I can now understand why Chaclacayo is a welcome get away for those who live in Lima in the wintertime. We made our way to Lima this morning to explore the country’s capital and were met with dreary gray skies, which is the standard weather for a winter day in Lima. Despite the overcast weather and the repeated warnings of potential robberies and kidnapping echoing in the back of our minds, we managed to enjoy the city. The World Cup was featured on a giant screen in the main plaza, and hundreds of fans gathered in what I thought was a really cool display of community. We wondered around the main section of the city, enjoying the main cathedral, the palacio, and a large market. The center of the city is well patrolled, filled with ornate historic buildings, and clean streets, which highlights the stark disparity between the center of Lima and the outskirts, which are dirty, dangerous, and poverty-stricken.

After exploring Lima for awhile, we headed to Miraflores, which is a high-class subsection of Lima alongside the ocean. Despite the gray skies, Miraflores was still beautiful. We walked around the park and spoke with several locals about the city. The USA vs. Ghana World Cup game was on, so we watched the game while sitting in a restaurant that overlooked the water. The view definitely made up for the fact that the US lost.

Although we traveled to Lima with our Peace Corps language facilitators, part of our “challenge” was getting ourselves back to Chaclacayo at the end of the day. This task proved to be quite an adventure; we found a free bus from Miraflores back to Lima, where we went on a wild goose chase for a place called “Polvos Azules” which is a counterfeit paradise. DVDs, jerseys, shoes, clothes, etc; you name it, there are at least 1000 cheap replicas at this crazy store in Lima. After an unsuccessful hunt for US jerseys, we managed to find our way out of this maze of a store and back onto the streets. We all piled in a combi and shared a comical (and hot/crowded) ride back to Chaclacayo.