We Made It!

A Quick Summary

We made it to South America safely! I left Vancouver on Thursday evening, flying to Calgary where I met up with Cam, then to Houston, and finally to Lima.

We stayed one night in Lima near the airport and got to do some exploring of the suburb there. Then, we bussed over to an hostel in the touristy part of Lima, where we spent two nights getting settled, exploring the area, and surfing!

Highs and Lows

Thankfully so far, there hasn't been any major lowlights. Here are two highlights of the trip so far!

Community culture:

One thing I've really enjoyed about Lima is how people seem to always be outside of their houses, doing things and interacting with their neighbours. On Saturday morning, we walked around the area near the airport and it seemed like everyone was outside in the street. Children were playing with these spinning toys, and people were in the streets doing everything from spray painting a coat rack to washing their cars. There was a market set up along one street, with colorful tents on both sides with people selling clothes, produce, meats, and household items. The market street was packed with people walking, and the occasional motorcycle going way too fast down the middle of all the pedestrians. There was also someone riding around on a bike cart with a megaphone who seemed to be selling small appliances (like fans and microwaves).

Street market

On Saturday evening, when we were exploring the more touristy area, the park was full of both tourists and locals. Someone had brought a speaker down and set up some impromptu salsa dancing! Young and old couples, parents and kids were taking turns dancing in the middle of a small circular seating area while everyone else watched and cheered them on. It was really neat seeing how people here seem to spend their time out in the community with others rather than just being in their own houses or small social groups.

Salsa circle

Surfing with new friends

On Sunday morning, I was up early and decided to have my morning quiet time out in the common space in the hostel. Out of nowhere, someone plopped themselves down beside me and asked "hey, is that a bible?" Turns out my new friend Phil and I had a lot in common: we were both from Canada, went to church, engineers, and had similar itineraries for the next few days. We decided to head down to the beach with Phil and his friends and ended up renting surfboards with them and trying to catch some waves! It was a lot of fun, although I feel like I swallowed a good chunk of the Pacific ocean and my arms are super sore today.

I was a little worried about being able to meet people since I'm not a huge fan of the drinking/party scene at hostels and didn't really have the energy for it for the first few days. It was neat being able to meet someone in a context that I felt comfortable in, and hopefully as I get more comfortable here I'll have the energy to go out and meet people in different situations too.

Our new friends

Food Review

Mystery purple drink: 4/10

At a sandwich shop in Lima, I decided to try their special drink, which was called "chica cesera". I learned later that Chica is a broad term for Latin American fermented drinks (I think), and "cesera" means homemade. The drink tasted like nothing I'd ever had before, and neither Cam and I could describe it. It was almost like someone had gone to the soft drink dispenser and mixed every single option, but with the aftertaste of a fermented drink like kombucha. It was very sweet and not fizzy. Overall, I'm glad I tried it but I probably won't be going back to get it again.

Reflections

I thought I'd try to include some of the reflections I've had along the way!

On language

One major regret I have so far is not having spent more effort learning spanish before the trip. Overall, people here have been so friendly and helpful, and it has been frustrating not being able to communicate well with them or build any connection.

In one instance, as we were leaving our first night's airbnb, our host had left for the day so we put the keys on the table and locked the door from the inside. One of the neighbours came out to find us standing outside the locked door, and we tried to ask her to tell our host that we had left the keys on the table for him. Unfortunately, I think she got the impression that we had locked ourselves out (at least we got the "keys on the table" part right) because she immediately tried to call our host and kept reassuring us. We tried telling her that we were leaving and had left the keys on the table on purpose but I could tell she didn't really understand what we were trying to say. Eventually, we ended up just telling her we were leaving to the airport and thanking her which was hard because she was genuinely trying to help and we just couldn't explain properly what was happening.

Struggling through Spanish for the last few days has given me a perspective on the power that language has to connect people. I've been super grateful for the patience of many locals who've had to repeat things and play charades with my hand-waving to figure out what I'm trying to say.

Other Notes

Going forward, I'm going to try posting regularly on Saturdays! We will see how long that lasts.

Extra Photos