Lima Recap

I spent 3 amazing days in Lima. Despite what almost all travel books and other travelers say, I loved Lima and look forward to going back in about 3 weeks. The weather was perfect, the beaches are beautiful and seem to go on forever, the food is, well rated in the top of the world for good reason. And the people are amazingly helpful and friendly.

I had just come back to my hostal from breakfast and this well-dressed lady came up to me and asked if my beard would grow a little bit more. Not sure what her angle was, I cautiously answered yes. She exclaimed, ¨Perfecto!¨ She was a film director and wanted me in her next commercial for Peruvian cell phones. Thoughts of stardom and celebrity status quickly vanished when I realized I was leaving the next morning for Cuzco. I guess Lima just wasn´t ready for me to be a celebrity.

That morning I hailed a cab and headed for El Centro, the historic main square of Lima. WOW!!!! Beautiful! I went through the Cathedral which is spectacular to the max. I also took a tour of the Church of San Francisco, which has catacombs underneath it. For 200 years, everyone who died in Lima was buried there. What an eerie place, but definitely worth the visit.

After that I was sitting on a bench and a middle aged Peruvian man sat down beside me and started speaking fairly good English to me. He wanted to improve his English for job prospects and in return would teach me Spanish while he showed me the highlights of his city. Sounded like a good deal to me. We saw many neat non-touristy places, including Chinatown, even though I didn´t see any Chinese people there. After about 2 hours of practicing language and learning about Lima, we went for a snack and a refreshment. He sat next to me and put his hand on mine. I looked up immediately and he said it´s Peruvian custom. I read Peruvians don´t have the same sense of space that we do, but I never read about this custom. He was telling me about his family, when out of the blue he tried to kiss me in the restaurant. He again tried to tell me it´s a Peruvian custom, but I didn´t buy it this time.

I returned to Miraflores and saw some people I met earlier. We went out and met some Peruvian girls who took us dancing. Nothing like dancing with Latinas to make me feel reaaallly humble about my dancing! Whether it´s attempting to speak Spanish, or dance Salsa, or try their food and drinks, Peruvians are excited and happy that we just make the effort. And what better way to learn a new culture than to just go ahead and try.