Lima Day 1

I am alive. Got into Lima at the crack of dawn, had the task of taking a cab to my couchsurfing host's apartment in Santiago de Surco. Inevitably, I got ripped off, haha. My host Marco specifically told me not to pay more than a certain amount for a cab but of course I almost doubled that somehow! haha. Probably the first of many a screw up, but hey, its gonna happen.

I was dead when I got to my host Marco's apt after two 5 hour flights and a 4 hour layover, and for some reason he woke up at 3am today, so we both crashed for 3 hours. Then we headed out early afternoon for a full day of Lima action and a late almuerzo of ceviche before the cevicheria's closed. (You can't really get ceviche at night).

First we went to a local mercado, a place you wouldn't find without a host. The ceviche was awesome, it came with some purple juice drink called chicha, made from corn, uber delicous! The place had a few types of corn on it, some sort of friend tentacles (who knows...it was good), and a good sauce.

Marco took me around Miraflores & then to the coast. I was suprised at how clean Lima is, not what I was expecting, but I guess I have Mexico City DF in my head. The landscape near the ocean is breathtaking, think of a combo of Rio & ....mountains (or really big hills) coming up right from the ocean.

Two observations:
1) It is friggin humid here! It's like 75-80F, no rain, and sticky.
2) It is an ODD feeling stepping off a plane and being officially in summer.

So, the next highlight of the evening was to go get some anticuchos from this lady who is infamous in Lima and sets up her grill on a corner typically at 7pm every night. Anticuchos are skewered, grilled heart! Holy crap, it was delicious! It was some spicy stuff, so they balance it with choclos, corn on steiroids (to me). Literally, the kernels are twice as big as American corn and I felt like I was eating meat. The line for this place was around the block, they just strolled up with a portable grill and started taking orders.

My spanish is actually halfway decent. The accent here is easier than in Mexico, and they speak slower. However, my host lived in Texas for two years, so of course, we are talking in English, a big help, haha. The people are really friend too. We met at least 4 people waiting in line for the Anticuchos.

Also, the colectivos here are awesome, I love no door on my bus and the driver leaving the second my second foot gets in the door! haha.

The view from the roof of Marco's 3 story apartment building:


View of coast & pacific ocean from Miraflores:


Anticuchos and Choclo with my host Marco:


Ceviche:


They are grilling up the Aticuchos:


Colectivo!



Heading to either Pachacamac (Ruins & Pyramids 30 km from Lima) or downtown Lima. Then, either meeting up with more couchsurfers in the evening or meeting up with some Rotaractors. Huzzah!