which I believe was built by the Spaniards shortly after they conquered the area, and this was their capital. After that, we went to el Palacio del Gobierno and watched their changing of the guards.
which they do every day. Apparently, the President of Peru, Alan Garcia, was there, while we were standing there watching, but I couldn't see well enough to be able to pick him out. Then, we went to China Town and ate in a Chifa, which is a restaurant that serves Chinese/Peruvian food. They're all over the city, not just in the 'Barrio Chino,' but we had lunch in a nice restaurant. I had what was pretty much stir fry with tofu and vegetables and then rice. It was really good, but not that much different than what I've had here. I suppose the more popular dishes with meat are the ones that are more specific to the area. But I got to try chicha morada too! It's this purple (morada) drink, kind of like juice, made from purple corn. It's really popular. There's also a dessert made from the same type of corn called mazamorra morada that I haven't tried yet. Well, after lunch at the chifa, we went to el Convento de San Francisco, as in the convent for the Franciscan monks, as in St. Francis of Asisi.. yeah:
This is a very very old building, build in the 1600's I believe. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures inside. But it was soooo very cool to just be inside a building that is so old, it smells old, it's so beautiful. Because things like that just don't really exist in the United States. Apart from that, it was also home to many people who did many terrible things to the indigenous people of the Andes, so...at the same time I didn't really like it. And there were a lot of grotesque pictures of Jesus. Not my fave. But it was pretty neat to see nevertheless. But that's not all! Underneath the building is las catacumbas (catacombs). Really, really amazing, but soooo creepy. Because there were just bones, off to the side, off in little rooms, everywhere. It was very unreal. There are around 25,000 people buried there. But I want to know who had the lovely job of arranging the bones into little lines and stuff. I know, that if I were a Franciscan monk 200, 300 years ago, I would rather die than have to do that...
Well, it was a fun day, we went with almost all of the ISA students and some Peruvian students as well from various schools around the city, so it's nice to be able to get to know them and find out what young people actually do around here. Well, anyway, on Thursday, we went to Barranco, which is kind of like the hippie, bohemian neighborhood with a lot of bars, clubs, etc. It was really fun, we went to this club that had a concert going on, just like a few local bands playing, but they were awesome!!! The two bands that I liked are:
www.myspace.com/elencajeperfecto
www.myspace.com/losturbopotamos
They reminded me of the concerts I went to a lot in high school. So I liked it a lot. Anyway, time for dinner! Hasta pronto!
sounds like your are getting totally acclimated to the Peruvian life style. I had to laugh at your comment about the monks...guess if my bones needed arranging I would want a Franciscan monk to do the honors.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have been following the noticias about the capture. Glad he's out of there.
I checked out the bands; they sounded pretty good...I like turbopotomas.
So I really like your pix...would love to see you and friends in some of them...