So a few weeks ago a bunch of my co-workers, Ryan, and I headed out to the famous Plaza San Martin in downtown Lima to produce a small film about the highly underrated nightclubs.  I personally had no clue that there even existed nightclubs in the Plaza, aside from the well known bars and pubs.  Some of the bars turned out to be really cool while others were nothing more than average dark and crammed meat markets. I was in-charge of photos that night and with the constant flow of free drinks that I received while working I can honestly say that the quality began to take a downward spiral fast.  The video was taken by The Break's very own videographer, Carlos who did an excellent job putting the film together. 


Noches en el centro de Lima from The Break on Vimeo.

As some of you may already know I have been talking about my preparations for my civil marriage to Zdenka for quite some time now.  Last Saturday was our civil marriage at the municipal hall in Breña, located near downtown Lima and it was a wonderful day.



They say that's it's common for both the bride and groom to be nervous the day before and day of the actual event, however my experience was a completely different one.  I have never felt so calm and sure about any decision I have ever made in my life and I was looking forward to seeing it through.  The interesting thing about a civil wedding is how formal and luke warm it is compared to the typical religious wedding.  The room where the wedding took place inside the municipal hall of Breña was more of a conference room/storage room than anything else.  The procedure itself was administered by a municipal employee and had all the makings of contractual agreement.  The ceremony was fast, 15 minutes fast, with the majority of the time dedicated to various family/friend photo configurations.



The rest of the day beautiful sunny day was spent inside of across the street at a reception hall where lunch was served and music played from a DJ who apparently had just taken a crash course in operating a music synthesizer.  While I am thankful to everyone who came that day I have to admit that the best part was the down time spent with Zdenka in a very comfortable and upscale hotel room in Miraflores.  The best sleep I have had in a long time, wish I would have looked a the brand of mattress. (thank you Evelyn and Lorenzo for the wonderful hotel package!)

After what was a long week here in Lima, a few friends of mine and I decided to get together for drinks last Saturday.  Zdenka and I arrived at Albazo's around 9:30PM, where I had told everyone earlier to meetup. 

Albazo's is this small little bar on Av. Berlin, located just around the corner from the Calle de Los Pizzas in Miraflores.  The thing I enjoy most about this bar is that it's usually never croweded which, makes it a great spot for gatherings with friends.  The place serves a wide array of alcoholic beverages at reasonable prices for being located in Miraflores.  I usually prefer to order my 1 liter bottle of Pilsen and at S/.11 it's a great deal.  The music at Albazo's pretty much says alot about the people who frequent their, nothing but good 90's and 80's music, for me this is a nice change in pace from all the latin music that I hear regularly (not that I don't like it either). 

for those of you who are interested here is the address: calle berlin 172, Miraflores

Sitting there waiting for my friends to show up we decided to have a few drinks and enjoy the loud drunken shouting of a group of guys who were rocking out to Los Heroes del Silencio.   Unfortunately for us the DJ (or who ever the hell was in charge of the music) decided to humor the group by playing a marathon of "Heroes", which only meant a continuous, almost never ending roar of off key singing.  I should also probably mention that Zdenka had been and continued to suffer from a tremendous migrane of epic proportions that not even 4 excedrins, 2 cups of mate de coca, and an almost empty bottle of beer could cure.  It would be an understatement to say she was in pain, yet being the trooper and awesome girlfriend she decided to stay inspite of my attempts to call it an early night.  When the music had finally switched gears and all the shouting had come to a lull, my friends came waltzing in one by one through the door.  Orgasms, Vodka/Tonics, Pilsen, and a side of french fries were ordered as we put our still sober heads together to come up with a game plan for the night. 



