What a glorious day. Last week, while driving through the most chaotic round about in Lima, Óvalo Guiterrez, I noticed the familiar looking logo of Pinkberry affixed to a remodeled store front. Could it be true? Is Pinkberry really coming to Lima? I let out a small shrill of excitement and then in my best very excited Spanish, I tried to explain to Alvaro’s mom why I was so excited. Either my Spanish isn’t good enough or she doesn’t share my love for frozen yogurt, but somehow we weren’t clicking.
I must admit, I have actually never had Pinkberry before (that is until yesterday). I’ve heard of it and know its reputation for being absolutely delicious but unfortunately have never lived in a city with a store. Nashville recently opened its first Pinkberry but unfortunately, I was already in Lima. There is delicious ice cream here, ice cream made of fresh Peruvian fruits that are absolutely heavenly, but I always, always prefer frozen yogurt. Now that Pinkberry has arrived, I am able to get my fix.
Óvalo Guiterrez is the reason I don’t drive in Peru. The picture here makes the area look like a peaceful, Peruvian paradise. Don’t be deceived. Instead of the calm scenario you see below, it’s a disorganized sea of pedestrians and kamikaze taxi drivers. Every time I’m driven through the round about, I unknowingly hold my breath and send up a little prayer to make it through the chaos. Though there are pedestrian crosswalks at each cross street, we take tunnels underneath the round about if we need to walk from one side to another. Cars speed through the round about, without any regard for lanes or right of ways, and no pedestrian is safe from their hurried exit.
This round about is a a prime location for any number of leisurely activities, housing a park, movie theatre, mall, Starbucks, church, grocery store and a number of restaurants. Despite this appeal, I only go there out of necessity, the chaos of Peruvian driving isn’t worth the convenience of one stop shopping, that is, until now. PInkberry is going to help me conquer my fears of the dreaded Óvalo Guiterrez.
