Woke up for my last morning in the youth hostel, had a breakfast with the group that was leaving for the all day tour, then got ready for the day. We had a group of 18 people who wanted to do some sight seeing around Lima, and we paid for one of our buses to take us about 30 minutes away to central Lima (we are staying in a part of Lima called Miraflores). We first went to Plaza San Martin which was a beautiful ornate square with lots of ancient, beautiful government and official-looking buildings around. There was a nice fountain in the middle and the spray felt good on our hot skin. We saw the Gran Hotel Bolivar which is the oldest in the country. Fun fact: it´s first floor is now a KFC. We also went inside an ´iglesia´ or church, and they were actually having mass while we were there! It reminded me so much of Europe. The history is incredible. My friend Katie and I were talking about how awesome, reverent, holy and ornate their churches are. They are truly places where one simply can look around them and witness the devotion that is apparent through all the intricacies of the church. I knelt and prayed at the alter in front of a huge momument detailing the crucifixtion. I prayed for all the students on this trip, that the Lord had revealed himself to them over the course of these 8 days, and also for all of the people here in Peru, that their religious practices (predominately Catholic) would never lose sight of the most important part of that religion- being saved by Jesus Christ, and His infinite love and mercy for us.
Then, we walked to Plaza Mayor, where we visited the Museo San Francisco (monastery and catacombs). It was VERY neat. Too bad we weren´t allowed to take pictures inside. But check these out from google images:
Way cool. Our tour guide was a Peruano who had obviously memorized her tour in English but had close to no idea what she was actually saying. Some of our favorite phrases:
the 12 ´postles
the ´pipee´ organ
25 shomeshings books (25 thousand books)This one was said as we were standing in this ancient library with these gorgeous twin winding staircases to get up to the second balcony level of the library which held TONS of books, and all of a sudden we hear the woman telling us there are 25 something books. And then after a few mental calculations, figured out she meant 25,000.
There was a fun mix of laughter and awe of the place. We some some other things like a crucifixtion made of ivory, 16th century painted tiles everywhere, an oil painting of the Last Supper that had a bunch of us talking because it was unlike any one we had seen before. It had them at a round table, with the devil sitting right behind Judas IScariot, and God at the top of the painting looking down on it all. There were also children everywhere serving them traditional Peruvian food.
Interesting fact: Saint James the Elder was the 1st to give his blood by Christ when he was beheaded by Herod Agrippal.
When we headed down to the catacombs, we saw a pit of skulls and were informed it was 12 feet deep. Wow. We saw lots of large bones (femurs, tibias, etc) and some people were very ready to get out of that underground cavern by the end.
Next, we hit a Chifa restaurant (Chinese and Peruvian mix) and I had a chicken and vegetable soup. It had a very interesting flavor, one I have not had before. Others at my table got a vegetarian dish- noodles with vegetables, chicken fried rice, and seafood fried rice. The vegetarian dish caught the girl a little off guard; there was a sauce on it that she was not too keen on, but she just took all the noods and dumped some soy sauce on them and called it lunch. I ate some of the veggies. :)
We came back and chilled here for a while, chatted with Joe (the intern, who is actually also getting ready to leave Peru to go back to the states) and just hung out outside on the back lawn in the sun. We later went into the Plaza Kennedy for gelado (the group is obsessed with gelado) and there ended up being an art walk/ street vendors selling art work around the central part of the plaza. We had quite a few people purchase some paintings(they were all very beautiful, great use of brilliant colors and shapes). And actually, did you know- Monday is World Down Syndrome Day? There was a festival to raise money for Down Syndrome Peruvians and there were a lot of Down syndrome kids helping work the stations. They sold artwork, food, jewelry, and some other trinkets. It was a fun and lively day in the plaza.
Headed to our last dinner out on the town tonight in a few minutes! Sad to leave but can´t wait to tell you all about it!
Love love love
savvy
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