Celebrities take Peruvian culture to Peru, Nebraska

Lima, May 06 (ANDINA). A contingent of Peruvian celebrities -including chefs, athletes and performers- converged last month on Peru, Nebraska, to take the South American country's culture to another part of the world that shares the name but not the same landscape or customs.
Acclaimed chefs Gaston Acurio, Christian Bravo, Ivan Kisic and Javier Wong; performers Magaly Solier, Carlos Alcantara, Gonzalo Torres and Dina Paucar; as well as world champion surfers Sofia Mulanovich and Gabriel Villaran arrived in this small town of 569 people on a red and white bus bearing Peru's new country-brand logo.

Drawn by the common name, the mission of the visitors from the culturally and geographically diverse nation was to shoot a 15-minute commercial that encourages national pride and shows how the Peruvian culture influences people around the world.

At the beginning of the commercial, the new ambassadors of Peru invite locals of all ages to enjoy our delectable dishes such as ceviche, papa a la huancaina, ocopa, anticucho and papa rellena as well as the country's traditional drink called chicha morada and the famous "bubble-gum-flavored" Inca Kola.

Other scenes show a flamboyantly dressed Dina Paucar traipsing into the local post office with a live llama, surfers Sofia Mulanovich and Gabriel Villaran trying to catch a wave in the Peru State College's paved parking lot, the sheriff trading his doughnuts for picarones with comedian Carlos Alcantara, Afro-Peruvian music and dance ensemble Peru Negro teaching cajón drumming, and a man climbing the water tower to paint an accent mark over the “u” in “Peru.” Scenes were also shot in New York City and Omaha.

Peruvian tourism officials chose Peru, Neb., after considering other U.S. communities named Peru, such as those in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont, West Virginia and Massachusetts. The commercial was aired in Peru on Thursday afternoon and is also available

Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa
wins literature Nobel

Peruvian writer and one-time presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa, a chronicler of human struggles against authoritarian power in Latin America, won the 2010 Nobel prize for literature.

An outstanding member of the a generation of writers that led a resurgence in Latin American literature in the 1960s, Vargas Llosa was a champion of the left in his youth and later evolved into an outspoken conservative, a shift that infuriated much of Latin America's leftist intelligentsia.

"I hope they gave it to me more for my literary work and not my political opinions," the 74-year-old author said at a news conference in New York.

"I think Latin American literature deals with power and politics and this was inevitable. We in Latin America have not solved basic problems such as freedom," Vargas Llosa said.

"Literature is an expression of life and you can't eradicate politics from life," he added.

The Swedish Academy awarding the 10 million crown ($1.5 million) prize said Vargas Llosa had been chosen "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt and defeat."

The author of more than 30 novels, plays and essays, Vargas Llosa made his international breakthrough in the 1960s with "The Time of the Hero", a novel about cadets at a military academy. Many of his works are built on his experiences of life in Peru in the late 1940s and the 1950s

Susan Sarandon reopens Machu Picchu with Andean locals after flooding

Hollywood stalwart Susan Sarandon reopened Machu Picchu yesterday as tourists flocked to the lost city of the Incas for the first time in two months.

The ceremony took place two months after rail links to the site were washed away in devastating floods trapping 4,000 tourists and forcing Peru's most popular tourist attraction to close.

After Ms Sarandon attended the ancient ceremony asking for the blessing of mother Earth and other rituals at the ruins, hundreds of visitors returned delighted that they could once again enjoy the ancient city.

The Hollywood superstar then posed for photos with young girls wearing traditional Andean dress and sipped coca tea that many locals use to ward off the effects of altitude at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level.

The downpour which had continued for most of the morning was replaced by bright sunshine in the afternoon, reflecting the optimistic atmosphere as Machu Picchu welcomed tourists again.

Workers have now finished rehabilitating the last 17 miles of the tracks, though service has not been restored all the way to Cuzco.Â

Officials have said the entire route is not expected to reopen until June. Until then, tourists can travel by bus from Cuzco to Piscachuco and from there by train to Machu Picchu Pueblo at the base of the ruins.

The train is the only form of transportation to the fortress, though hardier tourists can also hike there along the steep Inca Trail.

Machu Picchu, nestled atop a verdant mountain in the Andes, averages 1,500 to 2,000 visitors a day.

By Sarah Gordon

Note.- In the photos Susan Sarandon wears a sweater of our collection