Lima, Peru

I'm back from Peru, and still can't believe it. It was an amazing experience. Phenomenal. Life-changing, and all those other adjectives that are over-used and have since lost their magnitude and which I will be employing nonetheless because in this case they happen to hold true. I feel like I have yet to process everything that took place. I've been back a few days, and still haven't quite adjusted to life back in Buenos Aires. After 7 days of waking up at 4:30, trekking up historic mountain sites all day, crashing in bed at 11, and getting up the next day to do it all over again, it's taking a bit to get back in the swing of city life.

In the next few days I'm going to try to recap the trip in bits and pieces. With many pictures, of course, because I know many of you see more than 50 words in a row and skip right over the post. Yes, I know who you are. Yes, I love you in spite of it. ;)

Our first day was in Lima, the capital city. We arrived at 7:30 am, and went right to work. After dropping off our things at the hotel, we started our exploration of our surroundings. We immediately came upon a street fair, full of color, life, and vendors. Never a moment without vendors.After lunch we began our official city tour, with guides and international tourists included. Our first stop was the Museum of Huallamarca, where we saw ruins, human remains (yes, really), and tools of the time. Here's me atop what are now known to be tombs used for the tribe chiefs.

Later in the day we went to the Lima Cathedral. Beneath the San Francisco Convent right next-door, we went into the catacombs, which house the bones of thousands and thousands of people. A bit shocking at first, especially when you consider the confined spaces we found ourselves in. But fascinating nonetheless.One unexpected surprise was the Parque del Amor, a park on the cliffs overlooking the ocean devoted to romance. The poet Antonio Cilloniz had lamented that "In the cities, they do not build monuments to lovers," a reaction, no doubt, to all the monuments in South America (and everywhere else) devoted to those who had distinguished themselves in battle by either winning or dying. The city of Miraflores decided to prove the exception and built the Parque del Amor, which features a prominent statue of two lovers in a passionate embrace over Cilloniz's words. (Can you imagine such a monument in the U.S.?)