A quick jaunt to Lima

So I decided to see Lima for myself. I got very mixed reviews about going. Some people thought it was a big, interesting city in Latin America, full of rich Peruvians living the good life on the coast.  Others (mostly everyone else) thought it was dirty and dangerous. I wanted to go because when I actually leave Cusco, I won't be traveling back through. I was able to get a good deal on the flight and had a couple of people lined up to see.

The weather was mostly gray and overcast the entire time, though I hear its like that 10 months of the year. There was either a mist over the water or it was pollution, I'm not sure which.  The city is huge, it took me at least 45 minutes by colectivo ( small bus) to get anywhere, even though we were staying in a nice central area called Miraflores.  There are some very interesting, Spanish/ Colonial style buildings there,  but they're few and far between. The city doesn't have beautiful architecture throughout, like cities like Buenos Aires or Quito. The do have a cool, very Western style mall built into the side of a cliff. There were more fast food places there than I have seen anywhere else.  I even saw a Tony Roma's, which I haven't seen since Miami.

The highlight was a water park called the Circuito Magical del Agua. It wasnt like Six Flags, more like the huge timed and lit fountains in Vegas. I also went to the wharf to get ceviche, which I've finally decided I don't like, since I don't like fish and its a little bit too spicy for me.  I hit all the other main tourist sites: the cathedral, government building, Chinatown and the monastery which has some big and eerie crypts 

Stray dogs everywhere

I have never seen dogs in the street like I have here. Some appear to have owners because they're wearing collars, some are grungy in the streets with dreaded up tails and then others are just sunning themselves in the grass. Since I've been here, I've only seen one veterinarians office and no one seems to want female dogs because they just get pregnant. I dont think they know about spaying and neutering (sorry Bob Barker).

The dog in my house got out one night and came back preggers with 7 puppies. By the time I got here there was only one girl left. Of course I had to adopt her. I took her for walks, taught her how to sit, snuck her treats until one day... While I was taking a nap, I woke up to see her being loaded into some mystery car. They said she was "going to the country," which I hope was the truth. I'll just keep thinking it was. She was cute and gave me something to do around the house.

Yummy Peruvian chocolate making class

The last thing I did with my two Australian friends was take a chocolate making class at Cusco's Chocolate Museum.  I figured why not? It turned out to be so much fun! 

We learned all about how cacao is grown and how many seeds it takes to produce just one high quality chocolate bar- 15. I was surprised to find out how much chocolate is exported from Peru, considering they don't sell that much chocolate in the stores and they don't use chocolate in their cooking, outside of sweets.

We started off roasting the beans, learned how to grind it into a paste, blend it to make a delicious chocolate and then create different flavors (quinoa, chili, maka)  and put into molds.  At the end of it all, we had some delicious chocolate to show for all our

hard work!

It was a great time and a surprise highlight!