Work was busier today, which made the day go fast again. I went for lunch with one
of the women (Giovanni) and one of the men from the office. We went to a Chinese-Peruvian restaurant. I’ve been told there are a lot of these restaurants around Lima. At some point in time, many Chinese moved to Lima and started combining Chinese food and Peruvian food – hence today there are many Chinese-Peruvian restaurants. The food was very good – fried rice and a sweet and sour stir fry. I also had ‘Inca Kola’ – a soda drink that tastes very similar to Cream Soda pop, but is a fluorescent and radiant yellow.
Many people have advised me to be very careful of what I eat and drink, as foreigners often get very sick from the water here. Locals do as well, but not as often and not as badly, since their bodies and systems are used to the water quality. I avoid ice cubes, freshly washed uncooked food (like fresh veggies), and anything that could have bugs and hasn’t been cooked or boiled. I hate being sick in foreign countries – it leads straight to homesickness.
After work, the driver brought me back to the apartment. As it was already 7pm, and I wanted to go for a walk around Miraflores, I quickly changed and headed back out. I walked along the beach wall to a large open park area. It's warm and humid out, and I didn't need a jacket - I could have worn shorts, but I don't have any. Along the wall, every 30 or 50 feet, was a couple - generally kissing. It seems to be a popular place for a date. At the park, I turned up a main road and started looking for somewhere to eat. There were a lot of people walking, and a lot of traffic. Traffic in Lima seems much more stressful than in Vancouver, although the drivers seem very laid back. Changing lanes is more of a forced merge than anything else, horns are honking, and people are walking between the cars and across the road. Along the sidewalk are small street vendor carts, with chips and chocolate and drinks. The area I am in has several nice hotels and a couple casinos, so I expect they're used to having tourists. I found a small restaurant called "Mamma Olla's", and decided to try it. I ordered fresh strawberry juice without ice, and 'ceviche' - a South American seafood dish that originated in Peru.
It was delicious. Ceviche is fresh seafood with a citrusy spicy sauce. I didn't eat the mushrooms, as they were uncooked and I wasn't sure how safe it would be. But then again, it was all covered in sauce, so perhaps the sauce would transfer any bugs to the whole dish. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed my ceviche. There was some kind of fish, octopus, squid, and prawns. There was cooked yam on the side, as well as some white corn.
After dinner, I kept walking down the main road until I hit Kennedy Park. I'm not sure what I expected to find on my walk, but I didn't find it. I think I was expecting to see some less modern places, but the stores were similar to what you would find anywhere in North America. There were a few stores for 'artisans' which had some different things, and some beautiful jewelry. But there was also a McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Payless shoes. Speaking of shoes, there were tons of shoes! I found a small shopping mall with several dress stores upstairs - packed with dresses of all kinds, and several shoe stores downstairs - the walls were lined with shoes, everywhere you turned. Most of them were fairly cheap, from $8 - $15 Canadian. I was tempted to look through the dresses and shoes, as well as buy some things from the artisan shop, but as it's my second day here, I decided not to.
As it got later and darker, the streets started to seem less crowded, so I started back. When I reached the park area near the apartment, I walked to the edge of the wall and found an entire shopping and food center just below. By cutting up through the park, I hadn't even noticed it on my way out. There were restaurants and shops galore. Tomorrow, that's my exploring destination. I will also try to take more pictures tomorrow - it was almost dark by time I went out today, and I don't think the pictures would have worked too well. And - I'll admit it - I didn't want to look like too much of a tourist, snapping photos of everything with a flash blinking.
When I got back to the apartment, Doris was home. We chatted about work a bit, and she informed me that I was crazy to eat ceviche because it is raw seafood and has more potential for bugs. Oops. Oh well, as ceviche is (I think) Peru's best known dish, I had to try it sometime or another. Let's hope I don't get sick. Now I'm ready to study some Spanish before bed. The best way to learn a language is to be immersed in it, and as I am immersed in Spanish, I might as well learn!
Buenas Noches...
No comments:
Post a Comment