Looking back to last week, I´m not sure what exactly I was thinking to come to Peru and assume Lima would be just another large city.  Eight million inhabitants didn´t quite register to me as a lot, and I´ll admit a bit of hubris in thinking that after dealing with the big cities of Asia, I underestimated what would be here.  I also overestimated the amount of interest that the city would have.  In the end, I suppose I left myself too much time here.  The flipside though is the chance to get over the cold that had suddenly come upon me before leaving Vancouver.  With a constant infusion of water and fresh tropical fruits, this much has been accomplished.

Arrival was no great feat, and the biggest issue was the plague of being tired from arriving into town at 6.30 in the morning….with no place to lay my head save for the unoccupied TV room at the hostel which I promptly took advantage of.  It may be a sign that some of my younger days are passing behind me as the thought of sharing rooms with strangers in dorms and a crowd emphasizing alcohol consumption only fills me with trepidation.  I look forward to leaving most of that behind.  It also came to roost in my mind that for what traveling I´ve done, I really haven´t done any in Latin America.  There are a lot of things I don´t know, a lot of small functions like asking for the check or asking directions, which were once so familiar and normal in China.  Here I am learning them again, trying to build up that easy confidence and it is a bit of a shock though probably a good one for my system!  Even the relatively simple tasks like bartering, taking local transportation, and knowing what my options for a cheap and non-diarrhetic meal I get to learn again.

The upshot is that Spanish is relatively easy, at least in comparison to non-European languages that don´t use the alphabet.  My studies have been of some use and indeed at the Museo de la Nacion (which you probably just translated unawares) I was able to capture the gist of most displays.  The same is true of menus, though the ingestion factor ups the ante on my getting details correct.  To this end, I´ve enlisted a pocket notebook that brings out my best inner and now outer geek tendencies and have already filled a page and a half with vocabulary that I see either frequently or think may be of use.  The list is mostly dominated by food items.  These successes have also been accompanied by missteps, the most glaring occurring the other day when I needed to talk to the hostel about switching rooms.  Being ambitious to use Spanish, the woman at the counter asked me ¨cual es tu nombre?¨to which I replied quince.  No, apparently, and after a good laugh she switched to English.  Numero and nombre are very different.  In my defense, I was still quite sleepy.

Lima, for being apparently half consumed by slums or what we planners prefer to label as “informal housing”, has some areas of charm to recommend it.  Miraflores, the upscale district my hostel is in, is pleasant to walk through for the most park and its centerpiece park is alive and active at all hours.  The central area boasts more character and was the site of my only, so far, attempt by a wily local to hook me up with a tattoo, pot, cocaine, or a hooker.  Oh sir, if you had seen me fight off beggar children in Shenzhen you´d know that I´m a heartless mark.  The cathedrals there are impressive however and the fact that you can explore the crypts make an interesting if something ghastly exercise in tourism.  The general charm of the architecture and the human scale of the area is also a nice break from the domination that vehicles seem to have in other areas.  Sunday morning was an exception, with major thoroughfares shut down to allow cyclists, rollerbladers, and others without motors the run of the roads in a very lively and enjoyable way that was fun to see even as a mere spectator.

For me, the highlight thus far though was Huaca Pucllano, an 1800 year old or so set of ruins within walking distance of the hostel.  Its the first and only encounter yet with the ancient history of this land and was the first point where I really felt excited.  Sandy old ruins do that to me.  Bearing that in mind, the next step, after what is sure to be an enjoyable night bus ride, is Huaraz and the ruins nearby.  Chief among these is Chavin de Huantar, and I´m growing anxious to leave the city behind and see the Andes, the countryside, the campesinos, and the ruins.