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Trip Start Apr 24, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End May 29, 2008

  Lima, Peru
Thursday, May 29, 2008

Hi Peanut Gallery! I am writing this blog from the Lima airport, just a few hours before my flight departs for the U.S. My mom keeps saying she will really miss these blogs every day...I can certainly keep blogging if you'd like, it will just consist of my everyday life. "Woke up at 3:30 am when the cat started howling, got up at 5:30 am to work out with Peter, went to work, fell asleep on the couch at 10 pm...."  Just let me know if you can't do without these details of my non-traveling life! :-)

This morning I got up and had breakfast, showered and packed my backpack for the last time. During breakfast I had a conversation with a German guest who I´ve seen around the hostal for the last few days. She always has papers and files with her, and she is often on the phone. This morning she was meeting with a woman on the breakfast terrace when I came out to eat. So I asked her if she´s here in Lima on business and she said yes. She has a few factories and a few people making stuff (don´t know what, but I think textiles) which she then sells in Germany. She said she is looking for an apartment, as the owner of the hostal is getting difficult about her staying there. I´m sure the owner isn´t thrilled that this woman is sort of running a business out of her hostal!

I threw my backpack in the storage room and confirmed that a taxi would be picking me up at the hostal at 8:30 pm. Then I headed out to Avenida Petit Thouars to try to catch a combi to the center again and pick up the sightseeing where I left off yesterday! I felt confident I could catch the right combi...after all, I managed in Cajamarca, right? I had taken a combi with Cajamarcans to Baños del Inca for a bath and creepy massage! It´s a very different story in Lima. The streets are clogged with combis (vans), all going to different places. The destinations posted on the front of the bus and on the side of the bus are different, and the chofer hangs out the door and screams the destination and route at lightening speed. There was no way that was going to be helpful. My guidebook said any combi saying "Todo Arequipa" would go close enough to the Plaza Mayor, and one just needs to ask to be let off on a particular street in the center.

So, determined not to take taxis everywhere in Lima, I stood on the avenue and watched dozens of combis go by, trying to figure out how I could learn this system! Finally I saw one that said "Tdo Arequipa" on the side (along with many, many other things) and I shot my hand up. The chofer yelled for the driver to stop and I asked him, "Todo Arequipa?" He impatiently waved me on and I took a seat, pleased as punch.

About 30 minutes later I started to have a feeling that this was not working out. We weren´t approaching anything that looked familiar from yesterday, so I turned to some teenagers behind me and asked in Spanish, "When do I get off for the Plaza Mayor?" They shook their heads and assured me we were not going to the Plaza Mayor. I said, "I know, but what is sort of close?" Nope, nothing is close. They called over the chofer and he didn´t even know what Plaza I was talking about! Sigh. Is this how tourists feel when they come to New York and try to figure out the subway? I have to think our system is easier...it has stations! And colors! And a damn map!

I jumped off the combi and walked up a huge avenue that the chofer had pointed me towards. I figured if nothing else, I could always grab a taxi at any point. But instead I walked up this avenue just to see where it was going. It turned out to be a great decision, as I passed the Parque de la Exposición, a beautiful long park with lots of fountains and grass and trees. After about 1/4 mile, I came upon the Museo del Arte. I crossed the street and continued pushing north, walking through the Parque Italiano and past the Museo de Arte Italiano. It was a decent afternoon so I figured why not keep walking? About 4 blocks later I hit the bottom of Calle Union, a 5 block all-pedestrian throughway that leads right to the Plaza de Armas. I wandered up Union slowly, as it is chock-full of stores, restaurants, casinos, money-changers standing on the street with wads of soles...and it is overall a prime area to watch all of Lima go about it's daily life.

(***Sidenote: This reminds me to mention that almost everywhere I have been in Peru I have seen men and boys wearing baseball caps. No big surprise, right? They protect your head and eyes from the sun. But it's the emblem on the caps that has surprised me. I have no hard numbers, but I'd say about half of the caps feature the logo of something I don't recognize...maybe a local team or a company. BUT, the other half of caps I've seen everywhere in Peru feature the New York Yankees logo on the front. Whether on busy Calle Union in Lima or in the tiny village of Leymebamba where horses outnumber people 2-to-1, guys are wearing Yankee caps. This has occupied my thoughts since the start of my trip. For one thing, baseball isn't even a blip on the sports radar of Peruvians. It's all about soccer, with tennis, golf and surfing coming in a distant 2nd, 3rd and 4th (according to a few taxi drivers I asked). For another thing, WHY the New York Yankees? I don't know, but I can say that the New York Mets have some serious inroads to make in their Latin American market! Thus endeth the sidenote***)

When I got to the Plaza de Armas I took a few photos that I missed yesterday when I flitted off to the doctor's office. Then I ventured a few blocks to the north, behind the Presidential Palace, to have a look at the Rio Rimac which borders the historical district. I could have skipped it! I stood on the Puente de Piedra, looked down and saw that the river is brown, littered with plastic bottles and actually pretty smelly. On the upside, from the bridge I got a good view of the Cerro San Cristobal, a large hill just further to the north. It is topped with a cross and a Peruvian flag etched into the side of the hill.

