Lima

Well, after a near miss I managed to make it to Lima on time. I was greeted at the airport by Jose and Jessie, the brother and sister-in-law of one of the Panama conference participants. It was really nice to have someone meet me there and then help me get to the hostel. After they dropped me off, I showered and then headed out with my new roommate Diana to search for a water bottle to replace the one I accidentally left in Cali. Figures that I arrived in a place where I have to purify water without a bottle that I can use with my SteriPen. I found one in a shopping center overlooking the Pacific Ocean (photo 1). I've been boiling water and not drinking as much as usual since arriving in Lima, but now that I have found a new bottle I am rehydrated!! Of course, I don't actually want to drink so much after learning about Lima's desperate water situation. I didn't realize just how dry this place is, despite the continuous blanket of clouds. All of the water for the city comes from disappearing Andean glaciers, so who knows what is going to happen to the 10 million who live here when they are gone.

I walked around a bit that evening and found myself in Kennedy Park. Not only do they have a bunch of wild cats running around, they have a fantastic little dance floor in an amphitheater (photo 2). It was primarily filled with adorable older couples, and I even found myself wanting to be a viejita dancing with the amor of my life.

The next day I spent the afternoon with Jose, Jessie, and Jessie's brothers who were visiting for the weekend. We first grabbed some lunch near the Plaza de Armas. The chicha that I had with lunch was much better than that which I had tried in a grocery store the night before, the latter was basically flat soda because of the amount of sugar. We walked through the plaza after lunch, where you can see the original cathedral, the presidential palace, and a giant screen upon which they are showing the World Cup games all in one glance (photo 3). I assume that the buildings are brightly colored in order to contrast with the permanently overcast skies.

We were harassed by all sorts of restaurants, vendors, and people offering tour packages. We ended up taking one tour, however, which goes to the top of San Cristobal hill overlooking the city. My new friends are there in the fourth photo. You know that there could not be a hill so prominent without some sort of religious symbol, and sure enough there is a large yellow cross on the top. I also enjoyed looking at the very colorful homes on the way up, and I am very curious about the "modernization" project that is advertised throughout the neighborhood. The view from the top would be amazing with better visibility, but the extent of the city is still very apparent from there.

Then we decided to take a tour of a 16th century Franciscan monastery with catacombs (last photo). There are vendors selling birdseed for the pigeons, who are clearly well fed as evidenced by the birdseed still scattered all over the plaza. Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag. Unfortunately, they would not allow photos to be taken inside. It is a shame, because the design and architecture were quite interesting and beautiful. The catacombs were very strange. Apparently some archaeologists decided to "organize" the bones in there, so they are sorted according to type. There are piles of femurs, tibia, skulls, and so on. In one room there is a design, a pile of skulls in the center with alternating rows of femurs, skulls, humeri, and who knows what else. As we were leaving the monastery, we were surprised to hear not chanting nor hymns, but another very traditional type of music... "Boooorn to be wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild!" We cracked ourselves up joking about how this song is a traditional 16th century hymn, ideal for meditation and communion with the Lord. Yeah, monks! Party like it's 1599!!