Segunda dia en Lima. Hoy iba a Lima Centro y oficina de WUSC (llamo SUMC en Peru) en la distrito de San Luis. Observe la Plaza San Martin, Calle Capon, Hotel Bolivar y que crei es la Plaza de Armas pero ahora, no creo este estuvo la Plaza de Armas.
Anyway...that is that. In English that translated to "Second day in Lima. Today I went to Lima Centro and the WUSC office (called SUMC in Peru) in the district of San Luis. I looked at the Plaza San Martin, Chinatown, Hotel Bolivar and what I thought was the Plaza of Arms but now I don't believe that it was. So yes, in a nutshell that was what I did today.
Juan, from SUMC, came this morning to accompany me to the SUMC office in San Luis. We walked to the district Lince and took a 'combi' (small, privately owned buses) to San Luis. It was a little confusing, I asked Juan where the bus stops were but I guess there aren't really many. It is more like...the corner of the street is the bus stop. The bus pulled to a stop, a person jumped out of the side sliding door and was yelling out street names and holding a sign. We boarded and Juan told the operator where we were off. So usually in Canada I am a backseat driver and I shoulder check for people and grip the seats when I get scared with somebody's driving. To put it politely, I think that upon my return to Canada, driving with other people will be really relaxing. As it is, in Lima it appears as if car lanes don't really exist, or at least people don't know or don't care that they exist. The cars have the right of way and if a car wants in your lane, or to turn left when they really aren't supposed to, they will. More stories to come later with my taxi adventure.
In San Luis, we passed through a busy corridor into quite residential where the SUMC office is. I met the members of the Peru division of WUSC/SUMC, the names I remember were Juany Leon and Ted Swanson. A lot of the problem I have with meeting people here is that I can't catch their names because I do not recognize a lot of Spanish names. Juan and Ted had a conversation about internal office things, and I tried to keep up with understanding them. Ted's Spanish was slightly easier to understand because he spoke slower, but still not easy for me. I realized today that I have more of a problem listening to Spanish than I do speaking it. Even though I probably sound like an idiot when I speak, I am still able to make myself understood though I am not able to understand other people. Aaargh. With time I suppose, with time.
Following the visit to the SUMC office, Juan was nice enough to take me to Lima Centro. We went via taxi, and taking the expressway was a much more relaxing experience than taking inner-city roads. It was interesting entering Lima Centro, most of it is this beautiful Colonial architecture but the first building you see arriving from the expressway is the Modern, brutalist Sheraton Hotel. It was strange for me to see a Sheraton hotel in such a stark building. But, concrete was the hey day.
We stopped at the Plaza San Martin and Hotel Bolivar:
Plaza San Martin
Hotel Bolivar
Colonial Architecture>
From there we walked to Calle Capon, which is the Chinatown here Lima. This Chinatown is apparently one of the first Chinatowns that was developed in the Southern Hemisphere of the world. Or maybe of just South America, I am not really sure, I didn't pay that much attention to the Wikipedia article.
Juan and I ate at a 'Chifa' (the ubiquitous Peruvian-Chinese restaurant...no really, they really are everywhere). At the Chifa I had fried rice, which I learned in Spanish is Arroz chaufa and vegetables covered in hoisen sauce and fried wontons. It really wasn't that much different from the kind of North American Chinese food I have had in Canada, though I couldn't really tell which was better quality. I also tried a Peruvian pop, which was okay - it sort of had the taste of anise but not really, but I also don't like pop in general so I didn't enjoy it too much.
Este es Juan!
My wontons...they didn't have much fill in them, mostly fried pasty
Inca Cola...in sketchy fluorescent yellow! Although black Coca Cola probably isn't normal either.
Afterwards, Juan and I just walked around a bit and I saw the Congress building and the Museum of Torture (which had free entry, unfortunately I didn't make it to the Museum of Anthropology today, but I'm not too worried I have 3 months to see if and I hopefully by then I will know the city a little better and know the buses).
La calle
Lugar de Congress
Museum of Torture. Check out the detail on the ceiling!
Blurry...I know. I have a shaky hand.
Haha. I took this one for Abby whose last name is Paredes. Don't paint on the walls!! Don't paint on Abby!
A crappy photo I took of the etchings on the wall made from former prisoners. They were deep! Grisly...
Old torture devices...
And...it all opens up to this beautiful courtyard!
Afterwards, Juan attempted again to teach me how to take the bus back to San Isidro. From Avenida Javier Prado Oueste, I have no problem getting home. The problem is getting to that road. Anyway, I attempted to find Plaza de Armas, which I thought I did but then I did a quick image google when I got home and I realized that I just saw a slightly (but not really upon closer inspection) building that interpreted as Plaza de Armas. I am very impressed by the streets made beautiful by the surrounding architecture. I think the space could be utilized a lot better, for example with more cafes that open to the outdoors for more "observation of the social ballet" (planner in me coming out, I can't help it). But they are beautiful nonetheless.
