Full Day 1...

I quite possibly might be the most tired I have ever been...but in a good way. Lima, Peru...population...9 million. Population of Peru...29 million. That means around one third of Peru's popluation lives in Lima. Although there are much more people walking around the streets of Lima than the streets of Elon, I thought there were going to be many more Peruvians walking around the streets than we saw today. However, Don Ernesto, our professor, told us that the city of Lima goes on for miles and miles, hence why I can't get a clear picture of it yet. Now I'm not saying this city doesn't feel like a city with people walking, cars honking, and street vendors on every corner...because it is the epitome of a city, but with much more history and culture than any American could have thought possible.

Instead of Raul taking us around the city today, we had a friend of his, Shayla, a native of Lima, show us around the city. She knew everything anyone would want to know about the city. They say Lima is combined of 3 different cultures: Incan, Catholic, and Moorish.  We visited St. Francis Monastery which is open to the public and also still used by monks. Besides the Moorish architecture, the most thought provoking part of our tour were the catacombs. I was too tall to fit through most of the passage ways so I was slighty hunchback for most of our time under the church. There were thousands of bones and skulls of all sorts just piled on top of each other....it was a sight to see.

We then watched the changing of the guards in front of the "Palacio de gobierno," where the President of Peru lives. While watching, we were sitting in the Plaza de Armas/Plaza Mayor which is the city center of Peru. It has a beautiful fountain in the middle with yellow buildings and the rather large Palacio de gobierno surrounding. We then went to lunch at "Los Escribanos," for our first real Peruvian meal. We first had "Chicha morada," which is a special drink of Peru made out of purple corn. It somewhat resembles grape juice but not quite. No food that I've tasted in peru is quite like anything in the States. We then had our appetizers( mine was potatoes with peppers in the middle), our main dish( Bex and I got a dish with beef, onions, peppers, and french fries all mixed together) and desert( the most delicious vanilla ice cream you've ever tasted). This is the way every meal is...which is convenient for Bex and I who are constantly hungry. They say for lunch in Peru, if there is no rice, potatoes, or noodles, then it is not lunch. We then went to El Museo Larco which contains artifacts from pre-Incan civilations...pretty cool.

Now Bex and I are back in the hotel for a short break before we go see "Circuito Magico del Agua," which is a fountains display in the Parque de la Reserva and attend our "Welcome to Peru" dinner. Supposedly there's dancing involved in our dinner. I'm going to see if I can pull a few strings and get Bexy up on stage :-)

Hasta Luego! Mucho Amor a todos( Much love to all)