The first week of classes, I took the same route every day, the one we’d been shown our first day. It’s along a giant street with tons of traffic (and therefore, tons of pollution).
This represents just how off my idea was of our “neighborhood” of Miraflores. When I hear the word “neighborhood”, a very specific picture comes to mind. I think of it as a walkable area that contains a mixture of homes and businesses, and is off the beaten path a bit. Miraflores, however, is a city within the giant city of Lima. Check out those skyscrapers! I think it’s big enough that I’m guessing you could spend your entire life in Miraflores and not need to go to another part of Lima. This is only our first month here, though… who knows what we’ll think in another month or two.
Note that Starbucks has valet parking…. And that it is full!
This giant freeway divides one section of Miraflores from another. The intersection that is at the end of this bridge gives me the most dread, as there is too much unpredictability with the drivers for me to feel comfortable (yet) dashing across the street. Sometimes I’ve waited for the light to change several times before I take the chance to cross. Other times I just wait for enough other pedestrians so that I can be part of the flow. Most of the time Simon is on my front or back in a sling or soft backpack carrier, so that gives me an extra incentive to be supremely careful. I've seen people skateboard along with the cars and buses in the street, so perhaps this is just another example of something I'll get used to. I'll keep you posted on whether I choose to take up skateboarding!
After several days, Sam found a new and quicker way to go to school. I found a new way the following week. (Since our classes are at different times of the day, we don't walk there together.) It’s amazing what a difference walking a block or two off of the main drag can make in the noise level, amount of exhaust in the air, and the types of things that I notice. On the giant streets, I’m more focused on getting there, quickly; on the side streets I notice the interesting things.
It’s not very visible in this photo, but there is a giant jade plant/tree in this cactus garden. I thought it was an anomaly but now I see giant jade plants everywhere.
This is Simon’s favorite part of the walk, since we sometimes stop and play here for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. I am really impressed by how many parks there are. They are nice and well-maintained, and we have gone park-hopping every day.
Isn’t this a beautiful tree? I had walked under it a number of times before I really noticed it. Its flowers hang upside down, so if you get underneath it and look up, you see this:
Sam and I both love Spanish-style or Latin-American style architecture, so there is lots to swoon over here.
We dream about someday having a home that opens into an interior garden/patio. Who knows if this house has that, but it has other things we love – bold colors, cool flowers growing on the house.
Tai chi is really big here. There is a group that practices in the park closest to our home, and Sam and I have each been with Simon during some of their practices. Simon likes to mimic their movements by waving his arms in the air and bending his legs. It’s very cute. The other day they were practicing to an instrumental version of “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”. At another park, no matter what time of day it is, every time I pass by I see at least one tai chi group (and sometimes there are four different groups!) practicing. Maybe once we get settled in our apartment there will be a tai chi group that we can participate in too… although we’ll be the youngest by about 30 years! There is a group doing yoga in this picture, although it's not very easy to see, unfortunately. While yoga isn't as prevalent as tai chi, yoga is pretty popular in this park in particular.
I love different images of La Virgen, which I imagine is very prevalent in all Latin American countries. Peru is 90% Catholic. I don’t know yet which Virgen this is, but I am drawn to the bright colors. Apologies for the weird angle on the picture; it's on the side of a doorway, set back from the street.
Squint through the gate and you'll notice a statue of a naked crouching man. Isn’t this a little creepy? Sam pointed it out to me one day as we walked by. In person, the statue is much closer and is also much bigger. If it were nightfall and you walked by, it would be easy to think there was someone leaning forward about to pounce on you. Luckily there is the gate… but I think it’s a pretty cool statue too. And it's underneath another one of those funky trees with the upside down flowers!
No comments:
Post a Comment