I like this contrast of old and new
Upon my walking I noticed that there were not too many tourists, I saw some but not as many as I am used for such a beautiful area. But, as Juan says, it was a Monday afternoon and maybe more tourists will pop out in the latter part of the week. It was interesting to see so many darkened shops in the buildings. A lot of them didn't have electricity but to me, it still appeared uninviting but I tried not to let it bother me and eventually I went into a store and got an Apple Gatorade. I would have preferred to try something else, but at that time I was so ridiculously thirsty and the local Peruvian brand name drinks were so tiny compared to the Gatorade. No matter, I will try stuff along the way as time goes by. I didn't mange to find the Plaza de Armas and my feet started to hurt from blisters and from walking all day so I decided to walk back to Avenida Arancay and take a bus home.
Here is where I ran into problems. Avenida Arancay is ridiculously busy, there are people walking about and selling things all over and cars everywhere!! I am surprised that I have not seen a person get hit yet! So...I stood at one corner of the street, looking for a bus that had Javier Prado written on the side or listening for one of the operators to shout it out, or hold out a sign. Nada. I asked a person after which bus goes to Javier Prado and he pointed me out to a blue bus and told me to cross the street and go get it. So...I crossed to the other corner, almost getting hit along the short way, and then attempted to ask again. Nobody knew, or I didn't properly understand. I didn't see any buses stopping for passengers anyway, and I didn't know how to make them stop. In retrospect, I guess flagging them down like you would a taxi might have worked.
So I walked to a more quiet street and flagged down a taxi. The smallest taxi I have ever seen, or been in...well really, just the smallest car. The seatbelt...sort of worked? I won't lie I was a little worried for my safety in the taxi...this taxi driver drove like a maniac and I was just gripping my bag in the backseat...in awe that he has not gotten in an accident yet. I think again, my Spanish wasn't write. When I agreed on the price before getting in, I heard "dos" when I asked how much, which didn't seem right to me because it costs ~1.20 sols to take the bus to San Isidro, I couldn't imagine that a taxi would only be slightly more expensive. Then the taxi driver help up 7 fingers, which I interpreted as 7 sols, but 'dos' and 'siete' sound very different, and even though my speaking and listening skills in Spanish aren't that great, I can still tell the difference between numbers. When I got to my place, I gave the driver 10 sols and he was fine with that...maybe he had said "diez" all along. Juan told me that a ride from Lima Centro to San Isidro should cost no more than 10 sols so I guess I didn't get ripped off, but I also don't think I got the best price. In any case, I don't really care. I understand that as a foreigner, I will be 'ripped off' often, but in my mind I don't really see it as being ripped off. Unless somebody is ripping me off of ridiculous amounts of money, then I don't really take it to heart. After all, coming from a very privileged life, it would be unfair of me to make a big beef out of paying a few extra dollars to somebody who might need it more than me (this is respect to just things in general, street markets, taxis, etc).
Got home, practiced some yoga in the garden of Margarita's (my landlord) house.
The piano! Which I tried to play this morning.
The garden.
Living room
It was difficult to be at peace during my practice as somebody was setting off what sounded like firecrackers (or gunshots but I don't think so in this neighbourhood) every 5 minutes or so. Afterwards I ate some dinner that the cook in the house prepared and put on a plate with my name on it (spelt 'Rene', as most people spell it anywhere around the world it seems. Although 'Rene' is better than 'Renne'. I never understand where people get 'Renne' from). The dinner was mostly delicious, although one part I didn't enjoy so much. I had initially thought it was plain white rice, but it was prepared in a way that was so much more savoury and tasty. The chicken was delicious! Maybe it's just been a long time, but I haven't had such a flavourful chicken in so long! The last part of the dinner was a like a sweet, yellow pudding/paste. If I was asking and translating correctly, it is made of a root vegetable specific to Peru. I think it must have been mixed with a bit of milk because it had a similar taste to the Peruvian milk here (which is slightly sweet and I am not a fan. But I am not really a fan of milk in general. It reminded me slightly of the milk in Japan which had a similar consistency but I can't remember the taste. I drank the milk anyway the other day, just like I ate the rest of this yellow pudding/paste). It looked something like this
Afterwards...shower, then talking to some people online and blogging! Meanwhile watching some TV (to think, the first time I've ever had a TV in my room and the first time I've actually had access to a TV regularly in 2 years is in Lima. Strange.). Still on watching English programs with subtitles but with all the talking and blogging, I don't really pay too much attention to the screen. But I am hopeful with interacting with people in Spanish everyday, I'll improve quickly. With hope, with hope.
Anyway...it is late and even though I don't have any plans tomorrow, I am getting quite tired. Until later my dear readers!!
Saludos,
Renee
1 comment:
You have a piano! Yay!!
Thanks for these long notes- I'm delighted to read about your adventures! Take care :)
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