It was after 2 pm when I turned back towards the center and my stomach felt stable enough for some lunch. I walked up Ancash to a restaurant recommended in my book -- San Paolo. I flipped through the menu outside and the waitress came to invite me in. I sank into a large lounge chair and relaxed. The place was dark and peaceful with a gurgling fountain in the middle of the dining room. There were several businessmen on their lunch hours. I was hungry but chose my lunch carefully! It was way too much food: a big bowl of soup and a plate of meat (turned out to be like corned beef on the bone), potatoes, cabbage and cooked carrots. I ate as much as I could while still not overdoing it on a delicate stomach. When I left I immediately started to feel queasy, but fortunately everything stayed where it was supposed to!

My next order of business was to head straight to the church and convent of San Francisco. I intended to visit this sight yesterday after the Cathedral, but we know what happened there. This complex is amazing. First of all, it is a beautiful church built in the 1500s. The outside of the church is yellow with white ledges which are full of pigeons! There are so many they become part of the facade. See all the pigeons here? There were many times more today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lima_Convento_San_Fransisco.jpg

Today it happened to be a saint's feast day and dozens of people were standing in line with flowers...the line was snaking out of the church and around the block! The faithful waited patiently to bring their flowers into the church indivually and place them in one of the small side chapels.

But the real highlight of the complex is the convent and subterranean catacombs! The convent has a peaceful cloistered garden with real Spanish architecture surrounding it -- rounded arches and colorful Sevillean tiles. The convent has a lot of rooms with artwork showing the life and times of St. Francis of Assisi and a huge work showing the Last Supper with some unusual features: a round rather than rectangular table, the disciples and Jesus eating a guinea pig (typical Peruvian delicacy) and all of them drinking from Inca cups. Yet another great example of the fusion of local Andean/Inca influence and Spanish catholicism.

After taking us through the garden, the sacristy, the choir loft and lots of other convent-y rooms, our guide took us to the best part of all -- the catacombs! They are all below ground level and under the church's nave and altar. Unlike the simple room under the Cathedral several blocks away, these catacombs are like a city! It is a maze of narrow, low and dimly-lit hallways leading through room after room after room of old BONES. They are stacked in coffin-sized pits, round pits, brick niches, just about everywhere. There are all kinds of bones, but most common are skulls and leg bones because those are the strongest of the body. How many you ask? They counted there are 25,000 people there! The guide was very vague about who they are -- I really couldn't get a straight answer from her. But my guidebook says the catacombs were a public cemetery where slaves, servants and others without any money were buried until 1821. Anyone with money was usually buried at home.

It was nearly 5 pm when I left San Francisco, and I decided to try my luck at getting a combi back to Miraflores. Am I a glutton for punishment or what? I walked through central Lima to the huge, unpleasant boulevard of Garcilaso de la Vega and stood to the side lest I get practically trampled by people, carts, bikes, just about anything and everything clogging the sidewalks! The street was simply choked with combis, one after the other. My guidebook stated that any of them saying "Todo Arequipa" or "Miraflores" would go to Miraflores. OK, that didn't work out so well this morning but I figured if it goes to Miraflores how bad could it be? I definitely needed to go to Miraflores and once I was there I'd know where I was. Dozens and dozens of combis lurched by, belching black exhaust and barely stopping for anyone to hop on, never mind figure out if they were the correct one (clearly that was just an issue for me). Finally one stopped practically in front of me because of the red light ahead. The chofer was yelling, "Todo Arequipa, Miraflores, Larco Mar..." over and over. I took my chances, hopped on and met with great success! About 20 minutes later we were entering the Miraflores neighborhood. The chofer looked at me doubtfully when I told him I wanted to get off, as we were in a very residential area and not near the touristy restaurants or internet cafes or hotels. I assured him I did want to get off and I swaggered up the block like I've lived there for years and knew exactly what I was doing! Ha! As if I wasn't completely lost just 6 hours before.

I did a little last-chance strolling in Miraflores and then headed to the hostal around 8 pm. I needed to rearrange my daypack and put some of it's contents into my big backpack, check my email on their free internet and take all my medicine before my 8:30 pm taxi. I chatted for a while with the German woman while doing this, who informed me that she found an apartment earlier that day and would be checking out soon. I was sad to be leaving that laid-back hostal...everyone was so friendly and the outdoor terrace so relaxing...and the house dog Kaluah is adorable! She follows everyone into their rooms and just hangs out.

At 8:20 pm my taxi arrived and I said goodbye to the reception staff. It took about an hour to get to the airport with all the traffic, and the driver and I talked non-stop the entire time. For one thing, I knew it was my last opportunity to have a real conversation, in Spanish, in Peru, with a Peruvian. For another thing, he reminded me so much of Anne's husband Jaime that I felt I already knew him! He had academic glasses and jet black hair, a gentle manner and patience with my Spanish. We talked about Lima, New York, Peru, the US presidential elections, Fujimori, pollution, having kids (or not!), my job, the economy, and I think that's it. Isn't that enough?! It flew by and as he was dropping me off he asked me how to ask "Where are you from?" in English. I told him it seemed unbelievable that it was exactly 5 weeks ago I was just arriving and spending the night in the food court, waiting for my early morning flight to Cusco.

The line for Delta check-in was unbelieeeevably long! But it moved pretty quickly and I'm heading on to my gate now. It will be GREAT to be home tomorrow, be with Peter, squeeze Eva, wear clean clothes, flush paper down the toilet and of course sleep in my own bed! There's no place like home...and the truth is my home is both in New York and on the road too. So stay tuned for the next adventure, wherever that may be....

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