Lima, Peru

I've been traveling so often since I've come to Peru that I haven't had time to write about the city that's my home for the second part of this trip. Lima is a sprawling, chaotic city on the Pacific coast that has taken some time to grow on me. It's certainly not the European city that Buenos Aires is - instead, it provides a more authentic South American feel. Lima has all the things that BsAs has: nightlife, museums, great restaurants and movie theaters, you just have to work a little harder to find them.

Lima is divided into many barrios. San Isidro and Miraflores are considered the nice residential areas, Barranco is a bohemian neighborhood where you can go surfing and hang out on the beach, and el Centro is the colonial center of the city and has beautiful architecture but is unsafe to walk around at night. The outskirts of the city are plagued by shanty towns and poverty that is heartbreaking to see.

I live in a small two story house in San Isidro that's a part of a collection of adjoining houses that were built by the government in the 1950s. The house is painted dark green and has tons of plants in the front, but there's no yard. My room is on the first floor and I have my own bathroom. There's a living room and a small kitchen that everyone shares, and the rest of the family lives on the second floor. San Isidro is a very residential neighborhood, there are tons of parks and trees that line the streets, and there's a Vivanda grocery store 2 blocks away. I'm currently taking Art of Peru, International Trade and Negotiation, and Advanced Spanish Conversation at the Universidad del Pacifico, which is about a 10 minute walk from the house.

My homestay family...

Prior to my arrival, I was handed a sheet of paper with a description of my family. Before I could absorb any important information, my eyes fixated on the section labels "PETS." It read: "Dogs: 3, Other:4." Three dogs was a bit much for my taste, but I thought "Hey, I can handle that." Then I saw the second part. Other:4. The first thought that popped into my head was "You've got to freakin' kidding me." If you're going to list a total of 7 animals that occupy the house that I'm going to live in for 2 months, why the heck would you classify them into dogs and others? For 3 weeks I hyperventilated about what "other" meant. Snakes? Rodents? Spiders? And does this family really need 4 of them? When I arrived at the house I only saw 2 dogs, a cocker spaniel named Ichi and a schnauzer named Chiara (her mom, the 3rd dog, passed away a year ago). I didn't find the "others" until I'd spent 4 excruciating days imagining that things were crawling up my legs. On day 5 I found Matilda the turtle and 2 birds hanging out in cages on the roof of the house. I'm not really sure I translated this correctly from my housemom, but I'm pretty sure one of the dogs recently ate a turtle, knocking the "others" down to a mere 3.

Vicky, my housemom, is about 60 years old, a school teacher, and never been married or had kids. Now for those of you who have seen Billy Madison, do you remember the part where the gardener reads a paragraph in Spanish really fast, Adam Sandler tells him to slow down, and then he reads it at the same incomprehensible speed again? Well, welcome to my life. Seriously, I've stopped asking her to repeat because my brain just hurts afterward. Since Vicky is a verbal speed-demon I usually have to guess at about half of the things she tells me. For that reason, I'm not exactly sure if the missing turtle was eaten by one of the dogs or it ran away, but Chiara barks at me all day so I just picked what seemed like the most logical answer.

Vicky also thinks I am obsessed with bananas. My first week here she bought 4 bananas and 3 strange orange fruits filled with slimy seeds that you are supposed to eat. Obviously, I ate all 4 bananas before I even touched the slimy seed fruit. The next time Vicky went to the store she bought 15 bananas. I'm pretty sure the expression on my face when I saw her with that many bananas was something along the lines of "I am not a monkey!" At least I'll be getting lots of potassium!

Patricia, Vicky's younger sister, and Renzo, Patricia's 28 year old son, live in the house with us. Renzo works from the house as a graphic designer and is quite hysterical. I am frequently awoken to him singing American hiphop songs, Celine Dion, and Britney Spears from the kitchen. He calls me "zanahorita" which means "little carrot" because he thinks all I eat is salad because I don't eat red meat.

Some lovely characteristics of the city...

Playa, playa, playa!!!! The beaches of Lima may not be the beaches of Cancun, but there's ocean and sand and incredible sunsets almost every night! The most famous mall in South America - Larcomar - is actually built into the seaside cliffs in Miraflores.

Pisco sours!!! Peru's national alcoholic beverage. Pisco is a liquor made from grapes. It's usually consumed in a cocktail called pisco sour which is made from lemon or lime juice, pisco, sugar, and an egg white foam topping. They are delicious, but REALLY strong. (Sort of like a Carmentini, when Carmen's making them after she's already had 3).

Some not so lovely characteristics of the city...

The transportation is a dangerous madness of unauthorized taxis and buses breaking every possible traffic regulation (if they even exist in Lima) as they rush around the city trying to find passengers. The taxis - old, poorly maintained cars that sometimes don't even say Taxi - are usually driven by people who have lost their jobs and are trying to make a living. It seems like every other car is a "taxi" which makes it very intimidating and unsafe to take one alone. There are no meters inside the cars so you have to negotiate a price before you get into the cab. Also, the drivers honk at every single person walking on the sidewalks to ask if you need a ride, which just adds to the unpleasantness of the entire taxi experience. The buses (actually just old vans) are just as bad as the taxis. They are all privately owned, which means there is no official bus system or route. The bus-vans cram as many people as they can inside them, and often change their routes so you have to ask where they are going before you get on. It's stressful, and probably my one complaint about Lima, which is unfortunate because a poor transportation system affects almost every other aspect of your life in a city.

This weekend will be my first spent in Lima since I've been in Peru so hopefully I'll have the chance to explore a little more without being overwhelmed by all the crazy drivers!