Leaving Lima

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October 18th 2008

Published: October 28th 2008

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Stax of Jax

Barranco

My final days in Lima were very enjoyable. I felt like I had learnt a decent amount of language considering the short amount of time, made new friends and had some fantastic experiences.

Barranco

On Saturday I went to visit an older area of town called Barranco. Funnily enough we spent a a fair while driving around Lima the night before trying to find a particular bar so I had already seen a bit of it by car.

Whilst wandering around we met a very friendly builder restoring the back area of the main church, in order to build more tourist restaurants. I was fascinated at the social interaction between total strangers, which I learnt was quite normal. Auri, Luis and the builder spent fifteen minutes sharing stories about where they lived, what they do, and even swapped names and telephone numbers before parting. It´s so lovely to live in a culture that values this and is not running at a million miles an hour.

My final days in Lima were very enjoyable. I felt like I had learnt a decent amount of language considering the short amount of time, made new friends and had some fantastic

Art on a houses exterior fence

experiences.

Peruvian time

By the end of the week I was well aware of “Peruvian time”. 45 minutes late for a party or night out was the standard. Casual conversations with strangers in the middle of the street or whilst sitting in a restaurant was common. I have to say I was really enjoying not having to rush or go to work.

House party

I had been invited to a house party by my new Peruvian friends on Saturday night. Plan was to get there for 10.30 for a parrilla (bbq) and drinks and dancing. Of course I arrived in Peruvian time, ie. 45 minutes late just as others were arriving. It was a great night, lots of fun! Awesome food, really friendly people and salsa lessons from Manuel and Edwardo. I felt quite lucky that I got a chance to see how the locals socialise. Much the same as how we do it in oz or the uk… good food, good wine (or tequila as it ended up) and good friends. What more could you ask for?!

Playa las señoritas

After a couple of hours kip we

Barranco

went out for breakfast, chicharrones (pork sandwiches) at Sarita´s restaurant, about 40kms south of Lima. This place was crazy! We got there about 9.30am and the place was heaving. It´s famous in Lima and as I´m a big fan of pork (and food in general) I was really looking forward to this.

Apparently this place is a bar at night and then turns into a restaurant in the morning, all the locals who´ve been out partying stop in for breakfast on the way home. I could see why it was so popular, the food was delicious. Slow boiled pork that is fried at the very end, served in fresh bread rolls with sweet potatoes and onion/chilli salsa. Mmmmm, rico!

The afternoon was spent at a friends house at a near by beach, Playa las senoritas. It was a gorgeous day and me being hung over and not at my best I forgot my sunglasses and bikini….. doh! However, the hosts were extremely welcoming and hospitable and we spent the afternoon drinking pisco sours, eating delicious parrilla and watching the surfers on the beach. At one point I sat there thinking you could be anywhere in the world…. Sorrento

Birds

The birds are stealing the materials from the roof of the church

beach, Bondi beach, Woolacombe bay, Ibiza… it´s just gorgeous. It wasn´t until you hear the latin salsa music in the background that you remember your actually in Lima… bizarre!

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