Touring Downtown Lima

Ok, so today we went on a tour of Downtown Lima.  First we went to the Plaza Mayor:

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!

desCRIPtions of photos.

they really don't make it easy to post pictures, unfortunately. the first one is this huge statue in this nice park, in a neighborhood called Miraflores.  (I live in Jesus Maria..hm). Also, in the background, someone is doing 'parapente', which is either hang gliding or something similar? hah i don't know the word in english. but around the statue is a long tiled wall with designs and famous lines from poems. some of the are in spanish and a few are in quechua, the language of the Incas that is still used in some parts today.

the next is a fountain in the huge park that has several different fountains.  then they have this fountain/laser/light show at night. it's really cool, and fun to take pix (I have a few more) but a little touristy.  they played american music at certain points. there are some interactive fountains as well, but you can get wet and it was cold anyway.

next is a really big shopping center called Larcomar. it's really nice and upscale, but very americanized.  i didn't buy anything there. there are a lot of really cool shops around miraflores, on the main streets, to me it's just like a Latin New York.  It's really beautiful. We're going to go back there later to do some shopping.

and finally is the coast. very pretty.

Photos of the city

Photos of my room

Ok so first is the doorknob...because who would have thought that the doorknobs are different? Second is my bed, mi cama, it's really comfortable. The mattress and pillow are like memory foam i think. Next is my desk with some creepy santa clause like thing on top...I try not to look at it. And then my closet.  Yeah well it's nice! I like it! Tomorrow we are going to take a tour on a double decker bus through downtown Lima so I will take lots of pictures then! I promise!

I'm here!

Yes I am in fact here in Lima, Peru.  We arrived around 12:30 last night... very long flight.  My family is very nice and welcoming.  I've met most of the group and all are very nice and my roommate is as well.  I do have my own room though! The neighborhood is very beautiful, lots of old brightly colored buildings.  The University of the Pacific is also very nice and has a lot of great amenities and such.  And I have wi-fi in the house so I can use my laptop! I haven't taken any pictures yet but I will soon I hope.

Hola

Hi!  I created this blog to keep everyone updated on my trip to Peru while I'm there.  I'll try to post as often as possible what I did, discovered, ate, etc. hopefully with lots of pictures!  


I leave in about a week!  Excited and nervous, of course.