Spring Time in Lima

First, a few pictures from our weekend in Manhattan.  We spent Saturday and Sunday in New York before we flew out on Monday morning.

Us on the Highline

The meat counter in Mario Battali's Eataly on 23rd and 5th Ave.

Eataly

yumm...

fountain in Madison Sq. Park

Late afternoon shadows

we stumbled into the feast of San Gimignano in Little Italy

sausage?

Loren having a moment with the catfish in China Town

Morgan, Danny and Loren at The Whiskey Tavern

“Spring Time in Lima”… doesn’t have the same ring to it as “Spring Time in New York”.  It’s not quite as sweet either.  Spring time in Lima, as with most of the year is overcast from dawn ‘till dusk.  On a slightly less cloudy day, we can see the closest peaks of the Andes foothills peaking out on the horizon.   We have been told that come December, the sun really will shine, and intensely too since we are so close to the equator.   I hope so- I am in need of some sunshine.

Our first few days have been good but challenging, as was to be expected.  We got to JFK at 3:30am on Monday morning.  Our first flight out of New York was cancelled, but only after we had boarded and spent 2 ½ hours sitting on the tarmac, did they decide to cancel it.   At 11am we finally took off on another flight to El Salvador.  We had been specifically warned to NOT fly through El Salvador because our luggage might be rifled through and possibly stolen. But when we arrived at 9pm in Lima all of our luggage arrived safely with us and nothing had been taken.  It was a LONG day of travel but all-in-all ok.

We are currently staying in San Isidro, an upscale neighborhood in Lima, at the apartment of Morgan’s boss, Bob Gilman. This flat is a sort of way-station for American students coming to work with Bob, so we have met a handful of Americans already and tonight we are going to a housewarming party for 3 girls here on Fogarty Fellowships.   As a side note, on the corner of Bob’s street, there is a Pizza Hut, a Dominos, a Starbucks and an Adidas store.  Crazy.



Morgan got right to work on Tuesday and I have spent the week exploring the neighborhood and looking for an apartment.  I was fortunate to find an English speaking broker who has been SO generous, driving me all over San Isidro and Miraflores, another upscale neighborhood, to look at rentals.  Eric, the broker, was born in… wait for it… State College, PA!  That’s right, he’s a Penn State baby too. Both his parents are Peruvian and were Phd students there when he was born.  We are…  Penn State!

Morgan in a nice park in our neighborhood

We’ve looked at 10 or so places already and yesterday afternoon found a place that we LOVE!  It is in Miraflores, only 6 blocks from the water and 5 blocks from El Sol (the school where we’ll be taking Spanish classes).  Cross your fingers for us that is works out. 

On Monday I begin my Spanish immersion class.  It can’t come soon enough.  We have been managing but barely.  We got cell phones yesterday and it was a comedy routine.  Between our broken Spanish, the teller’s broken English and hand signals, we managed though.  Many people speak a little English and everyone has been very patient with us, so I think we’ll be ok until we get more comfortable with speaking.

So, we haven’t done any sightseeing yet, it’s been all business.   This weekend we are planning a visit to the Museo de Arte de Lima to see the Gordon Matta Clark exhibit.  I am Psyched!  Hopefully we’ll check out some other sights too.  I am eager to visit the Huaca Pucllana, a pyramid from the Lima culture that dates to 500 A.D.  It is right in the middle of Miraflores and the modern city was just built around it.

The view from Bob's Apartment

the camera didn't pick it up but there are mountains back there

I’ll post more pictures next time, I promise.  Hablar con todos pronto!