Taller de Cocina.

On Saturday we went to D'Gallia for a cooking workshop. It was really interesting and we learned how to cook quite a few Peruvian dishes. We broke up into groups of 4 and each took turns cooking. First we made one of my favorites, Ají de Gallina. It is chicken with garlic, onion, ají (a pepper that Peruvians use a lot), liquidized bread, and other minor ingredients. After that it was my turn and I made Lomo Saltado, another favorite. It was terrifying but it was fun. I didn’t write down how to make it since I was cooking but I know it is made of beef, slices of onion, tomato, and pepper, and then you cook it all up kind of like stir fry and at the end you had French fries…it’s super rico. Then we made the two main dishes of fish in Peru (:p) not going to lie I didn’t pay attention much but the presentation of them was very pretty. They all seemed kind of difficult to make so I don’t know if I’ll be cooking them when I get home but I hope I can experiment a little. After the cooking we took a tour of the building and the chef told us about the courses offered and about her life. It was really fun and I do honestly hope that I try the easier ones out.

Then Sunday was my host cousin’s 8th birthday. It was my first party I had gone to with my host family and it was an interesting experience meeting more of the family and trying to remember everyone's names and how they are all related. He had his birthday party at Kentucky (KFC in other words) and it was pretty much like every other child’s birthday party that I have been to. One of the other students in my program is living with my host mom’s brother so she was there too and that was helpful. I don’t think I would have liked to have been there without her there just because then I would have been the only American and I always feel awkward in those situations. Valentino, my sort of host brother, had fun and he was super cute all dressed up. His birthday is the 29th of this month and I am really excited to be here to celebrate his 3rd birthday.

Tonight I register for my last semester of undergrad. I can’t believe the time has finally come. I thought I might prolong it a little longer but I am kind of getting sick of school, well the work anyway. Hopefully I will get into all the classes I need and then be able to graduate in May. Weird. Alright well this next weekend our cultural event is swimming with sea lions so I’ll have more to share then.

hasta luego,
aj