it to be. He is quite philosophical about it all. Blames the women in his life. Or so it seems. He strangled most of them with thier bras. He plays this out with one of the sopranas then the other.
In the end he plays out the suicide by tying rope round the desk he has been using and round the leg of a chair used by one of the orchestra players.
It looks very much like he's about to do it again. But of course he doesn't. He comes back to make a joke about having to be alive to perfom the play again in Bogota tomorrow night. But invites us all along to see if tomorrow he has a change of mind.
Very glad I went to see him. I will need to check out about the theatre. It was quite impressive. But i think it must have something to do with the army. We were directed into the theatre by armed soldiers. Nobody else seemed to notice. Very strange. They were there again on the way out and even directing traffic on the roads outside. Maybe they heard I was coming. I'm told that indeed it is an army theatre. But there must be more to it than that. Surely!
Not like anything I've ever seen before. It was a play with an orchestra and two sopranos supporting him. I guess it was a cross between an opera and a play. Just very different.
Malkovich's performance was quite astounding. Funny, terrifying and quite too believable. He speaks with what he describes as European accent, but it didn't sound like any accent I've ever heard in Europe or anywhere else. His pronunciation of some words is just a touch out, enough to make you smile just a little, though not sure if the Peruvian audience picked up on this. We had simultaneous translation on screen above the stage.
It's the true story of a serial killer, who eventually commits suicide. Or at least as true as we want to believe it to be. He is quite philosophical about it all. Blames the women in his life. Or so it seems. He strangled most of them with thier bras. He plays this out with one of the sopranas then the other.
In the end he plays out the suicide by tying rope round the desk he has been using and round the leg of a chair used by one of the orchestra players.
It looks very much like he's about to do it again. But of course he doesn't. He comes back to make a joke about having to be alive to perfom the play again in Bogota tomorrow night. But invites us all along to see if tomorrow he has a change of mind.
Very glad I went to see him. I will need to check out about the theatre. It was quite impressive. But i think it must have something to do with the army. We were directed into the theatre by armed soldiers. Nobody else seemed to notice. Very strange. They were there again on the way out and even directing traffic on the roads outside. Maybe they heard I was coming. I'm told that indeed it is an army theatre. But there must be more to it than that. Surely!
VILLA MARIA
It's a question of time really. So much to do when you are in a foreign country it leaves so little time for writing my blog. Not to mention having to get plenty of sleep. Where to start? I've got half an hour just now.
I'm back working in Villa Maria with Flor and the kids of INABIF. I got such a welcome from them. I can't believe that they all remember me so well. A wee girl called Naydelin handed me a letter she had written for me telling me how much she missed me and how happy it makes her for me to be back with them. It's in Spanish of course but I will try to post a photo of it soon.
Some of the older kids have left now, but new younger ones have arrived. The idea is that they get three years with INABIF, during which time they should go to school in the morning and then come to INABIF for lunch and spend the afternoon here till about 5 o'clock. This should mean they have no time left to go to work and at the end of the 3 years their education should have improved considerably and also their general health and wellbeing.
Flor is now working on her own, as Pedro has moved to work in the private sector, so she is really busy, and the little bit I can do is a big help to her. We have access to a footie and play park as well as the room where they do home work and games and other stuff. The lunch is provided by the state. They are building a new kitchen and canteen. The meals are prepared on site and are for older folk and younger ones who live in Villa Maria. The kids of INABIF are allowed to partake too.
Unfortunately we are not able to work in San Juan now. It's not possible for Flor to cover both places. I'm hoping to be able to organise a day in San Juan so that I can meet the kids there again. I just hope the government finds the money to pay for another worker to help out.
I'm sitting in my apartment writing this and I've just felt a tremor shake the building. Blimey!!! Thats the biggest I've felt. It's a very strange feeling. I think I will head off out now and see how the world is going. I guess you just get used to these things. Will maybe post later if I find the time etc.
I'm back working in Villa Maria with Flor and the kids of INABIF. I got such a welcome from them. I can't believe that they all remember me so well. A wee girl called Naydelin handed me a letter she had written for me telling me how much she missed me and how happy it makes her for me to be back with them. It's in Spanish of course but I will try to post a photo of it soon.
Some of the older kids have left now, but new younger ones have arrived. The idea is that they get three years with INABIF, during which time they should go to school in the morning and then come to INABIF for lunch and spend the afternoon here till about 5 o'clock. This should mean they have no time left to go to work and at the end of the 3 years their education should have improved considerably and also their general health and wellbeing.
Flor is now working on her own, as Pedro has moved to work in the private sector, so she is really busy, and the little bit I can do is a big help to her. We have access to a footie and play park as well as the room where they do home work and games and other stuff. The lunch is provided by the state. They are building a new kitchen and canteen. The meals are prepared on site and are for older folk and younger ones who live in Villa Maria. The kids of INABIF are allowed to partake too.
