me encanta lima

the friendly ladies at artisan market

only a few hours of walkin around here in peru, lima to be exact , and im already lovin it. just the adventure i wanted/needed... funniest parts so f ar are the trips to the stores and cafes. whenever the personnel would start talkin to me in spanish i give them a fish out of the water look. and a mi espanol is mal.. and they start laughing their brains out wondering why this spanish lookin kid no habla espanol.. of course i end up laughing my brains out at the thought that im just the anomaly that i am.

so far so great. its the different world that i had expected. but not too too different yet coz im still in the city centre so far. its great that i took that spanish class over the summer of else i wouldve been too too lost. and wouldnt even find funny the little spanish that i know... i finally know how to ask how much things are this time though so the lessons have proven to be great so far. also, apparently cafe con leche is cafe cortado. or maybe thats just how the receipt shows it.... really friendly people. although coming from someone who lives in new york that might not be that much. but anyways, just thought id keep all posted of how things are going.

wish you were all here. then again, maybe not. it wouldnt be the exploration and getting lost if all the comforts of home were here. adios. hasta luego.

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man and dog

during the afternoon, i was able to join a tour of lima. it was great. the group i had joined in was quite the diverse bunch--several from all parts of canada, a couple from the UK, an ecuadorean, an argentinian, some from the US, a malaysian, and an aussie. during the time of introductions, it was a bit funny coz i didnt know whether to say that im from the philippines but currently living in new york or to say that im living in new york but originally from the philippines. i went with the first but i think i shouldve gone with the second--what with the general global perception and opinion of the US.

boy infront of building

the group was great. a great reminder of how big this world is and how important it is to meet other people from different parts, even just for an afternoon tour, to get at least a better understanding of other people´s perspectives. even greater was the chance to be toured around the downtown area or old lima as they call it. tons and tons of photos to be taken were all over. mental notes of observations here and there. it was being immersed in a whole new different world. just as i had hoped it to be. it was learning about the world first hand.

church in lima

a few tidbits of observations and information, useless perhaps, but i remembered nonetheless. huaca stands for holy place. aug 30th is the feast day of sta. rosa--first saint of lima and who apparently has a close tie to the phillies too. they got tons of security and police all over town. sign of security or not? there´s 28M peruvians and 9 of those live in lima. quite a gap between rich and poor. lima feels a whole lot like madrid, except somehow i feel more comfortable here. it looks a bit like the philippines too except tons cleaner. oh and it never rains in lima. but they have quite a bit of earthquakes.

town center store

at night, i ended up eating at the restaurant in front of the hotel as recommended by the receptionist. the pollo brasa was great. but the pisco sour was even greater. pisco is a traditional peruvian drink and damn that drink was potent. or maybe its just the bit of jetlag. but excuses aside, pisco sour is definitely a must. it´s august 31st now. early morning here. need to finish this up coz i get picked up in about an hour to get brought to the airport. i fly to cuzco. i cant believe this trip gets even better as im sure it will. que bueno. buenos dias to all. hasta luego.