Adventures in Wanderlust: Lima

My travels began in Lima, the capitol city on the coast of Peru. The climate is cool, cloudy, and humid for six months out of the year- think Seattle in the fall or spring. It is kind of like living in a cloud- foggy and misty, especially in the afternoon.

Despite the chilly winter weather, Lima is a beautiful city. Miraflores, the district where I stayed, is very green and has some amazing Spanish architecture. And the city is huge! Almost 9 million people and counting. This is apparent by the sound of Lima, which is non-stop honking and car alarms (I have officially memorized the eight-part car alarm that is so common here).

Speaking of traffic- drivers here are absolutely insane. There are many four-way stops on busy roads, minus the stop signs. Drivers constantly play a game of chicken with each other. Add pedestrians into the mix and it becomes quite a site.

The smell of Lima is car exhaust mixed with the most delicious roasted chicken you have ever smelled, with just a hint of the ocean. Strange, but true.

I went on a tour of the historic district of Lima two times- the first during the day with my hostel, and the second at night with Juan Carlos, a very cool guy I met through my friend Brenna. We drank pisco sours in the oldest hotel in Lima, and walked through beautiful churches built in the 1600s that were lit up for Sunday evening mass.

I met some cool people at my hostel, and we went salsa dancing in Barranco after drinking copious amounts of cerveza. I also met several local Couchsurfers, who gave me endless amounts of information about Peru (muchas gracias Eduardo, Oscar y Enzo!). On my last night in Lima I met a girl via a couchsurfer who lives in Denver, was an AmeriCorps VISTA, and once lived in Asheville- so ironic! We even know some of the same people. Another sign that I am on the right track...

I also met a girl randomly in Parque del Amor who is from San Fransisco originally, but now lives in Santiago, Chile by herself. We went to a cafe and had a great talk about what it means to be an independent woman. I told her that one of the reasons that I am doing this trip alone is to get away from being dependent on other people and things. I have been thinking about this a lot lately...

I am leaving out a lot, but I am tired. I will try to write as things are happening as opposed to after the fact from now on. Adios!