The overnight bus ride was easy. Only 8 hours. HA. I scoff at 8 hours. They played a movie, I passed out and then woke to the sunrise. The busses are double deckers & smooth. The first floor is first class, the seats reclining into a full bed; the second floor seats recline too, more than sufficient for me. Perúvians apparently don't like the first 2 seats on the bus, the ones with the panoramic view. Ellen says that they're scared. I guess in the event of a head-on collision, you see it coming and are thrown through any of a variety of windows. At any rate, the first 4 seats were unoccupied on our bus, so Miss Aussie crashed on one side, me on the other. Score!
Lima traffic is supposed to be horrendous. I think that's why busses leave at night to arrive in the city prior to rush hour. My cab driver from the bus terminal was really nice. I had to get change for a 50 so I snuck in an ATM which only dispensed 50s. Shucks! So I asked a cop on the street for help. He flagged a money changer & worked it out for me. He was really nice too. I'm staying in a dorm hostel situation again. Flying Dog Backbackers in Miraflores. The girls in my dorm have made a wreck of the room. Curling irons, shoes, books, half-eaten foods, good god, girls are messes! I locked everything I own in a locker so it doesn't get drawn into the tornado of Dorm 4.
I caught the bus into the center of Lima to explore. Plaza San Martin. I'm going to have a Pisco Sour in this famous hotel...don't recall the name. I walked to the Plaza de Armas and got accosted by a group of twenty-somethings. Daniel, Lisset, Jaquie and Christian, they interviewed me for their English class. The topics ranged from cheating and American culture to McDonaldization and our individual hopes and dreams. I had never heard of McDonaldization. Is that new? They mentioned that Americans (it's apparently ok to call us that in Perú) aren't always open to answering their questions. I bet they were sorry they stopped me. I'm such a wallflower. Lisset's tape ran out before we finished our interview. So like any good student, she took notes on the highlights. It was a great afternoon of exchange.
After bidding them adieu, I went to el Convento de San Francisco. It's a monastery, library and catacombs. They have books written in the original Fransican monks hands. The library was astonishing. Segmented rays of sun shone through the dust and musk. Two spiral staircases led to the second floor, walls floor to ceiling of books. Under the church, there are bones of Franciscans, of benefactors, skulls, femurs, tibias, only the thicker bones remain. There is still a Fransiscan monk population in Lima. We could hear them playing soccer in the recreation area of the monastery. They eat in meals silence. While typing this, a girl, probably 20, tried to sell me candy and put the bag right in front of the computer screen. She blocked the view of the screen to distract me and almost made off with my camera. Not so fast, honey.
I saw Lima's Chinatown too. It's the same as NYC just smaller. And a lot fewer Chinese people. I ordered a drink from a vendor on the street. I'm still not sure what it was. There were 2 consistencies, one like water, the other like raw egg, maybe sort of like algae. And it was dark but clear and warm. She poured elixirs from three bottles in the cup then a ladelful of something else from a cauldron. It tasted awful so I'm guessing it was healthy. I closed out the tour of town at the Municipalidad. Lima is lovely, at least the parts I've seen. Taking the bus here is fun too. You hop in a van headed down a specific street but the streets change names every few blocks. I tried to follow the route we took back to Miraflores from the center but could't find any of the streets on the map! I just ask whoever is collecting money to advise me on when to hop off. Works just fine.
Lima traffic is supposed to be horrendous. I think that's why busses leave at night to arrive in the city prior to rush hour. My cab driver from the bus terminal was really nice. I had to get change for a 50 so I snuck in an ATM which only dispensed 50s. Shucks! So I asked a cop on the street for help. He flagged a money changer & worked it out for me. He was really nice too. I'm staying in a dorm hostel situation again. Flying Dog Backbackers in Miraflores. The girls in my dorm have made a wreck of the room. Curling irons, shoes, books, half-eaten foods, good god, girls are messes! I locked everything I own in a locker so it doesn't get drawn into the tornado of Dorm 4.
I caught the bus into the center of Lima to explore. Plaza San Martin. I'm going to have a Pisco Sour in this famous hotel...don't recall the name. I walked to the Plaza de Armas and got accosted by a group of twenty-somethings. Daniel, Lisset, Jaquie and Christian, they interviewed me for their English class. The topics ranged from cheating and American culture to McDonaldization and our individual hopes and dreams. I had never heard of McDonaldization. Is that new? They mentioned that Americans (it's apparently ok to call us that in Perú) aren't always open to answering their questions. I bet they were sorry they stopped me. I'm such a wallflower. Lisset's tape ran out before we finished our interview. So like any good student, she took notes on the highlights. It was a great afternoon of exchange. 
After bidding them adieu, I went to el Convento de San Francisco. It's a monastery, library and catacombs. They have books written in the original Fransican monks hands. The library was astonishing. Segmented rays of sun shone through the dust and musk. Two spiral staircases led to the second floor, walls floor to ceiling of books. Under the church, there are bones of Franciscans, of benefactors, skulls, femurs, tibias, only the thicker bones remain. There is still a Fransiscan monk population in Lima. We could hear them playing soccer in the recreation area of the monastery. They eat in meals silence. While typing this, a girl, probably 20, tried to sell me candy and put the bag right in front of the computer screen. She blocked the view of the screen to distract me and almost made off with my camera. Not so fast, honey. 
I saw Lima's Chinatown too. It's the same as NYC just smaller. And a lot fewer Chinese people. I ordered a drink from a vendor on the street. I'm still not sure what it was. There were 2 consistencies, one like water, the other like raw egg, maybe sort of like algae. And it was dark but clear and warm. She poured elixirs from three bottles in the cup then a ladelful of something else from a cauldron. It tasted awful so I'm guessing it was healthy. I closed out the tour of town at the Municipalidad. Lima is lovely, at least the parts I've seen. Taking the bus here is fun too. You hop in a van headed down a specific street but the streets change names every few blocks. I tried to follow the route we took back to Miraflores from the center but could't find any of the streets on the map! I just ask whoever is collecting money to advise me on when to hop off. Works just fine.
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