It never rains down in Liiiiii-hiiiiii-maaaa

7 days of Lima
3 plates of Cerviche
1 Pisco Sour
1 hostel, 3 couches
12 new friends
2 birthday parties
0 days of rain

There is only one way to describe my one week in Lima: Busy!

After two nights in a hostel I decided to try out whether I could do some Couch Surfing (for the unknowing: It’s a website in which people post “I have an extra couch / bed. Sleep there for free and have fun with me” (no, not that kind of fun! You pervert!). Check out . I had made some contacts before leaving the Netherlands, so my first couch was very easy to find. I also posted something on the CS (Couch Surfing) website, saying that I was in town and had time on my hands.

Bad plan!

I guess the Limans really like foreigners (or at least the tall, blonde, blue-eyed kind): Within 12 hours I had about 10 invitations for drinks, sightseeing, hanging out, helping me with my Spanish, etc. So that kind-of filled up my agenda for the coming few days…

I saw the catacombs of Lima (walking among 25.000 dead people), walked through an ancient, earthquake-proof temple complex (in the middle of the city), had my first glass of Pisco Sour (national drink, very good), went to the beach (and got a terrible sunburn on one of the few days there was not a constant fog), tried out 4 different kinds of beer (ranging from watery – Brahma, to mouthwateringly good – Cusquena), got addicted to Cerviche (raw fish “cooked” in lime juice), learned some interesting Spanish (including 6 different ways of saying “breasts”), taught a class of Capoeira (and got blamed for a lot of sore muscles the following day), made a sushi dinner (and made my host very happy), went wall-climbing (my wrists still hurt a bit), saw the changing of the guards at the presidential palace (you know that song those Peruvian street performers always play when they are annoying you? It sounds a lot better without the panpipes and with a lot of drums and horns!), had really great people host me for one or more nights (the Peruvian family breakfast was great!), had a toast to my birthday at 12 o’clock Friday night (can’t believe I’m really 30 now!) and for the grand finale had a second birthday party on Saturday night (ok, not my own officially but my host was celebrating hers so I could kind-of hijack that).

Al in all, Lima is not a photogenic city, but it has definitely grown on me! I love the openness and friendliness of the people! It’s almost a shame that I’m leaving for Pisco…

PS.
Thank you all for your birthday wishes! Sorry to do this in this impersonal way, but they were just too many…