'A woman is to be loved, not understood'.
How can anyone understand me when I constantly surprise myself with my words and actions?
Such wisdom, Osho!
The week passed has been clearing out the clutter of about twenty albums of photos downsized to only three. The many hours Hala and I spent throwing away heaps of photography from all around the world and all those bills accumulated in files of paperwork to chuck out, never mind the CDs, ended up in us dumping tons of recycling paper into the bin. I am feeling lighter already! In fact, when Sis commented on the weight I have lost recently (somehow), I told her:
"You know, all this weight worry of a lifetime and I realised how irrelevant it is to me. Who gives a fuck anyway, as long as you're happy."
And we laughed in agreement.
Now, embrace yourself for a few long blogs on Peru...
Our three-week journey, beginning in Lima, started with the deliciously lemony and tender raw fish lunch, which they call ceviche, the Peruvian kind of sushi. This was followed by a drive to the El Silencio beach on the capital's outskirts. Rows of colourful umbrellas lined the beach, each shade indicating the local restaurants they occupied. The vendors appeared one by one and, in a polite, non-harassing manner, approached only at the buyer's interest, so I returned that afternoon with four earrings and a pareo.
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| Yummy Ceviche |
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| El Silencio Beach |
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| Vendor on El Silencio |
Our mornings at Frieda's began with a wholesome breakfast of juices made from local fruit, bread freshly purchased from the baker's, organic honey, and cheese, not to forget that Peruvian coffee at its best, which our hostess with the mostest fed us before heading out. Apparently, even Colombians buy Peruvian coffee beans, which are processed in their country and bottled as Colombian coffee! We headed to the Artisan's Market for some of their world-famous alpaca wool made into every garment to clothe you. As much as I was anxious to get my first sight of a llama in Lima, there was no sign of them in the capital. Lunch on the second day was at the traditional St Antonio restaurant for a skewer of cow's heart. Frieda drove us all around her city, and we were stunned by the rows of modern buildings in the most straightforward yet stylish designs. It was not a sign of OTT (over the top) or vulgarity but pure elegance. Truly impressive. Dinner that Friday evening was an invite by Carmen (who had met Hala at Frieda's on her last visit to Lima), firstly at her marital home for a drink, followed by a lavish dinner at The Country Club Lima Hotel, accompanied by her husband. At Carmen's, she introduced us to their son and their talkative parrot, who imitated my laughter just as I did it, which became quite confusing as to who was laughing anyway?
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| The Country Club Lima Hotel |
The following day, Carmen invited us to the private beach club in St Antonio, again about half an hour's drive outside the capital. I loved the large-sized billboard adverts as we left the centre (I will post my favourite here). What the hell? I have taken 3,270 pictures while in Peru, and I have already deleted 1,000 of them. Total excess! So, let me share my memories in words and pictures.
The first ad below is self-explanatory; the second reads: 'Sometimes, your (male) friend could be more dangerous than the sun.'
The first ad below is self-explanatory; the second reads: 'Sometimes, your (male) friend could be more dangerous than the sun.'
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| Followed by this. |
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| First came this ad |
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| St Antonio Beach Private Club |
The weather was mainly overcast, and we arrived knowing it was the rainy season in February, but it was about 27/28 degrees, and we were happy to be on a beach, in great company. We had a slight ER session when a football pitch of doctors and nurses rushed upon us from every corner! But thankfully, we ended up in roars of laughter, followed by an ice cream before heading back home. On the way to St Antonio, in Frieda's jeep, the police stopped us after paying the toll for not having the car lights on in the daytime! Apparently, it was a law in Peru, a rule I had not heard anywhere else. So, as the young policeman started to write the fine, my Spanish blossomed, and I told him in the most girlish voice possible:
"Por favour senor. Son tourista de Iran, muy lejos y es mi hermanas cumpleanos," (my version of 'please sir, we're tourists from Iran, veeeeery far and it's my sister's birthday) and as though that wasn't enough, I added... "E los policias en Peru son muy guapo! Y que guapo son." As I emphasised on the guapo bit (translates into: 'And the police in Peru are soooo good looking! And how). At this stage, the girls all started to plea to the officer in question, blushing at our side as the expression on his face softened somewhat, and he let us go without a fine. Our roar of laughter when we left must have filled the massive sand dune-like mountains, accompanied by the loud house music playing in the car.
