Weeks Eight & Nine: Lima

So, it’s been another two weeks since I last wrote on my blog and I attribute the growing infrequency of my posts to the fact that my days and weeks have had an increasing sense of routine to them. That’s not to say that I’m bored here, but rather that I’m finding fewer and fewer things that stand out.

This past week I endured a long bus journey (26-hours each way) to Lima to write a number of tests for some jobs that I’m in the process of applying for. The ride to Lima was made even longer by some drama that woke me up at one o’clock in the morning. First, I felt the bus swerve quickly to the left, then reel to the right before it struck something on its right side and then straightened out. It turns out that we were driving through a narrow mountain pass when a drunken pedestrian decided to wander out onto the road. Although it could have been much worse, we ended up just swiping the man and losing our right mirror. Anyways, we picked up the man, dropped him off with some policemen that were down the road and from what I could tell he should be okay.

The remainder of the bus ride, fortunately, was much less eventful. I passed the time watching the bad movies that were provided, such as Kill Switch, featuring Steven Seagal, Retrograde, featuring Dolph Lundgren and Home Alone 3, which did not feature Macaulay Culkin. I also ended up meeting a very friendly Argentine named José, who was heading to Peru to find work as a chef for a few months.

Lima seemed to be a nice city, although I wasn’t even able to see a fraction of it. I mainly stayed in the area called Miraflores and spent my time walking around and trying the local cuisine. I didn’t know this before my trip, but Peru is known for having some of the best food in all of South America. Due to its location of the coast of the Pacific Ocean, many dishes in Lima include seafood and compared to Bolivia, the food is considerably spicier.

I ended up spending Halloween with José, another Argentine named Andre, a girl from Spain named Lola and a girl from Switzerland. For everyone but myself, it was their first Halloween and, despite being hesitant at first, I think they all enjoyed the idea in the end. We started off by going to some local celebrations of Peruvian music, before heading back to our hostel where there was a Halloween party.

The next day I packed my bags and set off for the bus terminal. While waiting for the bus to leave, I experienced my first earthquake! Although it only registered as a 4.5 on the Richter scale, it was still a very unique experience. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to feel the 7.9 earthquake that hit the country just over a year ago.

For your viewing pleasure, I have attached a picture from inside one of the micro-buses that I take to work and a picture of some dogs hanging out at the side of the road. I call the dog photo “I think she might be in heat.”

***Interesting Fact: The eastern slope of the Andes is the single-most biologically diverse area in the world***