Sunday Aug 7 in Lima :)

Today I went with Gian Franco to Gamarra, a busy street market filled with the cheapest clothing shops in Lima. It is located in La Victoria, a fairly dangerous district, so I didn't bring my camera and I put all my bills in my bra. He hunted around for deals on shoes and I looked for sport jackets that said PERU because everyone here wears them. I found a bunch, but the styles I really wanted were only in men's sizes. :( I ended up finding a really awesome shirt with the Nasca Peru logo on it for only 18 soles, about 6 dollars, in a perfect fit. I think I will go back to find a jacket with Renzo if he ever comes home from Cajamarca.

Then Gian Franco and I took a bus to el Centro de Lima, walked around the Mercado Central for a little while, then went to the Convento de San Francisco  to see the Catacumbas. 

We toured the whole church, which turned out to be a lot bigger than I thought it would be, with tons of priceless paintings, silver and gold artifacts of the church, and architectural attractions. My favorite piece of art was a Virgin Mary painting in which her dress was an Arabic style-print! Devastated that I can't find a photo of this online.

We saw a huuuuuuge painting of the Last Supper covering an entire wall, but it was Peruvian-style: round table, cuy and bread and potatoes being served instead of bread and wine, children and dogs around the table, and a number of other neat differences including a devil over Judas' shoulder and the king who sponsored the painting appearing in the background.

Then we went down into the Catacumbas, the floor beneath the church that was filled with bones of Limenos from the distant past. The piles of skulls creeped me out a little bit, but some of the bone collections were arranged in really pretty patterns. I was sad we couldn’t go down to the floor beneath that one, because the guide said it was closed to the public to avoid accidents, the ceiling wasn't completely sturdy.

Our tour group was really big and included some noisy children, so I didn't get to hear most of what the guide was saying. But it was a really awesome tour for only 7 soles.

Then Gian Franco and I walked around the Calle Capon and the Plaza de las Armas, saw a military parade, and went to get dinner (which for me was also breakfast and lunch because lately I have forgotten when and how to eat, apparently). I ordered cebiche and lomo saltado, but I forgot to ask for my cebiche with no aji. :( So it was epically spicy and I had to give a lot of it to Gian Franco. I ate all of the lomo saltado, though, and its juices mixed with the French fries were soooooo good. Only 9 soles!

We walked through the Real Plaza (where I went last night too), passed through the Parque de la Exposicion, overheard a hiphop concert, and visited a few more parks.

We walked all the way to Av. Salaverry, talking about the differences between Peruvian and American holiday traditions, the Gian Franco embarked me back to my house. It was a relaxing and fun day, fun of memories even though I didn't have my camera with me. And I really love my Peru shirt. :)