Saturday was the day to visit the Gold Museum, Museos Oro del Perú. Armas del Mundo.
Inside, room after room was occupied by armour, swords and especially, the stylish and somewhat Bohemian, super-sized earrings in the gold section were fascinating. Thank goodness there was no photography allowed! There were two supposedly life-sized male Inka statues, in different costumes, standing tall, which certainly got my attention diverted. But it was such a disappointment when our guide in Machu Picchu took his hand to his neck to point out their actual size, and he was far from tall. Oh well, there goes that fantasy! Haha.
Now, about Peru...
Lima has a population of about 8 million. The country went through a long period of terrorism when a communist, very manipulative movement started in the Highlands. Bombs were exploding, as in power plants, electricity would go, and generators became necessary. A curfew was imposed, and no one would leave their home unless it was essential; everything became paralysed. Hala had visited Peru twenty-five years ago in the late eighties; the country had just begun to come out of tough times into the beginning of a mining boom; they had discovered natural gas and gold mines, and free trade was favoured, so the country's mood began to change. Finally, there was hope as the gastronomy of Peruvian cuisine became favoured in other continents, and food fairs began, not only with top chefs but giving food vendors in the street a chance to be discovered.
What amazed me throughout the country was how efficiently and organically they use their precious land everywhere, from orchards to vineyards, all kinds of fruit and vegetation, fields after fields of cotton and maise, and even plantations well-cultivated in the desert dunes. If only more nations in the world were run by caring leaders, consider our children's future.
On a jollier note, back to today... I woke up this Monday morning, opening my bedroom curtains onto blistering wind-gushing snowflakes all over the front gardens! Que passa?! It's March, for goodness sake. But then, life is excellent; I again bowed to my Lord with that cheeky smile and thanked him for... Absolutely everything and I went out to meet the Ex for a coffee at 10.15am. I was only ten minutes late; pretty good effort on my part for that morning! I wore the new alpaca flat cap with a Grace Jones, come Katharine Hepburn black shawl, loosely covering the back of the headgear, top to toe in the black widow look and entered Carluccio's for our meeting. Seeing him was perfect; no one changes that much, and it was a matter of accepting the person we each are concerning our choices. None of us 'belong' to each other; it depends on how much we tolerate one another. Any kind of relationship needs compromise and understanding.
As to the ghastly weather, I read on a friend's FB wall:
'Snow in the street, sun in my head'.
'That's the spirit, Stef, bravo!' I thought.
Other happenings... After a busy week of clearing out my flat till 2am most nights, Friday was a great concert at the Royal Festival Hall. I heard Angelique Kidjo's velvet voice and watched her dynamic energy bounce around the stage with promising words of wisdom through life. Also met the charmer Quincy, whose question somewhat baffled me. He asked:
"Do you take your stylist with you when you travel?"
It must have been the Gothic look of the black dress/coat with leather and a large collar open to show a healthy cleavage, covered in the waist by a leather corset belt I was wearing to a concert, that made him ask that. Either way, the man knew how to sweet talk, which is always a winner with me and draws my attention.
After the show, we stayed behind to say hello to Angélique and left shortly after midnight with Hala to get to Aisha's fabulous dinner party—Cinderella time!
Saturday was another fantastic night in Fabric with Hala, accompanied by Shane and his friend Aiden, who were coming out of a relationship and needed to shed their past and move on. In fact, the remedy of coming to Fabric with us (the Criminal Sisters) was probably the best cure for change.
Hala and I managed to get to bed at 7:00am on Sunday, which was good going as we were invited to Lady Diba's for a dinner party in the evening. Guaranteed fun with her wonderful friends from the US and Germany to help celebrate her birthday.
Tonight, the temperature is dropping to -2 degrees in London, and guess who's going to warm me up on this freezing night? Mmm... No matter what the weather is outside, put your troubles away and keep warm in your heart.
Have to get ready now.
More about our Peru adventures to continue...
