Lima

We got a mini-tour of a small area from a friend of Roman}s family. It was nice to get a Peruvian perspective. She works with a Swiss NGO on enviornmental and poverty issues, so she{s a progressive thinking person.

Lima is not that great. Dirty, humid, polluted, grey in the winter (which is now). Reminded me of LA or Miami (not that I}ve been in either city much). But our hostel is near an upscale grocery store, Viavanda!, with a produce selection enough to make you go raw (if you weren}t enjoying lovely vegetable and quinoa soups at the Hare Krishna chain Govinda--we also went to the one in Cusco). I had six chirimoyas today at less than 5 bucks a kilo. When I can find them at home they are 11 or 12 dollars a pound. (2.2 lbs=1 k). They are super sweet (I think I can only be 30-50% fruitarian before the sugar starts going to my head), but they also have sprouts, heriloom tomatoes, purple cauliflower (pretty sure it{s an heriloom variety), and many other beutiful things. This grocery store is honestly a rip-off compared to the outdoor markets, but it{s still much cheaper than at home--no comparison. And it}s clean and neat and organized (I won}t pretend I don}t like that--I}m from Minnesota and am used to things being neat and clean--but at least I don}t take it for granted).

Anyway, the grocery store made me pretty excited about Lima. It}s modern-day hunting and gethering, being at the grocery store. And there are some beautiful historic buildings. I just would never stay more than a day or two here. We do have tomorrow ahead of us, we leave at 11 pm, have an overnight flight, get to Jersey in the morning, and are home around 2 the next day.

Oh, about Govinda--they are apparently some chain that is at least in South America, maybe international. Each one is different, the menu here is not as big and good as in Cusco. There is also one in Aguas Calientes, the town outside Macchu Picchu (which we never made it to--that town is not so great anyway, from what I hear). But this one has a little boutique with Hare Krishna books in Spanish and Indian jewlery and clothes, and energy bars (with ingredients like maca and amaranth and sesame) and meat substitues (dried soy meats you add water and flavor to). Sadly, I am at capacity for things. I bought a bunch of sweaters, knowing they would be practical (since all my sweaters last winter were very old and kind of died), and a wall hanging, no knick-knacks, but they took up a ton of space. And I have to go on the plane wearing two pairs of pants and several shirts, otherwise I will have to pay for an additional bag coming home. So, no fun things from Govinda. At least it keeps me from buying things I don't need...