A Lima Lifestyle

¨Welcome to Peru Kevin...uh....Kevin Kaa...Kaa...Costner! Kevin Costner! Go on through, welcome to Lima.¨

Those were the first words I heard as I walked through customs, and I can´t think of a better way to have started my trip. It sure caught me off guard and we had a good laugh.

Check out the name at the bottom...

We pulled up to JFK at 3:30am and on the plane at 5:15, 45 minutes before takeoff and the plane was empty. After sitting for an hour, I passed out. Before long we landed in Panama City, or ¨the gateway to the South¨ as it seems. We got to our connecting flight as the "last call for boarding" announcement came on the loudspeaker, and thinking we needed to get on in a hurry, we pulled out our tickets and boarded. We quickly learned that "last call" in central America, or at least for Copa airlines really means "you have an hour so no need to rush." Needless to say, my legs were alseep long before I was. Good thing Liora woke me up for the meatloaf served for lunch. Woof.

Upon arrival, we got our bags, thankfully, since Liora always seems to get her´s lost. We hopped a taxi that was waiting for us and we took the scenic route to our hostel. Our cab driver saw that I had a video camera and was most enthusiastic about me getting shots of the paragliders and surfers. We stopped at the beach for a hot minute to see his friend who offered us surfing lessons. Needless to say we set an appointment for Saturday...

Lima is a big city and even though we are staying in ¨smaller¨ Miraflores, after living in New York, a city is a city; pollution, cars, people and Starbucks abound. Unless you stay for a while, the small local nooks are hard to find. Our hostel, Pariwana, is quite nice. I give Liora 2 points for this one. Bar, pool table, kitchen and even a projector screen playing college football. It´s like they knew Kevin was coming to stay. Good thing Oregon has a bye week while we´re here, otherwise I would spend my whole vacation watching pigskin!

We walked around the city center and took a few sights including the changing of the guards at the Palacio de Gobierno and the creepy catacombs. People laugh with us as we butcher our way through the Spanish language, but are more than happy to help us learn some vocab. So far it has been a friendly, enjoyable time getting aquainted with Lima lifestyle and meeting a few fellow travelers along the way. Aussies everywhere!

We´ve tried to local fare of seafood and fried chicken (yes, I could eat my way through this entire continent) and witnessed a concert of traditional song and tango dance. Although it is a bit smoggy during the day, we have still managed to get sunburned. The nightlife is lively and abundant, making it easy to stay out until the wee hours of the morning.

Yup, I think they fried up the whole ocean for me...Delicious.

I am quickly transitioning from New York sprint to south American stroll, and it has been most relaxing.

Next thing on our list of things to do: Surf lessons.