July 22-28 -- We were told that this would be the "most difficult" port of our entire itinerary, because 1) we were here over the Independence Day holidays (July 28th is the Peruvian Fiestas Patriotas, 2) strikes and demonstrations have been occurring over the past month (the teachers went on strike, then the transportation workers went on strike ...), and 3) the U.S. Embassy considers this a "dangerous" posting because of all the crime. The embassy employees are advised not to carry their passports, but only to carry photocopies of the pertinent pages, and the service the embassy performs the most is to replaces stolen passports for traveling Americans.
This was a trying time for me personally because I finally caught the bug that has been going around the ship for a month. Ick. Also, the sun never comes out in Lima (where we were) in the winter time (now) -- In spite of it's tropical geographical location, Peru is overcast and cool with a constant fine mist at this time of year. No wonder they have a well-developed industry of making warm clothing from alpaca and other wools. The artesanal markets are very nice here, and much shopping occurred ...
Since I wasn't going to Machu Picchu with 90% of the voyagers, I took three trips here. The first was a city orientation of Lima, during which we saw Casa Aliega, a house built in 1535, that has been lived in by the same family for 16 generations. We also saw the Plaza Mayor, the Presidential Palace, the outside of the Cathedral, and the Monastery of San Francisco, which has catacombs, complete with bones. Lots and lots of bones.
The next day, I went on a service visit to a home for children who are at risk in the home. This is run by the ANAR Foundation. They had 14 girls from ages 6 or 7 to 14 living there. This is not a "safe house" -- I asked -- and they allow their parents to visit them. The risk involves other problems at home including divorce, money problems, etc. 25 students went on this visit, and they seemed to have a great time playing with the kids. The kids really went wild over the student's digital cameras and were running around like little paparazzi, taking pictures. The money that was part of the cost of this field program was used to buy new mattresses for the children.
The third day, Mom and I went with a friend to Miraflores, one of the "safer" neighborhoods of Lima. It is very upscale, with a J. W. Marriott Hotel and very expensive malls and shops. We found a yarn shop, and although it didn't have any natural fibers (wool, alpaca, cotton) we bought a couple of big bags of yarns for various projects. Mom is teaching a number of the children how to crochet, and she made an afghan for the Students of Service auction.
I should mention that Students of Service is an organization that raises money on each voyage which is donated at the end of the voyage to a charity active in a part of the world the voyage has visited.
The fourth day, I was trip leader for a field trip to Pachacamac, an ancient oracle site for the Incas (and three previous cultures on that spot). After Pachacamac, we visited an hacienda where we saw the beautiful Paso horses that they breed there, and had a catered lunch. (The family that owns the hacienda also owns one of the nicer restaurants in Lima, called La Rosa Nautica.) The Paso breed is a gaited breed, similar to the American Saddlebred and the Tennessee Walker, but has a more compact conformation. That was a lot of fun. The students enjoyed riding the horses.
On the fifth day, I rested ...
