AccLIMAting

The first posting is inevitably trite – the obligatory airport rendezvous and proverbial “first day of school”; with any luck the second will be more entertaining. On Friday night I was taken to a “Foclor” (Folklore) show called Las Brisas de Titicaca where my hosts and I witnessed various traditional dances originating from the Puno province near Lake Titicaca; after a few glasses of beer, my traditional pastime, I was on the dance floor two-stepping to a Native American marachanga flute. Saturday began with a much revered slice of turon and a salver of ceviche, followed by a tour of downtown Lima, including the Presidential Palace and the archetypal historic cathedral, and ended with a drive high above to city to a view point where it is possible to see how over nine million inhabitants have constructed their quarters in a space meant for far fewer.

Sunday’s lunch featured the sanctimonious pisco sour, a surprisingly delectable blend of brandy, egg, and lime, and countless conversation, the last three hours of which were lost in translation. Monday’s tour included the “Real Felipe” a fort constructed by the Spanish to defend their colony from competing European powers, which was ironically used later by the Peruvians to gain their independence; in the afternoon the in-laws and I went to Larcomar, a first world shopping center built into the side of a cliff. Originally I was to embark Wednesday on a ship headed for the south to partake in a relief effort but a change of plans has postponed the date to Thursday at the earliest. Brilliant or disastrous, this adventure is certain to provide fodder for a good blog.