A decision was made and dancing was elected as the designated activity for the night.  Walking down the crowded Calle de Los Pizzas we found a club that was decent enough without being ridiculously packed.  The music was varied but wasn't any different from you hear at just about every other club (with the exception of electronica and techo...That GOD).  More beer was consumed as is custom as well as law in such places.  I did my fair share of dancing, though in all honesty I could have danced more.  Everyone appeared to be having a good time and the night was starting to wind down.  It was roughly around 2AM when Zdenka looked over at me and visually threw in the towel.  I said OK and we said our goodbyes to everyone and were quickly on our way home.  Thankfully I was sedated enough to not really care about sleeping on the couch but in all honesty I can sleep on just about any surface if the situation calls for it.

Well everyone I have finally written my 100th article/blogpost, I haven't written this much since college.  What makes this day even better is the fact that for the past few days the temperture has risen and the clouds been pushed back by the sun's beautiful UV'tastic rays, all of which are signals that my year long bout with S.A.D. has finally come to an end and that summer is finally upon us. 


Hallelujah!

I have even started to sport my very fashionably short shorts, because nothing says it's summer like the bare white hairy thighs.  The above photo was taken a few weeks ago at a bar in Pueblo Libre.  The two drinks in my hand are AMF's under a different name (which I can't remember) and were deliciously intoxicating. 


Hope everyone had a fun Halloween.  For Zdenka and myself the night started off rough since most of our friends bailed on us at the last minute.  Witnessing our plans for the evening unravel in front of us we decided to try and re-cooperate the night by going to our local bar in Miraflores where we knocked back a few.  The night progressed as we made our way to Barranco where unsurprisingly all the bars were full and the entrance covers were expensive.  Determined to make the best of a compromised night we found Wahio's bar in Barranco empty and decided to spend the remainder of the night there.  All in all fairly decent, but by no means a wild and crazy as other parties I have heard about lately.  

 

After a long day of work, on a Saturday no less, what is the best way to unwind? Three words: food, booze, and friends, I believe that sums up a great Saturday evening.

Last night I went to a Panchamanca party in Lince, where the food was abundant and succulent, the kind of perfection that is only achieved from hundreds of years of tradition. All my friends were there drinking and eating, and just having a good time. I'll admit that it wasn't your average college party, it was more of a laid back kind of party.

The beer was plentiful and at S/.5 who could complain. I did not get drunk...this time and was fairly proud and slightly disappointed in myself, those are the kinds of feelings that people with high expectations have.

Not much else to say so here are some pictures of me being goofy:

Last weekend I had the fortune to have a surprise (well kind of...) birthday party thrown in my honor.  Normally in the past I have celebrated my B-day with family, which would consist of us going out to dinner followed by me going to a bar with a few friends where my night would usually end (fairly boring I KNOW).  Who would be so bold to break me from my mundane tradition?  The culprit was none other than my girlfriend Zdenka, she single-handedly orchestrated the festivity (with support from other friends).

Since my birthday (August 31 for those who didn't know) fell this year on a Monday, Zdenka decided that it would only be appropriate to plan the party for Saturday night (to better accomodate the inevitable next day hangover). 

So Saturday arrived and I had made plans with Zdenka to go dancing with our friends Evelyn and Lorenzo in Barranco at Rustica (a rather decent place with a fairly large dance floor).  I arrived at Zdenka's house at around 8pm and ended up waiting nearly two hours for Zdenka to get ready (she was stalling).  On our way to Barranco, Zdenka was constantly texting and talking on her phone to people who she assured me had to do with work (she was talking to the invites).  When we got to Rustica Evelyn and Lorenzo were already inside and had snagged a table, which seated 10 or more (I found that rather odd at the time).  We order a few 1 liter size beers that come in these huge mugs, at which point I started to suspect that something was up.  Then Zdenka's phone rang and before I knew it she was gone, a few minutes later she returned followed by a horde of my friends and family (at this point it all finally came together). 

With the surprise out in the open the party began to take off.  The music was great, the beers plentiful, and the feeling that someone (who went through all the trouble of putting together a surprise party) truely loves you made the night wonderful and more than I could have asked for.  But wait it doesn't end there, oh no there is more to this than I have discussed yet. 

