What can 20 soles ($7.22) get you?

• 20 chocolate bars 
• 40 ice cream cones 
• 20/40 bags of chips 
• 5 liters of yogurt 
• 4 gloves 
• 2-3 hats 
• 2 scarves 
• 15 liters of water 
• 100 pieces of bread

#isntlifegrand

Manjar Blanco (spread of the land of milk and honey)

So there's this amazing spread here called Manjar Blanco.  It's made from sugar and milk, and I can buy it from La Salle (yay!).  According to Wikipedia,

It refers to a set of similar dishes traditionally made by slowly and gently cooking pure (normally non-homogenized) milk to thicken and reduce the volume, and gradually adding sugar...The result is a white or cream-colored, thick spread with a consistency much like that of a thick cake frosting although the flavor is more like that of sweetened cream. 

The simplest way to make manjar blanco is by boiling an intact tin of condensed milk in water for about an hour. On opening the boiled tin, we could see that the condensed milk thickens, darkens and turns into a yellowish light-brown paste that looks like peanut butter (but not as viscous as the latter). Manjar blanco is widely used in Peru as a bread spread and as cake frosting and filling.

 Number one on my "make this when back home" list.

#sogood #youshouldmakethistoo #peruvianfoodrocks

Torta de Plátano (Banana Cake)

Torta de Plátano

• bananas - 10 (brown?)
• 12 eggs
• 1/2 kilo sugar (4 cups)
• 1/4 kilo flour (2 cups)
• maizena (200g) - corn flour (1.5 cups)
• mandioca (chuño) -200g - potato flour (1.5 cups)
• veggie oil - 1/4 liter (1 cup)
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1/2 cup yogurt

1) egg yolks in one bowl, egg whites in another (mix until soft peaks and set aside)

2) mash bananas

3) sugar + egg yolks + oil (mix well)

4) Add yogurt (or milk). Add bananas + flour

5) mix egg whites again to get soft peaks

6) add egg whites to main mixture, fold in

7) 380 F, 1 hour, grease pan

This makes a huge amount (maybe a 16 x 28 in. pan?) so divide ingredients accordingly.  Also not sure if corn/potato flour exists in the states.  However, make this. It makes slices of heaven.

#omnomnom #yayfood

vamos al mercado, a mi me gusta comprar

lots of stuff to buy

Yeah, the inside market's huge

but outside, there's lots of vendors for blocks around

A moto-taxi

like this alll over Urubamba - Ollanta's the governor of the region down South

So a few things:

• I finally snagged pics of the market: some are above and some are on the Picasa site
• Finally took a pic of a mototaxi - the main form of paid transportation in Urubamaba
• Election Day is soon (June 5th), and they're banning alcohol sales beginning Friday. Wise?

#thisweekendwillbeinteresting #itsreallycoldherenow

Highlight of the Day

• Watching my students say, "Hasta la vista, baby."

#Priceless

up, up in the air (Chicon glacier aka 15000 ft)

So a lot of the Dukies down in Peru decided to climb up to the Chicon Glacier next to Urubamba this weekend.  To say that this was the hardest hike in my life might be an understatement.

So we started at 7:30 am, with three groups (Slow, Medium, Fast hiking speed).  I was in the fast group, with the porters that were carrying our extra water and cooking stuff (they were from the local community).  Just a quick comment about the porters - I have so much respect for them.  They did the entire hike without breaking a sweat, in sandals, and carrying more weight than any of us.  (There was a 14 year old who was always in front - what a boss!)  So the hike started out around 3000-3500 meters, and near a river from the glacier.  Hence, there was a lot of vegetation, and with that comes prickly cacti and spines everywhere. Ouch.  Once we climbed up a bit, we reached what would consist of most of the hike - rocks and hills.  It was pretty tough, because we had to navigate some narrow trails (and there weren't even trails sometimes) over rocks with heavy packs. Double Ouch.  To make things worse, we're at 3500+ meters, with a nearly vertical path (seriously, I couldn't find flat land to save my life), and less oxygen than we're used to. Triple Ouch.  Regardless, we reached our cabin around 1:10 pm, which means a solid 5 hrs and 40 min (with maybe 6-7 15 minute breaks) of hiking.  It was super satisfying, but to say it again, hardest hike of my life.

After sleeping overnight at the cabin (20-25 degrees F?  It was pretty cold.), we hiked for another 2 hours to reach the base of the glacier.  It looks a little something like that.

Not only was it pretty on the way up, it was breathtaking from the base of the glacier.  Ice, snow, all around, and all of it pristine.  Oh, and since it was at 5000 meters above sea level, literally breathtaking.  Recommended for sure.  (if you're wondering, it took us only 3-4 hours to get down to the bottom).

#myfeetaredead #somuchsunburn #worthit

Edit: Pictures of Chicon are up! Start at #451