Lima
Centro de Lima
Saturday September 12, 2009- My 6am flight to Fort Lauderdale was over in a blink of an eye. I would spend the next four hours awaiting my departure to Lima, thinking only about what the next few days, weeks and months would be. Inside I was feeling impatient, just wanted get the party started!
I was to arrive in Lima at 7.30pm. Yeah, I was a little nervous. The first thing you worry about when arriving to any mean Latin American city is whether or not the cab driver is shite or legit. Cabbing it was my only option, until I met Elvis. After boarding the plane I found myself sitting next to *one* of the nicest Peruvian guys I’ve met so far. Elvis was born and raised in Lima. He spent the last six months living in Miami with his brother. Boy was I lucky to have met him. Not only did he explain the ins and outs of Lima, but he and his family drove me all the way to my host’s apartment in Miraflores. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
Elvis and I stepped off the plane. He had no idea of the excitement buzzing through me. This trip was probably routine for him, but for me it was life changing, if I may be so corny. As soon as I walked off the jet bridge I was met by a long line of Peruvian nanas. Yes, that’s right, a long single file line of old nanas sitting in wheelchairs waiting to be rolled into the streets of Lima. Sarah, was this some kind of joke? Surely the gods were behind this.
When we found Elvis’ family I thought they might be a little confused to find their son accompanied by a gringa, but they seemed totally unphased. So naturally, they hugged and kissed me as if it had been six months. I was just rolling with it. We packed ourselves along with Mr. and Mrs. Elvis, brother and three year-old nephew into their little station wagon and away we went.
It was about a 3o minute ride from Lima’s Chavez Airport to Miraflores. The city was dark, though lit up with millions of neon lights. All the stores and restaurants I saw made me feel like I was driving down a remote leg of Queens Boulevard…shitty driving all around. It was pretty humid and cold, not my favorite combo. Stray dogs were everywhere, love it. Everyone was Peruvian, and then it really hit me I was not in Queens; I was in Peru!