My favorite cake torta helada (cold cake) a cake covered in jello, was brought out by the work staff at Rustica and the entire bar began to sing happy birthday in tremendous unison. 



So there I was enjoying my party without a single problem and then the DJ comes on the speaker to announce that he "needs three brave men to come up on the bar and compete to see who has the best dance moves".  This is roughly when I noticed that I was being dragged across the dancefloor and to my horror towards the bar.  Before I could even argue or run away I found myself standing atop a bar with two other dudes facing a full bar of people (this is the kind of situation that most of us fear).  Out of the speakers can the bump and roar of (one of thousands of roughly identical) reggaeton songs.  Realizing that I had a pair and slightly buzzed on watered down beer I began to do what came natural to me and shaked my thang (and quite well if I might be sold bold). 



When the music came to a halt the DJ called out to the crowd for a judgement in an American Idol (God I know I just referenced that show) kind of way.  Now I am not pulling your chain nor am I painting this story in my favor but I was sure as hell shocked to find out that I had beaten my two other opponents (one of which I had suspected was gay for his persistent attempts at trying to grind up on me).  And just when you would think the public humilation would be brought to a halt, the DJ called out to any guy who thought he could out dance the Champ.  Out of the corner of the bar appeared this muscle head who hopped onto the bench (good God WHY!).  The music was turned on again and I was therefore subject to kicking ass with my awesome dance skills.  The verdict was then asked of the public who unanimously voted in my favor (SE QUEDA!), while the other dude was sent home (SE VA!). 



For having been such a good sport and being subject to such embarrasment I was reward with a free 1 liter beer (aw...the taste of victory...slightly watered down). 



The rest of the night was spent consuming medicore but still efficient libations and dancing to my favorite songs with an over inflated ego (long live the king!).  The rest of the details are kind of fuzzy but I am sure that I didn't do anything to idiotic (this time).

So last Saturday I had the house to my self, what with my father in Chicago for the International Plastics Convention. Everything was going great, I was just relaxing in the living room when I get a call from my girlfriend to go to a friend's (Carlos) birthday party. Since nothing else was going on I decided to get off my lazy @$$ and go enjoy the evening.

The birthday bash was planned to take place in a Peña (Peña, a grass-roots community meeting place where popular folklore - usually Nueva Cancion - and other artistic expressions accompanied by food and drink are showcased) called Del Carajo! in Barranco, near Chorrillos where I live. Having never been to a peña before I was quite excited, I had heard and seen so much about them and was really looking forward to it.

After getting lost driving through side streets and dark alleyways that could make the hairs on the back of anyone's neck stand up, I arrive at the peña. It was located in a very narrow and poorly lit street. The sidewalk was full of people from all walks of life and social classes waiting in a large line. Since no one that I knew had arrived yet I was forced to wait in line. Finally my girlfriend (Zdenka) arrives just as the line begins to move. The fee for entrance is S./20 (soles) per person before 11pm and S./3o after. As we approach entrance we are greeted by two huge bamboo doors that open to revel a large tropical interior filled with rows of tables, two seperate bars, a fairly moderate (at first sight) dance floor, and a large stage. We are seated at our reserved table and soon after the birthday boy and all his friends arrive. Beers are purchased and then consumed as the band sets up the sound equipment. 30 minutes later (Midnight) the house is packed with no empty table in sight, then our attention is commanded by the sounds of Criollo music.

The host, an older woman welcomes the patrons and introduces the band and establishment. Then we are treated to a presentation of the Afro-Peruvian dance, after all that's what a peña is all about. It is truly amazing to watch them dance and move their bodies in ways that most people wish that alcohol could do for them. After the performance we were encouraged to get out on the dance floor as the band played a medley of latin, cumbia, salsa, and criollo music. I can't begin to tell you how great it is to dance to your favorite songs with that live band sound. The only real downside was the dance floor, it got so packed that at times you were stepping on toes and heals left and right, back and forth.