Lunch and Shopping

 

After the monasteria, I started looking around for a place to eat. I came across another hole in the wall with a fixed price menu, and this time I understood one of the appetizer options, Ceviche! Ceviche is a uniquely peruvian (and largely Limanese) dish consisting of raw fish 'cooked' in citrus juices with thin slices of onion. I had tried some in the states with Mom and Rob on our Peruvian restaurant field trip, and this was rather similar. A small plate came mounded with the onions and fish, as well as some lightly popped kernels of the huge Inca corn. (the kernels are the size of a small grape) The second course was a mystery until it arrived, but was like a vegetable fritata served over fried slices of plantain. With a side of spicey cury it was really tasty and hit the spot.

Again, prices were crazy. Five soles for the menu, plus another two for an Inca Kola, which I'm starting to acquire a taste for though it's rather sweet.

Afterwards I found a big pedestrian shopping street. For five or six blocks both sides were packed with stalls selling various wares from clothes to electronics. I went into one of the shops to buy myself some cheap speakers to listen to music but the lines were too long and I gave up. This seemed to be the major shopping drag in central Lima for the locals.

 

More wandering east found me at Plaza San Martin where I finally hitched a cab back to Miraflores. I think my more confident delivery of asking for how much the fare was might have saved me a few soles. :)

Central Lima

 

I decided to go explore the historic area of Central Lima. This was my first time grabbing a taxi, and it's no wonder an estimated one in seven cars here is a taxi, it's pretty good money. I got the gringo price on the way there, 15 soles, but even on the way back when I got the normal price according to the doorman, 10 soles you can see how it is fairly lucrative. In all fairness it was quite a ways though, about 15 minutes.

My destination was Plaza de Marma, which is the old center of Lima. The presidentical office can be seen above, and the square is surrounded on all sides by buildings of Spanish heritage. Apparently not a single one has lasted through all the earthquakes however, which became a common theme when visiting other areas.

 

The Cathedral de Lima can be seen above, also on the square. It was originally built in 1555 but has been knocked down multiple times by earthquakes, first in 1687, then again almost completely in 1746.

Central Lima feels VERY different than Miraflores. Miraflores is where all the upper class live, central Lima is the middle class. People were bustling all over and the streets were clogged with taxis. It is obviously much poorer in general than the posh San Isidro and Miraflores districts I live in, and there is evidence of it everywhere. It feels much more genuine however.

 

A block away from the presidential office, on my way to the Monasterio de San Francisco I ran into this building, which had beautiful antique frames but had seen better days.

 

The Monasterio de San Francisco, dating back to 1687, is one of the more famous attractions here. Among other things it has a huge library of ancient texts, which they estimate contains 2500 unique books and artifacts. When visiting it it didn't seem like any work was being done to preserve or study said texts though, it was incredibly musty. That's one thing that contrasts with places in Europe and which Ali and I noticed in Tunisia too. Many of the areas here are beautiful and important artifacts, but there just doesn't seem to be the money to properly restore and present them. Just like the incredible Roman ruins in Tunisia that were completely deserted, the monasteria had numerous areas that just needed some TLC.

Apart from the library, the other attraction is the catacombs, which served as Lima's cemetery for a while. They say over 70,000 people were buried here and just like the other catacombs, some macabre soul took it upon themselves to start organizing and stacking the bones and skulls. They think the catacombs and various tunnels connect many of the churches in central Lima, but most have not been excavated.

Rob had told me about this, but it was still funny. They are very proud of a huge painting of the last supper, very similar to DaVinci's. The tour guide pointed out all the differences, and the best one by far is that they are eating what was (still is?) considered the ultimate delicacy here, roasted Cuy, or guina pig.

Got Milk?

I'm sitting here eating an avocado that's as big as my head. Ok, maybe not quite, but it's at least seven inches long and three inches wide. Yumminess.

On my walk I found a little local food stand on the cliff band. No real menu but they had a board that had words I recognized: "triple pollo sandwich". Sold! Four soles later I had a grilled chicken sandwich with these crunchy mini french fries on top. Pretty dang good, I could have eaten two but that probably would have been rude.

Thanks to Tom I found milk! He correctly pointed out that milk isn't sold refrigerated here. Instead it's in an aisle like any other in little nondescript cartons. I guess you only need to put it in the fridge after you open it?

Tom also told me to go buy some chocolate. Which I did. It's pretty good, but I'm not really a chocolate connoisseur so I can't say whether it's really any better than what I've had in the states.

Ok, onto the other half of Godavocadozilla.

More Wandering

 

I went out to find some food and ended up walking a similar path as yesterday except in reverse. I started off a bit farther north than I had before and ran into a really neat skate and bike part that was packed with kids. Overall the coast was really busy today as it was a public holiday and the weather was fantastic, about 75 degrees with a cool breeze.

 

Of course I also ran into the parasailers again, and after watching them go around for a while I think I'll have to renig my earlier statement and say that I most definitely DO want to go for a ride, even if it's a dual tandem. It's really cool as a spectator too because they are often actually below you and no more than 20 feet away. They just float by weightlessly.

 

I had two unexpected interactions with locals today. While watching the waves come in a woman walked up and asked me the time in English. How dare she assume I'm american!? Actually I looked especially American today with my dual striped t-shirt on, so I was easy prey. I gave her the time (I should say "Je ne parles pas Anglais" next time) and she then began chatting me up about this and that. Apparently I'm beautiful because I'm over 2 meters. Hrmmm. Anyways, she was trying to sell me something, either the tour guiding she claims on her card or something less reputable. I eventually clawed myself away.

