Day 19- Lima

So, just a warning, this is my longest blog by far... enjoy!

Today was a perfect way to spend my last day in Lima, though I was sad to leave. I woke up at 8:30 (I went to bed at 3ish so I have no idea why I was up so early) and decided that since I had a lot to do, I should get started with my day.

I sort of snuck out of the house in search of flowers for my host family. I went to Vivanda’s, a nearby supermarket, but they didn’t sell any. After asking people on the street and walking around for a bit, and also finding a place that was too expensive, I went to Wong’s, another supermarket. I chose an arrangement of white, green and orange flowers and took a cab back to the house so I wouldn’t be late for breakfast.

I walked in the door and presented the flowers to Miriam, my host mother, who was very happy to receive them and immediately put them on the table. I ate an apple and some bread and jam for breakfast, then got ready to go to a certificate ceremony at El Sol.

Before the ceremony, we were simply told to show up at 11:45 and were expecting a brief celebration. Once we got there, they handed out the certificates and told us we were having a 1 ½ hour long powerpoint presentation led by the school’s founder.

He told us that in our course evaluations, we mentioned that we wanted to know more about the economic and political history of Lima, which he said was interesting because those are the two things tourists usually don’t care about. We all looked around the room at each other, wondering who actually said that, since it wasn’t true (unless the people who wanted to learn those things were the ones not present). I really didn’t feel like spending 1 ½ hours of my last day listening to a lecture, and secretly wondered how bad it would be if I just left.

However, as soon as he started the presentation (our first lecture in English, which made it much easier to understand everything), I was intrigued. It was the most informative, comprehensive lecture we’ve had so far and really helped connect everything we’ve been learning.

He gave an overview of the economy and talked about Peru’s main exports, including a variety of minerals. More importantly, he discussed the different presidents from about 1960 (if memory serves me well) until now. This helped explain in what areas Peru has progressed and in what areas it still needs help. It also gave new context to the current presidential election between Keiko and Ollanta.

Keiko’s father was, during his first two terms as president (1990-2000), very popular. He helped the economy, which under Alan Garcia’s rule had entered a period of hyperinflation and severe debt. Fujimori relaxed private sector price controls and reduced subsidies; he simplified tariffs and minimum wage skyrocketed.

Furthermore, he vastly improved, if not nearly eliminated, terrorism in Peru. As I had learned in the Museo de la Nacion, Peru suffered two decades of extreme terrorism, the main attacks from the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and  Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru.(Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, or MRTA for short). Fujimori made strong attacks against the terrorism, but thousands of innocent people were killed, raped, displaced, imprisoned, injured, and more.

Still, with the national debt drastically reduced and the threat of terrorism almost gone, Fujimori was well-perceived by the country in the beginning. Also, under the 1993 Peruvian Constitution, a president can only serve for two consecutive terms. Shortly after his second term, however, Fujimori amended the Constitution (which is a much simpler process than in the states). Although he had already served two terms by 2000, since the law was enacted while he was in office, Peruvian electoral bodies were sympathetic to his argument. He ran again and won in 2000.

However, during his third term, media broadcasted incriminating video evidence of monetary corruption after he gave $15 million from the Peruvian treasury to the former intelligence service chief. In 2009, Fujimori was convicted of human rights violations (as well as corruption) and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the Grupo Colina death squad during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas. Fujimori was specifically found guilty of murder, bodily harm, and two cases of kidnapping.

Now, his daughter Keiko is running for president. At age 36, she would be the youngest president in Peruvian history as well as the first female president.

During Fujimori’s term, he divorced his wife and Keiko became the first lady at the mere age of 19. Many fear that she would follow in her father’s corrupt footsteps, and others say she was well aware of the corruption that occurred during his presidency. Furthermore, many believe that if Keiko is elected president, she would release her father from jail. She made a written vow not to do so, but there are plenty of ways that she could still secretly do so without being directly responsible for his release. Still, it is hard to say that Keiko would be dangerous merely because her father was. And our lecturer told us he thinks Fujimori’s release would be more or less accepted, because he still helped improve the country in many ways.

Ollanta, on the other hand, ran against Alan Garcia during the last presidential election (2006) and lost. Now, he is running again and has ties with Hugo Chavez. Ollanta is the son of Isaac Humala, a member of the Communist Party of Peru – Red Fatherland. Many fear that his dictatorship would be extremely dangerous for the country. Furthermore, he doesn’t have a strong platform; in the past month, he changed it four times, mostly adjusting it to have the opposite stand as Keiko.

The election is tomorrow but we will know the official result a few days later, once they count all the ballots.

After the ceremony, I went with Tyler, Kris, Tara, Leslie, and others to Plaza Mayor. Since I had missed the opportunity to go the first time, I really wanted to make sure I went before I left. The Plaza has huge, colonial style buildings in what I consider quintessential Lima architecture.

We went to lunch after walking around for a few minutes. The first day everybody went, some people found a restaurant on a balcony overlooking the main square. We decided to go there, and I’m really glad we did because the food was fantastic. I had a salad with lettuce, tomatoes and lots of avocado (one of my favorite things to eat here) and juice. My entrée was arroz a la cubana, which had fried rice, a fried egg on top, and plaintains. Tyler got the same thing but also with steak and potatoes. He said it was probably the best meal he’d had on the trip; while I wish I’d ordered it, it was more expensive and too much food for me to eat.

Still, we decided to walk around a bit more, primarily just to explore the area but also because we all wanted dessert. We found a great bakery with a huge selection of cakes, cookies, bread and more. I got a pineapple streuedel, and while the pineapple was some of the freshest I’d ever tasted, it wasn’t quite sweet enough for me (should’ve gone for something chocolate).

Chinatown is extremely closeby, so we walked there next. It was fairly comparable to any other Chinatown I’ve seen, with vast markets, restaurants, some street performers and more.

Our entire visit to Plaza Mayor and Chinatown, we kept finding tons of interesting places to eat; I wish I’d discovered that area earlier because I would’ve gone frequently.

Around 4:30, we all headed back home to get ready for our dinner at 6pm. I was already dressed but hung around the house and relaxed a bit. Then I took a cab over to Rosa Nautica, a very upscale restaurant on the water. I couldn’t get over how breathtaking it was; then they served the food, and I was even more impressed. 

Even the freshly made juice was really tasty. They brought out appetizers, including calamari, one type of cebiche with regular fish and another type with octopus and shrimp, and oysters. I would’ve been satisfied with just the appetizers.

We had our choice of pasta, chicken or fish; not knowing we would eat so much seafood, I ordered the fish (plus I eat a lotttt of chicken here). I’m not sure exactly what type it was, but it tasted similar to salmon. It was lightly sauced with potatoes and green beans on the side. For dessert, we had our choice of an icecream-filled crepe or flan. Since I hadn’t tried flan here before, I ordered it. It was so rich and better than any flan I’ve tried before.

We all had a great time at the restaurant. Afterwards, some people who hadn’t gone to the water park yet went, while I walked along the beach with others.

I went home and packed most of my things, saying goodbye to the family a bit. I really didn’t want to have to leave them; they’ve been so kind to me and I’ll miss them all. Manolo always made me laugh; Miriam made me feel so welcome; and Renzo and I became good friends. I went to sleep with many good memories, a bittersweet night for me.