Parents in Peru!

Sunday, May 3, 2009 11:11 PM
My house in Lima

My parents have finally arrived to Lima! Although the fog also caused their original flight to Lima on Friday night to be cancelled (I really don’t like the fog), I greeted them at the airport when they finally got in late last night (Saturday) and we had a full day of sightseeing in Lima today since they missed their bus for the excursion to the Nazca lines that I planned (I really, really don’t like the fog).

Before my parents arrived…

Friday was a national holiday, like our Labor Day, so we had no classes. I spent most of the day on essays and presentations for classes but danced the night away with some Multisas and our Peruvian friends. Henry, Lucia, and I woke up bright and early again Saturday morning to go to Gamarra, a huge collection of streets overrun by pedestrians and stores with bargain prices from clothes and other items. After filling my once-empty tote bag with purchases and emptying my once-full wallet, we grabbed a menú from a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for four soles (US$1.33) that included a drink, huge bowl of soup, and a main plate pilled with rice, beans, salad, and res de seco (beef with a sauce). Though we were absolutely stuffed, we then had the brilliant idea to take several combis (small bus-vans) to Plaza San Miguel to a huge Metro grocery store to demolish a liter of ice cream, several different bags of cookies, and cake. Hyped on sugar and low on sleep, we excitedly headed back to my house to dance to music in my living room until it was time to pick up my parents! It was great seeing them, although I actually had a hard time thinking and speaking in English at first since I had only spoken Spanish the whole day.

Today (Sunday)

Our first stop on the “Parents in Peru” tour was to the barrio Pueblo Libre to see two fantastic museums on pre-Columbian civilizations. The first was the one (Museo de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia) I had visited previously with my art class so I played tour guide to my parents before we headed to the Museo Antropolgico de Rafeal Herrera, which was incredible. There was a really well-designed main gallery that focused on each of the pre-Columbian cultures and included artifacts such as typical clothing ornaments, pottery, and textiles. I thought it was fascinating how they would gauge their ears to wear decorative earrings that looked big enough to use as spikes in railroad construction. They also wore large nose rings that were so big, they covered the entire mouth and chin.

Also, the museum has woven textiles that hold the world record for the most intricate thread count – so small it’s impossible to create with a needle or loom (they still have no idea how it was woven so finely). One of my favorite parts of the museum was the archives, which housed rooms filled with thousands of ceremonial pottery in pristine condition that depict of all aspects of society at the time. It’s great that so much can be inferred from the pieces. There was also a gallery displaying erotic pottery, either depicting religious sex, the naturalness of sex, warnings against an excess of sex (often with skeleton depictions), or some that were like how-to manuals. As you can imagine, there were some extremely graphic ones.

During the afternoon, we went to Ashley and Caroline’s house for a big parrilla (barbeque) and my parents met all the Multisas while chowing down on some delicious food. From there, we headed to the Centro (city center) and Plaza de Armas, the main historic plaza. We watched some sort of big changing of the guard ceremony at the Palacio del Gobierno (Palace of the Government), or Peru’s White House equivalent, before walking around the rest of the Plaza. We visited the gorgeous Iglesia de San Francisco with its intricate altars and then happened across a special exhibit inside the Palacio del Gobierno on la tomba del Señor de Sipan. Besides seeing more awesome pre-Incan artifacts, it was a neat opportunity to see the inside of the ornate Palacio del Gobierno.

Our last stop of the night was to Las Piletas Mágicas (Magic Fountains), which I had visited previously on the Mirabus city tour. My parents seemed to like the surprise and we discovered a whole other section with even more fountains than I had visited last time. I also ran into my Trade professor – pretty cool to see someone I know in a city of 8 million.

Looking forward to another day with the padres! Coli