#thesabbatical

So it literally has been three years since I've left the country (embarrassing) or blogged and this summer and into the fall, I get to spend weeks and weeks traveling the globe!! There was the honeymoon to Nova Scotia in July, perhaps I'll update the blog with that story later.. and I am currently traveling around South America with my dear friend, Holly, from graduate school. We both chose unemployment after the insanity that was grad school and therefore have some time for seeing the world.

We landed in Lima, Peru on September 10 and met my old roommate from Louisville, KY - Kaitlyn. The three of us spent a couple days in Lima, which was an ok city, definitely not my favorite.

Coastline of Lima on a cloudy morning

La Catedral, Lima

Things I picked up about Lima/Peru on the Free Walking Tour:

1. "Cuy" (pronounced "kwee" ) is the national dish of Peru. Any guesses?? Guinea pig! There is even a painting of the Last Supper in a few of he larger churches in the country (including the San Francisco monastery in Lima) in which Jesus himself has a plate of cuy in the center of e table.

2. Pisco is the national drink of Peru, and it makes cocktails they call "Pisco sour." It is similar to wine in that it is made out of grapes, but it is 40% alcohol.

3. Ceviche is a popular dish all over South America, but it is made a little differently in every country, for example, in Ecuador, the fish is boiled briefly before adding the lemon or lime juice.

Ceviche in Barranco, Lima

4. Most Peruvians are of mixed heritage, from Native American (e.g., Incan), Spanish, and African ancestors.

5. There are a lot of earthquakes in Peru. The Incans had a special way of building that made their structures able to withstand earthquakes easily (the walls are wider at the base). Unfortunately, the Spanish thought they were so a much smarter and decided to just build normal walls, so of course most important buildings in Lima have been rebuilt 7-10 times only since the Spanish came in. More on the Incans later.

6. The Spaniards also brought Catholicism with them so there is an interesting blend of tradition surrounding holidays like All Saints Day. Families go to the graves of their loved ones and essentially have a raging party, pouring beer over the grave, etc. The two national saints of Peru are St. Rosa and St. Martin of the Poor.

7. There is a park full of homeless cats in Lima. At first it was bizarre, then hilarious, then sad! We didn't realize that everywhere else in Peru there would be street dogs too.

Cat Park

I realized I knew very very little about Peruvian history, politics, and culture so these facts were all pretty interesting! My favorite neighborhood of Lima was Barranco - hipster, easy, small town feel. But overall, Lima was a large (8.5 million plus 1.5 in the surrounding hills) and loud city and I was excited to get to Cusco!

Next time, Cusco and Pisac!!!!

Thanks for reading