"Por favour senor. Son tourista de Iran, muy lejos y es mi hermanas cumpleanos," (my version of 'please sir, we're tourists from Iran, veeeeery far and it's my sister's birthday) and as though that wasn't enough, I added... "E los policias en Peru son muy guapo! Y que guapo son." As I emphasised on the guapo bit (translates into: 'And the police in Peru are soooo good looking! And how). At this stage, the girls all started to plea to the officer in question, blushing at our side as the expression on his face softened somewhat, and he let us go without a fine. Our roar of laughter when we left must have filled the massive sand dune-like mountains, accompanied by the loud house music playing in the car.
Saturday was the day to visit the Gold Museum, Museos Oro del Perú. Armas del Mundo.
Inside, room after room was occupied by armour, swords and especially, the stylish and somewhat Bohemian, super-sized earrings in the gold section were fascinating. Thank goodness there was no photography allowed! There were two supposedly life-sized male Inka statues, in different costumes, standing tall, which certainly got my attention diverted. But it was such a disappointment when our guide in Machu Picchu took his hand to his neck to point out their actual size, and he was far from tall. Oh well, there goes that fantasy! Haha.
Now, about Peru...
Lima has a population of about 8 million. The country went through a long period of terrorism when a communist, very manipulative movement started in the Highlands. Bombs were exploding, as in power plants, electricity would go, and generators became necessary. A curfew was imposed, and no one would leave their home unless it was essential; everything became paralysed. Hala had visited Peru twenty-five years ago in the late eighties; the country had just begun to come out of tough times into the beginning of a mining boom; they had discovered natural gas and gold mines, and free trade was favoured, so the country's mood began to change. Finally, there was hope as the gastronomy of Peruvian cuisine became favoured in other continents, and food fairs began, not only with top chefs but giving food vendors in the street a chance to be discovered.
What amazed me throughout the country was how efficiently and organically they use their precious land everywhere, from orchards to vineyards, all kinds of fruit and vegetation, fields after fields of cotton and maise, and even plantations well-cultivated in the desert dunes. If only more nations in the world were run by caring leaders, consider our children's future.
On a jollier note, back to today... I woke up this Monday morning, opening my bedroom curtains onto blistering wind-gushing snowflakes all over the front gardens! Que passa?! It's March, for goodness sake. But then, life is excellent; I again bowed to my Lord with that cheeky smile and thanked him for... Absolutely everything and I went out to meet the Ex for a coffee at 10.15am. I was only ten minutes late; pretty good effort on my part for that morning! I wore the new alpaca flat cap with a Grace Jones, come Katharine Hepburn black shawl, loosely covering the back of the headgear, top to toe in the black widow look and entered Carluccio's for our meeting. Seeing him was perfect; no one changes that much, and it was a matter of accepting the person we each are concerning our choices. None of us 'belong' to each other; it depends on how much we tolerate one another. Any kind of relationship needs compromise and understanding.
As to the ghastly weather, I read on a friend's FB wall:
'Snow in the street, sun in my head'.
'That's the spirit, Stef, bravo!' I thought.
Other happenings... After a busy week of clearing out my flat till 2am most nights, Friday was a great concert at the Royal Festival Hall. I heard Angelique Kidjo's velvet voice and watched her dynamic energy bounce around the stage with promising words of wisdom through life. Also met the charmer Quincy, whose question somewhat baffled me. He asked:
"Do you take your stylist with you when you travel?"
It must have been the Gothic look of the black dress/coat with leather and a large collar open to show a healthy cleavage, covered in the waist by a leather corset belt I was wearing to a concert, that made him ask that. Either way, the man knew how to sweet talk, which is always a winner with me and draws my attention.
After the show, we stayed behind to say hello to Angélique and left shortly after midnight with Hala to get to Aisha's fabulous dinner party—Cinderella time!
Saturday was another fantastic night in Fabric with Hala, accompanied by Shane and his friend Aiden, who were coming out of a relationship and needed to shed their past and move on. In fact, the remedy of coming to Fabric with us (the Criminal Sisters) was probably the best cure for change.
Hala and I managed to get to bed at 7:00am on Sunday, which was good going as we were invited to Lady Diba's for a dinner party in the evening. Guaranteed fun with her wonderful friends from the US and Germany to help celebrate her birthday.
Tonight, the temperature is dropping to -2 degrees in London, and guess who's going to warm me up on this freezing night? Mmm... No matter what the weather is outside, put your troubles away and keep warm in your heart.
Have to get ready now.
More about our Peru adventures to continue...
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