lima, peru: que pasa, holmes

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this email will be unorganized and unedited. don´t have much time to write as well as my journalist friend loc. but here are my thoughts.

this will also be long... (sorry augi, but you´re unemployed so you have time to read this).

i´m just going to braindump...

we´re having a great time in peru! i love this country already... so much culture, and the people are very friendly. i´m also practicing my spanish which is pretty fun.

arrived in lima early at 530 am. we were looking for our driver, mr.
sanchez, who was holding a sign that said
"chi y lee" but we didn´t see him at first. he proceeded to walk in front
of us and asked "are you mr. lee and miss. chi?". i asked him how he
knew? he replied, "you look like a chi and a lee". i said, "yea, you
look like a sanchez!" i´m not sure if he appreciated my sarcastic humor.
nevertheless, we were on our way and we did a half day city tour of lima.

lima is a a pretty cool city, but its polluted and shady in some areas.
if you wonder what peru looks like, peru looks just like oakland. (to
quote jamie foxx)
just kidding, but some really parts do!

but the area we stayed in -miraflores- is kind of the sausalito
equivalent of the city: very clean, very nice, upscale.

lima is very diverse. many peruvians look more hispanic, some look
more native incan/andean. on top of that, there are some asians and
african-americans, er african-peruvians as well. so we didnt get as
many looks as we thought. in fact, if i greeted an old man with a
buenos dias, or buenos tardes, they´d often assume i was local or spoke
fluent spanish. then i would respond with a blank stare...then it kicked
in that i was american trash. but people seem to be fond of asians,
although i didn´t want to pledge any allegiance to fujimori! (peru´s
former japanese president who is disliked by many peruvians).

went to the plaza de armas and the catedral, and saw the catacombs. many
bones and skulls well preserved... many bishops and priests are still
kept there... very interesting, and pretty moving. church is beautiful..

went to "lovers park" in miraflores. beautiful area overlooking
the ocean...great restaurants nearby. one couple was competing
for the longest kiss competition they often have there...
don´t worry mom and dad, we didn´t compete.

we went to a local restaurant recommended by someone we met...
it was hilarious.. the owner was singing songs on a daewoo karaoke
machine! i was about to bust out my version of la cucaracha, or better
yet the lords prayer to the melody of eres tu, but i thought it wasn´t
my place to do so.

anyway, we tried a famous peruvian dish called ceviche, which is a mix of raw
and cooked fish, marinated in lemon juice. kind of like lomi salmon,
right justin?? it was pretty good, but damn
these peruvians LOVE pungent flavors!! we also had a famous drink
called the pisco sour which made me cringe like a boy drinking v-8 for
the first time. but hey, its an experience right?

i think one of the most random things that happened was one peruvian
who shouted ¨"ey! you from the states?" i then had a funny conversation
with him

andrew: "yeah, i´m front the states"
hombre: "oh yeah, where?"
andrew: "san francisco"
hombre: "oh shoot! FRISCO?? yo dogg, i used to live in SAN JO!"

hahaha... i knew he was too ghetto to be born and raised in peru. having
lived in san jose for a few years, he picked up the ghettoness. mike
shin, you know this guy?

many people assume we´re japanese. when i explain that our parents are
from korea, they often stare back blankly. then i say "el equipo
de futbol de nuestro pais es muy bueno... recuerda la copa de mundo?"
then they say "ahhhhh...." then they seem to be bitter that our team
is better than theirs. but hey, at least they know what korea is now!

there are tons of chifas everywhere (chinese restaurants). we ate at one
and it was damn good... a mix between chinese and peruvian food.
tortilla mushu y sriracha salsa y duck flautas! jk... nah, it was
pretty similar to chinese food in the states, but it hit the spot for us.

some stands around here are selling bootleg dvds. one was for
"la pasion de cristo" i thought that was kind of wrong... selling
bootleg dvds about christ?? how blasphemous!
does it come with a complimentary indulgence and a microwavable bag of
communion?
anyway, i think i´m going to buy one. don´t worry, i´ll burn a copy
for you too.

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