Slow start as I started reading my assigned book in Parque Kennedy, a cute park nearby full of kids, tourists, food vendors and trees. At 11:45 we met at El Sol for a graduation ceremony, or rather what we were told would be a graduation ceremony. Instead we were handed our certificates at around 12:20 (Peru Time of course) and then found ourselves ambushed with an hour and a half lecture on the Political Economy of Peru.
 |
| Parque Kennedy |
Of course this unexpected lecture turned out to be absolutely fabulous. The speaker, Alan from Canada, talked about recent Peruvian history from the '60s, covering presidents and a generalized economic overview. At the end we learned a bit more about the upcoming Presidential race (elections tomorrow!) which really helped to clear up many of the questions I haven't been able to formulate in Spanish.
Next we returned to Plaza de Armas in hopes of exploring more than the last time we were there. for lunch we grabbed a cheap S./8 (~$3) meal at a cute restaurant with a terrace overlooking the plaza. After one of the most delicious meals of the trip, a simple rice with fried egg and fried plantains with a salad to start with, we walked in the general direction of Chinatown to check out the main market. On the way we found a bakery reminiscent of Mike's Bakery in Boston. As the others were hankering for something sweet we stopped and despite my bulging stomach I shared a Dulce de Leche filled pastry cone covered in chocolate with Amy. Tasty but did not compare to the Tres Leches cake that Tara ordered and let me try.
After a few blocks we found a bustling Chinatown (Barrio Chino) easily recognizable by the formidable red gate. This Chinatown was particularly busy with barely space to walk through, but held the usual amendments common throughout the US. Bakeries sold bao and some other recognizable desserts along with some notably more Latin American desserts. Carts sold noodles and arroz chifa and roasted ducks, chickens and pork hung in windows. Evidently the Festival of Balloons was going on and we also saw some oddly dressed drummers parading through the streets.
We ran back home to get ready for dinner and ended up catching a cab back to Miraflores. The cab turned out to be run on Natural Gas (!!) which I learned when we pulled over to fill up. The 3 of us were told to get out of the car, and after a bit of pondering why the heck they were putting air into the hood I realized it was natural gas. At dinner I learned that the other 2 had been as nervous as I was as to why we were getting out of the car (not in the best neighborhood at the time), but it must just be a safety precaution.
For dinner we went to one of the nicest restaurants in the city: La Rosa Náutica (http://www.larosanautica.com/rn_quienes.html). There I finally tried ceviche, had fish with veggies and flan for dessert. Ceviche was very good but I definitely prefer the fish version to calamari/octopus version. We also had some great cheesy scallops and mussels.
 |
| Appetizer: Cheesy mussels/scallops, fried calamari, fish ceviche, octopus/shrimp ceviche. Even the parsley was good! (Yes we tried it) |
 |
| Fish with potatoes, green beans and carrots. Dry fish but veggies were amazing! |
Packing now! Cuzco tomorrow!
Lessons Learned:
- 50% of those involved with the Shining Path Maoist movement here in the '80s were women
- There was a terrorist bombing on the pathway we walk to school in the '90s
- 2/5 Presidential candidates in the primary race had run before. The current president was president before from 1985-1990. Cyclical political process?
No comments:
Post a Comment