My third day
in Lima. Now that I have conquered the bus system, I have no worries about how
and when to go to Barranco and Chorrillos. Today I will head out to Pueblo
Libre, where two major museums are located that I would like to see: Museo de
Nacional de Archeologia, Anthroplogia, y Historia, a state museum and Museo de
Larco, a private museum that has amassed hundreds and hundreds of artifacts
from Inca civilization.
Lima is waking up to another morning, I buy fruit from this fruteria as I start my morning
Bakery on my way to Pueblo Libre, where I have my breakfast following suit with the locals
An old colonial building turned into a university
Streets are blocked off to create gated communities in well-to-do neighborhoods
Lima is waking up to another morning, I buy fruit from this fruteria as I start my morning
As I start
east from my apartment, I come across another hole in the wall, which is a
bakery. Most people come and go after they purchase right off the oven baked
goods, but they also have a bar on the side, at which I situate myself to
observe the morning rush in the neighborhood. At least a dozen of different
kinds of bread rolls are piled up in trays. The French roll is the most
favorite obviously, the tray is sold out in 15 minutes after my arrival!
After I savor
my Peruvian cheese empanada with my fruit juice, I am on my way to Pueblo
Libre. A block away from the bakery, I come across an elderly woman, who is
walking with a lady, who seems to be her attendant. We exchange polite smiles and morning greetings.
I can tell, she is from a wealthy family, I move on. Lima is a
surprising city in that, you never know when one of the most elegant Colonial
buildings you will come upon around the corner. I pass by numerous such
buildings, some have been turned into functional public buildings. One such
building, and not very big at that, is the University of Peru for
Investigations and Negotiations; I don’t know what English equivalent is for
this university…
Gradually, I
am observing that I am moving into an upper middle class neighborhood. It is
interesting, in Lima, in such neighborhoods, some blocks are fenced into gated
communities with guards and all. However, there are neighborhoods that are
surrounded with public parks and free for all. I pass through one such small
park, I find myself in a lovely neighborhood with two story homes lined side by
side with small front yards, very neatly kept.
What is
surprising is that the elderly woman and her attendant apparently live here,
because they are entering the street I am enjoying from a different direction.
She recognizes me as I recognize her. This calls for a conversation. She asks
me whether I live there, and is very interested in me being a Norte Americana
visitor and strolling through her neighborhood. What is even more astonishing
is she gives me a magazine and tells me something about a religious group.
The street where I meet a local elderly woman, who tries to enlighten me with Jehova's Wittness literature!
First museum of the day
Tello Obelisk from Chavín de Huantar, the most important artifact at the Archeology Museum of Lima
These mini-malls are part of Lima neighborhood culture providing locals with produce, restaurants, services, all you may imagine
Shoe repair shop in the street mall
Museo de Larco with 4000 years worth of artifacts on display
Trust me I didn't photograph the most explicit pieces...
The street where I meet a local elderly woman, who tries to enlighten me with Jehova's Wittness literature!
I understand
that she is trying to enlighten me with the hopes that I may convert to this
group. She keeps on telling me “Testigos de Jehová”, however, in Spanish to an untrained
ear, like mine, it rings no bell! She will not give up. She fishes for a pen in
her purse and writes down “Testigos de Jehová”. The momento I see Jehova and
make the connection between Testigos and testimony, I understand that she is
trying to convert me to Jehova’s Wittnesses group, out of all congregations! I
thank her cordially and move away as fast as I can…
Now I can
really walk intentionally to find my museums. First destination is Museo de
Nacional de Archeologia, Anthroplogia, y Historia, which apparently is the largest and oldest museum in Peru. It
carries approximately 300,000 pieces! Although, its entrance is relatively
humble and modest, what is inside is indeed impressive. Tello Obelisk from
Chavín de Huantar culture is one, to which a whole room is dedicated. A German
visitor, who apparently knows the significance of it, circles around it time
and time again. I understand, I have to document this important structure,
which is very elegant, by the way.
Numerous gold
chest and facial masks fill some of the display cabinets. The scale model of
the infamous Inca city Machu Picchu is also impressive. They have also created model mummy cross sections to show how bones of the royal were preserved. There are samples from the long history of Lima. Unfortuantely, I am left with feeling, there is something missing here. A National Archeology, Anthropology, and History Museum in the capital of this rich country must be much richer. One
observation I make is that there are walls covered with images of clearly
historic artifacts as display. I am curious about where the actual artifacts
might be. Little do I know that I will have to wait to go to the next museum to
find them, who fell into smart private hands before the Peruvian government
would wake up to the importance of these invaluable pieces…
Ornaments from the Wari culture of Peru: all gold
When I leave the
museum, within couple of blocks, I stumble upon a mini, I mean mini street
mall. These street malls are about 3000 square feet or so, single story with
couple of small entrances. One may easily miss them if you don’t pay attention
to what is behind those entrances. And I do, and when I see some colors inside,
I step in. It is mostly a food market. I don’t know how people in Peru do not
suffer from severe gastrointestinal illness. In all these markets, meat, fish,
chicken are on display in open air on counters with no refrigeration. In addition to
fresh vegetable, fruit, meat stalls, there are multiple mini restaurants
scattered within the mall. What is most interesting is that there is also a
shoe repair store as well as a tailor. I ask the tailor, who most likely is of
European origin for his permission to take a picture of him, he tells me go
ahead, but turns his back to me, avoiding to pose for me. The shoe repair man,
who looks more indigenous on the other hand, poses and smiles at me while I
take a picture of him.
