Lima, Day 2

Today I visited the Museo de la Nacion, which has a number of artifacts from the numerous cultures of pre-Incan, Incan, colonial, and contemporary Peru. It also has exhibitions on daily life of the various cultures, and their contributions to agriculture, textiles, and the arts. One particularly interesting argicultural technique utilized in the Sierra (a cool, mountainous region) is known as Waru Waru. In this technique, crops are planted in long rows with ditches in between. These ditches are filled with water, which is warmed by the sun during the day. At night, the cold air causes the water to evaporate, creating a cool mist that hydrates the crops.

There was also an entire room devoted to the potato, a staple of the Peruvian diet. Included in the exhibition were over 40 varieties of real potato. Judging from the looks of them, the curators don´t put fresh ones out very often...most of them were sprouting, and some of them were black with mold.

Another highlight was a huge exhibition of photographs related to the reign of terror carried out from 1980 to 2000 by a guerrilla group known as the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). Its highly intelligent but sociopathic leader, Abimael Guzman, used the edicts of Maoism to mobilize the rural poor and the urban youth against the Peruvian government, claiming that the proposed transition to democracy was an affront to the ideals of socialism. Unfortunately, the Peruvian government was not exempt from blame, as during the two decades of fighting against the Shining Path, it carried out its own massacres against indigenous communities and university students accused of participating in the guerrilla movement, some of whom were later found to be innocent. This was a difficult exhibition to view, with news clips and graphic photographs of terrible atrocities, the likes of would never get past media censors in the States.

Leaving the museum, I was picked up by a friendly taxista named Xenon. I inquired as to how he got such an unusual name, and he said his father could never give him a straight answer, but that Xenon is one of the elements on the periodic table. I am not sure whether or not it is just a coincidence that Xenon used to be a chemist. He worked in the chemical dying of textiles until two months ago, when the U.S. economic crisis caused his company´s main accounts to close, and he was laid off. He does not like being a taxi driver because it is very stressful to drive in the Lima traffic. It is also very hard to make a living at it, because so many unemployed Peruvians decide to become taxi drivers and there is a lot of competition for fares.

I asked him for a recommendation for lunch, and he dropped me at an amazing buffet packed with locals and all kinds of comida criollo. Annie, I had two servings of the arroz con leche for dessert, but I did put cinnamon on top, which is evidently good for blood sugar.

Before exiting the cab, I had insisted that Xenon keep the change from my ride - 2 soles, or the equivalent of 70 cents American. I knew he´d already underquoted me on the ride, and he had been so kind as to take me to his favorite lunch spot, so I didn´t think twice about the tip. When I exited the restaurant, he was unexpectedly waiting for me. He said he´d been so touched by the tip that he wanted to drop me off directly at my hostel and make sure I got there safely, which he did. The people here have really been amazing so far, I feel blessed to have such good people looking out for me.






Ver mapa más grande