The Limit is the Sky

Hi friends! Since my last post, I’ve spoken to Dean Karlan, visited pre-Incan ruins, and become an expert chocolate maker (okay, “expert” might be a bit of an exaggeration). Life in Peru is getting to feel pretty normal, which is simultaneously good and bad. It’s nice to feel settled and comfortable in my surroundings, but I have to constantly remind myself that I’m in Peru. Lima is, more than anything else, a city. Yes, it’s in South America; yes, the people here all speak Spanish and the average height seems to be about 4’ 8”; yes, there are mountains and the ocean and a desert all within an hour drive; but most of the time, I don’t feel like I’m in Latin America. A lot of that is because I work in the Embassy, the point of which is to serve as U.S. soil in Peru, and where all the interns (who are pretty much the only people I hang out with) are very American, but it’s something I’m trying to be mindful of. So, the remainder of this blog post will be centered around the things that have only been able to happen because I’m in Peru.

Attending World Bank/IMF Meetings

To be perfectly clear, the word “meeting” doesn’t really do these gatherings justice. I was not sitting at a conference table with Christine Lagarde or Jim Yong Kim. The World Bank and IMF have annual meetings every year, and this year they’ll be held in Lima. The main event won’t be until October, but in the months leading up to the big meeting, the multilaterals (with the government of Peru) have been putting on conferences to discuss issues of importance. Some of the recent events have included “Economic Perspectives: The Americas,” “After the Commodity Boom,” and “Growing Challenges for Growth and Stability in a Changing Global Environment.”

Two weeks ago, the World Bank and IMF hosted the Conference on Financial Inclusion, which brought policymakers from Peru and surrounding countries, as well as experts from around the globe, to Lima for two days. The first day was a general overview of the definitions, goals, and rationale behind financial inclusion, and the second was a specific discussion of where Peru is, where it can go, and how it can get there. I won’t bore you with the details (but please let me know if you want to have a discussion about it – super interesting and not as black and white as it seems on the surface), but will simply say that it was one of the best things I could have done in my first few weeks at work. It made me so excited to be involved with some of the policymaking here in Peru, and to continue to follow the work of the people who spoke at the conference – they’re doing some really cool things.

The highlight, for me, was talking to Dean Karlan (see my previous post for my fangirl explanation of who he is) about a proposed new housing policy here in Peru. He offered great comments on the program’s similarity to things that have been done elsewhere, its feasibility here, and the underlying idea behind it. He also gave good advice about restaurants in Lima and asked about my life! SO COOL!

The legendary Dean Karlan

Visiting Pre-Incan Ruins

Monday through Friday, pretty much all we do is work and sit in traffic. On the weekends, though, we’ve been really good about getting out and exploring! Last weekend, we visited Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Incan temple where the Lima people, and later the Huari people, worshipped the ocean god. We got to take a tour of the grounds, which are huge, and were built by hand beginning around the year 200! There are some facts in the captions below, if you’re interested, or feel free to check out the Wikipedia page or official website for more information!

Whenever the Lima people began construction on a new temple (like the one we visited), they would sacrifice a clay pot painted with some sea creature. The Lima's most important god was the ocean, so sea creatures (especially sharks) were a way to represent him in art. One of the ways the ocean demonstrated his power was by "swallowing" the sun (another god) at the end of every day. The guy on the far left is performing an inauguration ceremony, and after he prays, he'll hurl that stone into the pot behind me, thus demonstrating the sacrifice.

Each of the bricks is made of mud, ground rocks, and seashells (which are apparently quite strong). They created the mixture by stomping on it with their feet for hours, then molding it into bricks by hand, and arranging them in this "bookshelf" pattern. Each layer was built one at a time, and the entire structure here in Lima took over 300 years to complete! We were all amazed to think about dedicating your entire life to something that would never be completed while you had any chance of seeing it. The bookshelf pattern, with gaps between the rocks, has allowed the structure to stay standing for 1800 years, despite the frequent (and often severe) earthquakes that hit Lima.

Llamas/alpacas! The temple even has a hybrid!

The Huari buried their dead in tombs like this one, inside the walls and floors.

Huaca Pucllana is a very recent discovery, and was buried underneath a giant pile of dirt until a few decades ago! Now, archaeologists are doing a lot of work to unearth the temple and preserve it. This path leads to a restricted area where they're working; our tour guide estimated that it would take another 30 years to finish uncovering all of the temple.

Eating the BEST Food 

Pretty much everyone I talked to before I left told me that Lima has the best food in South America, and I cannot say that I disagree with them. From ceviche lunches at Segundo Muelle (a ceviche restaurant near the Embassy that is amazing), to making our own chocolate at Choco Museo, to buying alfajores and Choko Soda every time they cross my path, to the amazing, beautiful, wonderful French fries made of Huayna potatoes (can’t tell you what they are, but they look cool and taste great) at La Lucha, to the endless amounts of fresh, delicious fruit here on the coast, it’s safe to say I’m getting spoiled by the food here.

This is called canchita - it's basically half-popped popcorn with just the right amount of salt on it. They serve it here before ceviche, and it is addictive and delicious and wonderful! Luckily, there are recipes for it online, so I'll be able to make it at home.

Choco Museo store, where they sell everything from chocolate bars to chocolate-scented shampoo to chocolate-flavored condoms. All organic, too!

Fellow interns/chocolate-lovers

My chocolate setting in its molds! I added Quinoa Pop, a local cereal here, peanuts, sea salt, ground coffee, and gummy bears in various combinations. Delicious!

The pod where cocoa beans are found! We went through the process of making chocolate from tree to bar, and it takes a lot more time and effort than I thought it did! We learned that the average person in the U.S. eats 55 chocolate bars per year, while the average person in Switzerland eats 119! One bar takes about 3 of these pods, although they grow much bigger in Africa and other places throughout Latin America.

Choko Soda, our favorite treat! These cost about 50 cents per packet, and are basically soda crackers dipped in chocolate. Something about them, though, makes them AMAZING.

Maracuyá (a type of passionfruit), my obsession

Huayna Papas from La Lucha, our favorite sandwich place. They're amazing, and grown right here in Peru!

Attending a Peruvian Drag Queen Show

I have no pictures, and not a whole lot of explanation for this one. It was really cool, although it put my Spanish skills to the test more than anything has so far!

Watching Fútbol in the Town Square

Peru is participating in the Copa America right now, a sort of Latin American mini-World Cup, and it’s been really fun to watch! We’re not a great soccer team, but we’re doing really surprisingly well in the tournament so far, and there are always people watching when Peru is playing. Today, Peru played in its last game of the first round, against Colombia, and we watched on jumbo screens in the Plaza de Armas in downtown Lima. It was so fun, and Peru didn’t lose! They didn’t win, either, but the tie game gave them enough points to move on to the Knockout Round, which is very exciting! Their next game will be on Thursday against Bolivia – two of my favorite countries (if you’re just tuning in, feel free to read some of my Bolivia blog #selfpromotion) playing one of my favorite sports to watch!

Halftime show, with the jumbo screen showing a waving Peruvian flag, and some drummers/dancers trying to get the crowd excited! Note: Peruvians aren't very excitable people. 

Me and Chelsea (and Lucas in the background) showing our love for our host country!

Keep me posted on fun developments, friends, and I hope you’re having a great summer! Happy birthday to my little, Allie, and happy Father’s Day to my dad!

*Note: The title of this post is one of the many funny translations I've seen while here. I'm keeping a list, so expect more of these in the future!