I am finally at
Museo de Larco. I know already that it is housed in an 18th-century vice-royal building that was built over a 7th-century
pre-Columbian pyramid! I am awed with how beautifully the grounds are kept. Once I walk into the
museum, I am even more amazed: The artifacts that are showcased here look like
they were created last year in an art studio. When I inquire about the
difference between the artifacts here and those at the museum that I just left
an hour ago, the response is that what is on display here may come from a later
era.
I can’t wrap my
head around this since this museum also showcase artifacts from 4,000 years of
Peruvian pre-Columbian history. My skeptical mind wonders, whether Mr. Larco
Herrera combed through the best pieces way before the Peruvian government and
claimed possession of the best pieces of the history. My
see-the-positive-in-everything mind on the other hand whispers to my ear “Good
thing that he acquired all of this, which kept it all in this land, instead of
being looted to some distant country”. I feel much better with that loving kind
thought.
I know that this
museum is well known for its gallery of pre-Columbian erotic pottery. But I want to have lunch first in the garden
café. Another delicious ceviche as I let myself to the comfort of the wicker
chair on the patio. The vines full of colorful flowers are hanging down the
awning of the patio, through the branches of which I savor the colors of the
bushes across the lawn against the restraining wall. If one wants to have hefty
heavy food here, it is quite available as I see some of the locals at the café
devouring fried meats of all kinds, big
sandwiches…
Many intricate pieces at Museum de Larco: Look at the details on this piece...
By the time I leave Lima I will have had one single sandwich with
pork at the Gastronomia Fair, the rest of meals, I will stick to ceviche,
tiradito, seafood soup or stew… I will lose 4 pounds of weight at the end of my
5-day trip to Lima, partly because of this healthy diet, and partly, 12-15
miles/day of city walking every day… Finally, I head
toward the basement section of the museum where pre-Columbian erotic pottery must be on display. I can’t believe my eyes. It
is almost a pornography museum!
Isn't it hard to believe these are thousands of years of age?
Any imaginable sexual position was poured into
little statues displaying
all their anatomically correct parts. What makes me chuckle the most is that
the bathroom gender designation is also expressed on this floor with mini
anatomically correct statues! This brings to mind a funny, at the time somewhat
scary experience from my early career years: Those were
the years, I was either more Turkish in mentality or people in my department
were warmer… Bill, my partner, who has passed away for 8 years, had made sugar cookies for Christmas. Zeynep, my daughter and her
then-boyfriend had dressed all the cookies when I was busy making Turkish
cookies.
Lovemaking ornamenting some of the utensils the antique cultures of Peru were apparently using day in day out!
When I came to the living room table where they were giggling and
chuckling, I could see why: They had made anatomically correct gingerbread
cookies with penises and all! I joined in the fun… Later in the evening,
I prepared all my cookie boxes to take to my department head, division
director, and our secretarial staff. Once I
delivered the cookies at work and returned home the next day, I found Bill and the kids
asking one another who had eaten the anatomically correct gingerbread
cookies??!!
I hope readers understand I am simply displaying here what art forms I viewed in Lima!
When I heard, none had, a cold shiver went down my back “My goodness,
then, I must have packed them into one or more of the boxes that I distributed
at work”! The next morning, the first thing to do was to ask our secretaries, who stated they had not. I certainly wouldn’t dare asking the higher ups whether they had eaten any of
my sexualized cookies. Years later at my career completion party, I dared telling this story to my
division director, who with his gentle smile had told me they had not, either. There was only
one person then, who had eaten my cookies but was such a gentleman, he had pretended it
never happened all these years.
By the time I
am done at Larco, I am ready to walk to San Isidro coast, which is the beach
section of Lima north of Miraflores. This section is not as well landscaped as
the Miraflores Melacone is. I see a huge gastronomy fair down by the beach.
Alas, they do not allow me enter because of my backpack! I stroll along the
water until I came upon a huge heart drawn on the beach with small pieces of
stones. How sweet… I find a rock and meditate on the beach listening to the
ocean, looking into the love filled heart before my feet.
Beautiful view of Chorillos and Barranco through the space between two crooked, nevertheless beautiful trees on San Isidro coast
A seagull flying over the Pacific, zoom in reduced resolution, but I like it even better with its mystical feel
The lovely café at Museo de Larco, serves very good food
Lima has an international book festival: Alas, I had no energy left in me to visit it at the very end of my busy day
Every neighborhood restaurant in Lima serves ceviche and tiradito of all kinds
The storage rooms of Museo de Larco contains three museum-worth artifacts
It is a long
walk to the Salaverry Avenue, which is my now routine route for transportation.
This is a wide and long throughway spanning this metropole vertically for miles
and miles. A few stops before I get off, I come across a huge book festival. I
am tempted to get off and visit, but I am so hungry and tired and somewhat
cold, I choose to head home. On the way home, though, I spot a cevicherria
right at the corner of my street!
Great, I
won’t have to look for a place to have dinner. It identifies itself as “Chicken
Bar” but I want to have another ceviche. They do have several kinds of ceviche
and I order fish ceviche this time. Interestingly, I will learn tomorrow that
what they serve me in fact is tiratido, meaning, instead of small cubes of
seafood being treated with lime juice, thin slices of fish is treated the same
way. After having my third, ceviche dish tomorrow, I will know that this one
was not treated enough with salt/lime juice. However, it
still tastes great and at the end of my dinner and having devoured another pisco
sour I am a happy camper. When I get home, I appreciate one more time how
little we need to have joy in life. Two days ago, this apartment was damp and
cold. Today, the warmth of my space heater, the truly hot water coming out of
my shower head, and the loving embrace of my new down comforter are more than
enough to put my life into perspective and fill my heart with joy. I send
loving kindness thoughts and texts to my hostess Sandra and drift into a
delicious sleep.
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| The Loving Heart that becomes my meditation tool on San Isidro Beach |