Unfortunately we are not able to work in San Juan now. It's not possible for Flor to cover both places. I'm hoping to be able to organise a day in San Juan so that I can meet the kids there again. I just hope the government finds the money to pay for another worker to help out.
I'm sitting in my apartment writing this and I've just felt a tremor shake the building. Blimey!!! Thats the biggest I've felt. It's a very strange feeling. I think I will head off out now and see how the world is going. I guess you just get used to these things. Will maybe post later if I find the time etc.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Missing
That last posting was written with my usual devotion to paragraphs but somehow blogger decided to do without. They've just made some "improvements" and this is the end result.
Jose Saramago hardly ever uses paragraphs in his writing so I'm sure just for this once you will all cope.
I'm writing this on my iPhone so who knows how this will look once I post it.
Forgot to mention that Heber's brother Robin is in Puerto Maldonado working in the mines there. It's rough and tough out there. Not the best place for a boy but then maybe it's better than working the streets of Cusco. Who can tell?
Jose Saramago hardly ever uses paragraphs in his writing so I'm sure just for this once you will all cope.
I'm writing this on my iPhone so who knows how this will look once I post it.
Forgot to mention that Heber's brother Robin is in Puerto Maldonado working in the mines there. It's rough and tough out there. Not the best place for a boy but then maybe it's better than working the streets of Cusco. Who can tell?
Day out with Heber
Spent the day with Heber yesterday. Had a good day with him. I can hardly believe he has grown up so much. Seems like yesterday I first met him in La Policia in Cusco. But it must be five years now. Where have all the years gone?
His life continues to bring surprises. He's been driving a moto taxi recently. These are about the most dangerous vehicles I've ever seen on the roads, other than a certain tractor back in Tong in the 50s. He talked about doing this last time I saw him, and he agreed he would stick to his job in the restaurant, So of course he went ahead and started driving a moto taxi. And what happened? He had an accident of course. His shoulder is damaged and he has to wear a cast round his shoulders so that it will set properly. He insists that he is not too young to drive one of these things and that the police have not charged him. The moto belongs to an uncle who has now repaired it. He promises not to go back to driving it again.
He now hopes to start work with a company which does electrical maintenance in various buildings. I'm hopeful this will work out for him as if he does ok they will give him training. He still lives with his aunt and uncle in Villa Maria, but they are moving to Iquitos so he hopes to move in with another aunt in new year. This will be better than the alternative which is to return to Cusco.
We went shopping for clothes for him. Followed by BurgerKing. Yes they are here too. Then to a new ice cream shop which sells the most delicious ice cream I've ever tasted.
Had a nice chat with him. He tells me how my Spanish has improved. He remembers when I could hardly say a word. Now we can have long conversations. He is very patient and speaks nice and slowly for me.We decided that the Nazca Lines were definitely put there by spacemen from some world not yer known to us.
Oh and he tells me that when he is married and has his first boy he will call him Donald. Which is nice. I hope some day to meet this Donald.
He's a good kid. I hope to see him again at the weekend.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Back in Lima
Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart and I arrived in Peru last week. Rod was doing a concert in Lima on Friday night, for 10,000 of his fans, old and young. I think he was looking for me but I was too tired to go out after my long voyage over.
My pal Mick is visiting Peru as a tourist. He was in Cusco last week and visited Machu Picchu of course. He was welcomed as some kind of hero here. He went to see the Amazon rainforrest in Tambopata which is where I visited a few years back. He was made an "embajador honorario del bosgue amazonico". Which is more than they did for me for some reason. Maybe they will do it this time round.
Talking about voyages, that's the last time I go from Edinburgh to Lima in one trip. It's just too much for my old body to cope with. Next time will have to stay a night in Amsterdam I reckon.
We have a new president here since my last visit. His name is Ollanta Humala and as far as I can make out he is on the left. He seems to get the right a bit excited. The worst insult they can give is that he's "Chavezista", whom the CIA have turned into a bit of a monster of course. Will have to wait and see how it goes.
They're having their own wee corruption scandal in parliament too; just like home.
My pal Mick is visiting Peru as a tourist. He was in Cusco last week and visited Machu Picchu of course. He was welcomed as some kind of hero here. He went to see the Amazon rainforrest in Tambopata which is where I visited a few years back. He was made an "embajador honorario del bosgue amazonico". Which is more than they did for me for some reason. Maybe they will do it this time round.
Talking about voyages, that's the last time I go from Edinburgh to Lima in one trip. It's just too much for my old body to cope with. Next time will have to stay a night in Amsterdam I reckon.
We have a new president here since my last visit. His name is Ollanta Humala and as far as I can make out he is on the left. He seems to get the right a bit excited. The worst insult they can give is that he's "Chavezista", whom the CIA have turned into a bit of a monster of course. Will have to wait and see how it goes.
They're having their own wee corruption scandal in parliament too; just like home.
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