Despedidas on Despedidas on Despedidas

My last month in Peru was a lesson on how to say goodbye.  Starting with a peace out at the PUCP.

Painting our hands on the walls of the oficinita in la Cato.
                  
I paid homage to my Latina alter-ego: the incredibly sassy Susanna Villán who comes out to play every time a taxi drive asks me if I am single.  (No, I am engaged to an engineer named Christopher.  He is very jealous.)




And continuing with the IFSA despedida...which was a blur of sanguichitas and group photos (con flash, sin flash, con cámara, sin cámara).  But hey, we're a pretty good looking group.

Here is a picture of the incomparable Pochy and I.  My host mom and I stopped by a memorial mass en route to the goodbye party (and by that I mean we went to mass at the time the despedida was supposed to start).  Gotta love la hora peruana...



The patas, IFSA semester and year long students, and Lali, our Resident director.

And below the large and occasionally dysfunctional  family...IFSA students, staff, and host families.  As any true limeña would say...somos un grupasso.  When I signed up for IFSA I didn't expect or necessarily want to be adopted by a new family, but that's kind of what it was like.  And to be honest, I couldn't have asked for a more quirky and caring group of people.  Here's to one hell of a semester!



On the Friday of the last week of finals a small group made the trip out to la Punta, a district of Callao, to visit a professor.  La Punta es otro mundo.  Pero en serio...

Callao is Peru's oldest and most important port city.  Founded by the Spanish two years after Lima in 1537, Callao was absorbed into the Lima Metropolitan Area as the city expanded; although Callao has never been considered part of the department of Lima.  The city of Callao has six districts; one of which is la Punta-a middle and upper class neighborhood located on a peninsula and historically populated by Italian immigrants.

Getting to la Punta from Miraflores is quite the trek; you have to cross the districts of San Isidro, Magdalena del Mar, San Miguel, and La Perla on the way, and it takes nearly two hours in combi (but it only costs S/ 2.50).  However, its more than worth the effort.  La Punta has nothing to do with the Lima Metropolitan area.  Picture the glorious love child of Madrid and Northeastham.

Estefanie, Angelica, Erin, and Kaitlynn relaxing in la Plaza Central...

La Punta is beautiful and relaxed (super tranki); it also has its own microclimate-the weather is colder and clearer.  Its the kind of neighborhood where everyone knows everyone; when faced with the statement "I've never seen you before" I ended up telling a bodega owner my life story.


Home to many fishermen, it is one of the best and cheapest places to eat ceviche in Lima (that is, if you where the locals eat).  Here is a group shot in Don Guiseppi's, a small restaurant near the Central Plaza.  Where we "crushed" plates of ceviche, arroz con mariscos, and chicharron.  A highlight of the day was receiving a home made copy of Los olvidados (no los de Buñuel, los míos) from my professor, Rossana Díaz Costa (la Rocca); apparently her book was out of print, but when she heard that I wanted a copy she made me one at the fotocopiadora in la Cato.

Other memorable moments include: teaching la Rocca the phrase "kill it" while watching Erin demolish a plate of ceviche.  Oh and I almost forgot, we had a star siting outside of Don Guiseppi's.  We bumped into the young actress who plays Anita in La Rocca's movie.  I have to admit that we were all a little star struck when we met the poised and charismatic young actress.

Below: a shot of the IFSA gang enjoying the Malecón of la Punta.
             

On a clear day you can see the entire coast of Lima, straight to el Morro Solar in Chorrillos, but those days are rare during el invierno limeño.  One last image of a break in the neblina over la Playa Cantolao.

I celebrated my first bilingual birthday over the weekend; like me, the composition of reunión was about 30% Peruvian, 60% gringo.  Not going to lie, I got chills hearing Happy Birthday in two different languages.  It was a huge success.  Adrienne, Sara, Pablo, and I made a VAT of guacamole, and Carter bought the cake to end all cakes (a brick of chocolate moose).  The evening ended at 4 o'clock on the Malecón.  It was picture perfect.

The majority of the IFSA gringada flew back to the states on Monday, the 15th.  However, I hung around Lima for two more days before embarking on a week long adventure in and around Arequipa (details to come).

During my last two days in Lima I said goodbye in my own way (I like to think of it as urban mountaineering); I walked from one end of the city to the other.  On Tuesday I walked from my house to Avenida Arequipa above Parque Kennedy and walked all forty or so blocks to the beginning of Arequipa in the Center of Lima (almost 10k).  I watched the city change from the glamour of Miraflores to the grubby, bustle of Lima's colonial heart.
On Wednesday I wandered South to Chorrillos and hiked el Morro Solar, a system of hills with monuments dedicated to the casualties of the most bloody battles of la Guerra del Pacífico (the war between Peru and Chili).  Since my arrival in Lima I had been intrigued by the giant neon cross of Chorrillos; on my last full day in Lima I finally made it to this omnipresent monument.  I didn't take this picture, but you can probably get an idea of how enticing el Morro Solar looks looming over the Fisherman's Wharf on the southern fringe of Lima.