Saturday night we went to a salsa club called Turatao. It was mostly fun. I laughed out loud a few times because I make fun of things a lot in my head. In those moments I was glad the music was loud. Captain Morgan was there and took pictures with everyone in the club. Many people got hats and shirts. I had a good time, but it wasn't my scene.
Sunday we toured Miraflores and Barranco. Both are on the coast and are the more upscale parts of town. Miraflores has many stores and a mall called Larcomar right on the coast where you can shop at upscale stores like Jimmy Choo's or Hush Puppies or Guess. They also had a KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Tony Roma's.
In Miraflores, there is an archaeological site called Huaca Pucllana. It is a pyramid built by the Limas who are the earliest known civilization in Perú. The area was first used as a cemetery and then was more of a sacred center and political complex. Eventually the Lima were overtaken by the Wari and then the Wari were overtaken by the Incas. It was really cool to see an active archaeological site right after having worked on a dig in Columbus. I was thinking, "So this is what it would be like to find something!" The pyramid was originally hidden in a large hill. They had to do a lot of digging to get it to look how it does today. I don't know if anyone else in my group appreciated the tour quite as much as I did. But that is to be expected. Not many people are thinking about being archaeologists.
I think one of the coolest things about the site was the intense juxtaposition of modern civilization and ancient civilization. From the top of the pyramid we could easily see Bembo's, a peruvian burger chain. The city was literally just outside the walls put up by the archaeologists. It was a strong reminder that people have been living here for over 1000 years and life has not remained stagnant. Human culture, unlike non-human animals, is constantly assessing and improving. Onward and upward, I suppose.
After lunch we went to a museum in Barrancos. An art collector once owned the house. He had no wife or children so his house and collection wound up belonging to the state. Unfortunately the group size for this tour was very large, so a lot of what our guide said was missed. He showed us some really interesting art, though. Apparently it was really common to paint over old portraits in order to reuse canvas. While the museum workers were restoring some portraits of viceroys and such, they found portraits of saints underneath. It was cool to have another reminder of how culture changes. Colonialism brought a change of focus in the world. Rich people were interested in getting richer. They sent people out in search of gold. They owned plantations and took chances on the "New World." In some cases, probably many cases, the saints were forgotten. Their portraits were replaced with those of the upper class. It's an interesting thought, for sure.
Despues de esto, we went to the shore in Barrancos. Obviously, it was beautiful, as most shorelines are. We crossed a bridge called Puente de los Suspiros. The legend says that if you make a wish before you cross and hold your breath the whole way, your wish will come true. I didn't make it. I guess I won't be passing my classes. After seeing the coast, we ate picarones at a restaurant on the hill called Javier's. Picarones are like donuts, only made with sweet potato flour. They are doused in honey and oh so good. The sweet potato flour makes them healthy, right?
So there is a pretty comprehensive summary of my weekend. I'm way tired. We have four days of classes this week and then we are going to Iquitos. I can't wait. Tomorrow I only have one class and then I am going to meet the organization that I will be doing my internship with in July. Thursday I might go shopping with some other girls. Life is exciting, guys.
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