We made it through Customs, made it to our hotel and have checked in. It is 3 am right now. Lima is the same time zone as NYC.
When I travel, one of my favorite things to do is explore the city streets on foot. Hopefully despite going to bed so late, I’ll wake early enough to get outside and see how people in this neighborhood live. The first time I went to Japan, I spent days roaming neighborhoods, taking pictures of mundane sights that were exotic to me because they were Japanese. I want to see mundane sights here that are exotic to me because they are Peruvian.
My Spanish is terrible. I didn’t appreciate how terrible until I showed up here, started trying to communicate, and realized exactly how little I actually remember from my years of high school Spanish. I used the wrong verb conjugation for querer (I’m embarrassed to say it, but I used “quieren” instead of “queremos”). I forgot the word for “hundred” (it’s “cien”). I should’ve practiced before I traveled here. Well, so it goes. Que será, será.
I woke up around 8:30 and headed out to see the mean streets of Miraflores. When exploring a place for the first time, I usually pick a street and walk straight along it until I can’t go straight any more. It’s the easiest way I know of to not get lost. The direction I chose took me to cliffs overlooking water, which naturally put me in a wealthy part of town. It was slightly reminiscent of South Africa in that the fences around the houses had electrified wire strung along the top. I never like seeing that (why do we have to be so dangerous to, and so distrustful of, each other?). But the views and the homes were beautiful, and I was surrounded by runners and bike riders, which made me feel at home.
Later in the day I walked in the other direction, and definitely found more “character” away from the fancy part of town. I’ve started walking down side streets to see what I find, now that I’m less worried about getting lost. I stumbled upon more run-down buildings, and street art, which is always a favorite of mine.
There are feral cats and dogs roaming the streets. I found a cat sleeping underneath a statue in a park.
Concerning Spanish, I’m falling back on something I learned when in Japan. Speak the minimum amount of words to convey the message. I remember individual words better than I remember how to speak in grammatically correct sentences. And so I stopped trying to speak in complete sentences, and just speak only the words I need. I have yet to have a complete exchange with anyone entirely in Spanish, but I’m getting better.
We just had an amazing lunch of ceviche. I had mushroom ceviche, which I actually really loved. Raw button mushrooms sliced and marinated in lime juice and cilantro, served with raw onions, sweet potato and hominy. I may have discovered a new dish to make at home. I picked up some Peruvian chocolates in a sweet shop we passed by on the way back to the hotel.
We went to the gorgeous Museo Larco for some Peruvian history and had a phenomenal tour. Afterwards our lovely guides Elena and Walter took us around the city to show us some highlights. We went by the President’s mansion and took photos with the police who stand guard nearby. We finished our day on a cliff watching paragliders float over the Pacific Ocean. The city, and the people here, are truly lovely.
It is now New Year’s Eve and we are spending it indoors. Last year at this time we were in Christchurch, New Zealand, at an 80’s night, ringing in the New Year several hours ahead of los Estados Unidos. As long as we are off on an adventure, the future continues to look bright.
Tomorrow we depart for Cusco, and begin our ascent to Machu Picchu.