The other was much more geniune, cuter and proof that language is no real boundary. I was stocking up on my strawberry gogurt (mmmm, strawberry gogurt) and walking down an aisle when an old lady called out. I turned around and she pointed at the top shelf and said something or another I didn't understand. But the message was clear. Yet again, my incredible height could help less fortunate folk, for once more I was "Top Shelf Man"! Uhmm.. ya, well anyways, I got what she asked for, she thanked me (I understood that) and I said no problem. See? I'll have this Spanish thing licked in no time.

Speaking of learning Spanish, I decided to ask the doormanm, Jose Luis, how much a taxi to central Lima should cost. Per the usual drill I spent all day practicing the phrase and upon returning belted it out on him. He understood and this time since the answer was numbers I mostly understood the answer too. More importantly we got to chatting about various things in his broken English and my more than broken Spanish with the help of my dictionnary.

Fascinating things he related to me:
1) France is #1 country in world for food, Peru is #2
2) The French hate the Americans, the Americans make fun of the French
3) The French have more culture and intellect, the Americans just have money
4) Wong, that shop I got my phone at, is like Costo, you can return things no questions asked. It's Chinese.
5) There are lots of Chinese Peruvian folks in Peru, and Chifa, what they call the Peruvian Chinese food is very popular and extra yummy according to him.
6) He's never been to Machu Picchu because he can't afford it, and asked whether Americans knew of the Incas

Anyways, I think I found someone to torture a bit every day with my Francospanglish, his job is just hanging out and he seems to enjoy the excercise.

Cheap Cell Phones

 

I studied a bit upstairs and then wandered down and asked the doorman where I might buy a cell phone. Of course, this whole studying questions bit is only halfway useful, as although he understand what I said, I had no clue what he was telling me. More gesturing and questions ensued and I finally got it through my head that he was pointing me towards the Starbucks traffic circle and a store named "Wong".

From what I can gather "Wong" is the Fred Meyer of Peru, except not quite as big. They seemed to sell just about everything. I found a booth for Claro the big local wireless carrier and proceeded to torture the poor woman trying to ask for a prepaid sim card. She spoke some english though so it wasn't too bad. Sadly, my Sidekick is locked, so the sim card didn't work and I had to buy a phone.

The plans here are crazy. Most of the plans are prepaid, you just buy cards to refill. Additionally, when you buy a phone, you get the cost of the phone as prepaid credits. So if you spend 89 soles (~$30), as I did for a cheap phone, you get 89 soles of airtime. Sadly I didn't realize this or I might have sprung for the neato motorolla F3 which was only $10 more. The phone I did get is about as cheap as I've seen. At first I thought it was a color screen, but it's not. It's kind of like those old donkey kong games you had as a kid, with a stencil in the background and stenciled graphics in front which light up differently. Oh well, it works, I can't complain.

The fee structure is also a bit different here. Receiving calls on your cell is completely free, even internationally. You only pay when making outgoing calls. However, outgoing calls are really expensive, about 1.5 soles a minute. (ie, 40 cents) Tom claims this is part of the machismo culture in South American, he might have a point.

My previous stolen wifi doesn't seem to be working anymore, so I wandered around the apartment with my laptop trying to find another. I'm now sitting on the floor next to the door where I get a good signal to some other neighbor. Someone will be by Monday to fix/replace the WiMax modem though.

Today so far has been work work work, Eric is such a slave driver. But I think I'll go wander outside and find something to eat.

Interweb Theft

 

Thank god for open access points. I found a neighbor that happens to have his connection open and that has greatly eased my life. I should be meeting with someone tomorrow to figure out what is happening, but having a connection at home is a blessing until then.

I went to lunch at the hole in the wall place I mentioned yesterday. I could tell from the chalk board outside that they had a fixed price lunch menu, however I couldn't understand a word the waitress rattled off to me. It basically turned into me just saying "numero uno" and "numero dos" for the two options. Mind you, I had no idea which either were, I was just satisfying her request for me to pick something.

Turns out those were pretty good choices. She came out with a big plate of breaded and fried calamari which was quite yummy and nicely spiced. Next came a lightly breaded filet of some sort of white fish over rice with a plain salad. Again, pretty darn good. When the bill came it was for six soles, less than $2. I tried paying nine soles and getting up, but the owner ran over and tried to explain to me that I was overpaying. I then had to try to explain back to her in some way that I MEANT to overpay. In the end I chocked out that I thought the food was excellent, pointed to a two sole piece, and left that behind. So a little under $3 for a two course lunch.

That's a sick deal any way you cut it. (hopefully figuratively only!)

Central Miraflores

 

I had to walk a ways to find an internet cafe (in retrospect, there must be one closer) but had some great sight seeing along the way. The church above sure was pretty but isn't even mentioned in my Peru guide book. I guess I have to check out the ones that are! I pondered going in, but it looked very busy with Easter traffic so I thought better of it. They might not be so welcoming to an atheist gringo.

 

I eventually reached the shore again, this time quite a bit farther south. Larcomar is one of the big tourist centers and is a huge outdoor mall right on the cliffs. It included the Tony Romas... and another Starbucks.. oh, and a Hooters. Aww, I feel so at home!

 

The beaches down below looked rocky but were very busy with the surfers. Looked like a really good time, with very consistent waves. To me, they looked like about six foot swells or so. I'll definitely have to see if one can rent surf boards around here.

This is also the spot for parasailing, there was a whole string of them coming down the cliff band. Might be a fun thing to try out, though flying tandom for some reason doesn't sound as fun.

 

Further north I ran into the Parque del Amor, with this statue which is one of the most famous sights in Lima. I guess it kind of fits in with the ongoing theme of Latin lovin'.