Week 1, Part 1: Sippin' on Pisco Sours, Inca Cola and Coca Tea

Today I'm starting the first installation of my Peru study abroad series, so check it out!

The view as we departed from Miami.

Just 2 and 1/2 weeks after classes got out for the summer, our group of Rockhurst travelers departed from the Kansas City airport and flew all day to Peru, making stops in Fort Wayne and Miami along the way.  I love flying on planes, so the trip there wasn't as bad as I thought it might be - especially because I was so excited to finally get to Peru.  As we flew through South America after nightfall, the tiny orange lights of the cities below would create intricate, almost intentional, designs in the pitch black countryside.

We arrived in Lima late at night and were greeted by Earnesto, our Lima travel guide.  Our big group of Americans caused quite a spectacle, but we eventually managed to retrieve all our luggage and drive to our hotel (in the biggest tour bus I've ever seen) in Miraflores, a district of Lima.

Monday morning we were up bright and early to dine on a continental breakfast of pineapple (wonderful!) and papaya (not so good).  As we began our first tour with Earnesto, the bus stopped at el Parque del Amor, or the park of love, which was decorated with elaborate sculptures and colorful mosaics.

Convento de San Francisco (there was a movie being filmed on the front stairs).

We also stopped by the Convento de San Francisco, a monastery with an ancient biblioteca (library) and a maze of catacombs full of thousands of human remains.  Delightful.

In the Museo Catedral de Lima we learned about Francisco Pizzaro, the Spanish conquistador who colonized Peru in the time of the Incans.

Once we returned to the hotel after our tour, we had out first taste of pisco sours - the beverage Peru is most famous for.  I cannot even tell you how many times we received free pisco sours as a sign of hospitality throughout our visit!  Pisco is a sort of brandy made from grapes, and to make a pisco sour you must mix the pisco with egg whites and bitters.  It takes a little getting used to.

Our oh-so-free pisco sours.

Speaking of Peruvian drinks, at lunch that day we all tried Inca Cola, a popular Peruvian soda that's electric yellow and tastes like bubble gum.  Late on we also drank quite a bit of coca tea, which originates from the coca leaf that is used in, yes, cocaine, but also Coca-Cola.  Coca tea is used to treat altitude sickness and upset stomachs in Peru.

Monday night we went to a dinner and theater where we ate traditional Peruvian cuisine (potatoes) and watched scissor dancing.  That's right.  Dancing with actual (sharp) scissors!

On Tuesday we went to two very opposite areas of Lima.  In the morning we stopped by Barranco, Lima's wealthy district, and crossed the wishing bridge.  Lima-lore has it that if you hold your breath while crossing the bridge and make a wish, your wish will come true.  Then in the afternoon we visited the poverty-stricken hills encircling Lima.  The hills were covered with hundreds of miles of shacks without electricity and running water.  Outside the hills was the Incan Temple del Sol, or sun temple.  We climbed to the top of the temple and had a stunning view of the hills of poverty and the Pacific Ocean.  It was at the temple of the sun that we saw our first Peruvian alpaca.

During lunch that day, Earnesto took our group to a little neighborhood restaurant with live music, but while we were there, the purse - which included a camera, $200 cash and a passport - of one of our group member's was stolen.  Our Rockhurst faculty member, Rocio, spent all day calling around to the Lima police and the American embassy, trying to find the purse and figure out what to do since the passport was missing.  In the end, her purse and passport were turned into a travel office, but her camera and cash were gone forever.

After that little catastrophe, we went to dinner that night in downtown Lima at a shipping mall with all the modern amenities an American could dream of: Starbucks, Chili's, Radio Shack, and more.

More to come later!

My sorority sisters and me at the Plaza de Armas in Lima, Peru.