Lima and My First Arcabusazo

Lima is not just a stepping stone on the long voyage to Machu Picchu.  For the second time now I have had a ball here, but it has only been possible with the help of two wonderful families.  Knowing people in Lima is immeasurably helpful and you get acquainted with the city in the way in which they interact with it.  However, tourists without Limeñan connections should still factor in at least one full day for getting to know Lima’s historical center. 

Tía Emi and Tío Pedro are family of my great friend Andrew and they agreed to have me in their home again.  The first two days were quite sedentary, but this was the perfect context for learning Spanish and getting to know the typical Peruvian dishes.  I will not give you a full rundown of Peruvian cuisine but I will single out a couple highlights besides ceviche.  Salsa a la huancaína is my favorite flavor so far.  The salsa is very rich and includes yellow ají chili peppers, milk, queso tierno (young), ground peanuts, and huacatay leaf.  It is typically eaten on a cold salad of boiled potatoes, lettuce, and egg quarters.  Despite convention, Tía Emi and Tío Pedro allowed me to put it on various other dishes because it delighted me so much.  The Andean equivalent of the shish kebob is anticucho.  The beef, chicken, and/or vegetables are skewered and then grilled.  My favorite is anticucho de corazon: the surprisingly light beef heart.  For desert we have picarones in honey.  They are the Peruvian equivalent of doughnuts and beignet.  Doughnut in shape, beignet in taste.

One day Tío Pedro and I ambled about four miles together around the Centro Histórico of Lima.  We had a blast visiting the many plazas.  In the Plaza de Armas (the main square) we entered La Basílica Catedral de Lima.  I have repeatedly found that cathedral ceilings "me emocionan / me drogan" (they emotionize and drug me). Equally astounding as the ceiling was the cellar.  Below the floor are catacombs that link to some of the other churches nearby.  Never have I seen so many skulls and femurs.  Also in the Catedral we found Pizarro's remains.  I was not previously apprised of the fact that he was assassinated, but the plaque on the wall told me and the sword gashes in his cranium and vertebrae convinced me.  Near to the Plaza de Armas is the Parque de la Muralla (Park of the Wall).  There lie the vestiges of the old colonial wall that the Spanish built to keep out those naughty trade pirates.  The wall now serves as a lovely strolling place for young couples.

The next day I was booked to go on a bus tour of the city leaving from the Marriot hotel.  The bus never appeared.  There is only one Marriot and I was in the appointed place before, during, and after the agreed upon meeting hour.  Many calls from a payphone ensued. The long and the short of it is that I had extremely good fortune.  That fumble opened up the morning for me to amble about Miraflores, the posh part of town, just as the sun made its first appearance in days.  The view from Miraflores of the Pacific is visually and sensually striking.  You are on the edge of a 200 meter precipice profiting from the high-angle view while the Pacific blast rushes up at you.

The elusive bus came back around in the afternoon and I hopped aboard.  We started with the Huaca Pucllana ruins of the original Limeñan people.  These are completely different from Incan architecture.  These structures were of vertical adobe bricks.  It is o.k. to build with adobe in Lima because rain is scarce.  We then proceeded to the Museo del Banco Central which offered a great understanding of the coastal indigenous peoples of Peru.  The Nazca clothing of feathers interested me most.  Wouldn’t you like a tunic of iridescent plumage?

Our tour bus was split into Spanish and English groups and I went with the Spanish one for the challenge.  I would say I caught 87% of what our guide Rosana told us.  Our group stop in the Plaza de Armas only allowed ten minutes for walking the square.  It is therefore very fortunate that I pushed to enter the Cathedral the day before.  That meant that I could pause and absorb the square’s atmosphere during those few minutes of freedom.  The adjacent Palacio del Gobierno is very extravagant and very armed.  A policeman accosted me when I put my camera lens through the bars.  “Keep camera out and we no have problems,” he declared.

Last on the tour was the Convento de San Francisco.  Besides its beautiful cloister, glazed tiles, and musty catacombs, the Convento features many colonial paintings and murals.  It was there that I saw my first “arcabusazo.”  The arcabusazo, or arquebus, is one of the earliest muzzle-loaded firearms.  Truthfully, I did not see the actual weapon but rather a painting of an "ángel arcabusazo" wearing Spanish garb and holding the inaccurate blunderbuss.

The same elusive bus left me at the same singular Marriot to do a systematic selection of cab and cab-driver for the long ride home to San Miguel.  With my Mother’s anecdote about cab selection in mind and a somewhat level head, I made it home.  Luis the cab driver laughed when I thanked him for the ride and not robbing me.

Now I am staying in my friend Fierro’s house with his mother and brother.  Again, I only know Fierro thanks to Andrew!  Fierro is the youngest of four siblings.  Yesterday we had a family feast composed of his mother, all four siblings, two spouses (spice?), and one child.  As such, another warm family takes an eager gringo in off the street.

The SIT Indigenous Peoples and Globalization program (and health liability etc.) begins tomorrow in the Cuzco airport at 11:00 AM.  Assuming all goes well with the joys of taxis, airports, and documentation, I will land in Cuzco tomorrow at 10:10 AM.  To my peace of mind, however, LAN Airlines proved itself a smooth operation last year when I made a series of flights within Peru.  The plan is to proceed from the airport down to the Urubamba (the Sacred Valley) for a couple days for program orientation and my second venture to Machu Picchu!  The accelerating anticipation tastes like Christmas Eve.