The futility of blending in

Blending in is the goal for most travellers and, let's be honest, approximately 90% of the time it's a futile endeavor. Granted I don´t look Peruvian and I might have a better chance of blending in in an European country or even in Chile or Argentina.  But even then my clothes, North face backpak and Chaco sandals would give me away. But even if you dressed me out of a native limeños closet I would still stand out. You can play spot the tourist very easily and it isn't just the clothes and the complexion that give the tourist away. It's the way we move. As we walk down the street we look as though we are trying to soak up the atmosphere and our surroundings or as if we trying to figure something out or find somewhere. Yesterday imagined myself blending as I walked down the street. I tried to walk with purpose and not look lost, but really I was keeping my eyes peeled for the bus station my couch surfing host had directed me to while not getting hit by the traffic patterns that I didn´t understand while staring at all of the signs in Spanish. I truly gave up on any hope of blending in when, a few hours later, a guy stopped me on the street and asked "Are you America? I could totally tell."

Thus far I like this country. The people are very nice. I'm adjusting to having nearly every man who talks to me hit on me to one degree or another, though they haven't been aggressive or over the top about it. It's almost sweet and flattering. Almost. The weather is warm and humid. I got a little sunburned. Damn Oregon skin. I spent most of my first day in Peru wandering around the historic center of downtown Lima. The city is a mass of colonial buildings, people, and traffic. There do not seem to be enough traffic lights for the number of intersections and vehicles the city accommodates. There are traffic lights and crosswalk signals in some places, but they seem to be ignored only a little bit less than they are obeyed. The crosswalk signals confused me at first because they count down to how much longer you need to wait to cross as well as counting down how much time you have until the signal turns red again. Cars crowd into intersections and crosswalks when they have green lights. If the cars get stopped for more than 2 seconds pedestrians take advantage and cross on a red. If a pedestrian is in the crosswalk when the traffic in front of a car starts moving the cars start honking. They LOVE to use their car horns here. Taxis honk to see if you want a ride, cars honk when they go through an intersection to alert others cars. They honk just for fun.

I walked down a pedestrian thoroughfare crowded with shops. In addition to a plethora of electronic and clothing shops there was a Dunkin Donuts, Payless Shoesource, KFC and, of course, McDonalds. It still surprises to see so many American shops outside of the USA. The thoroughfare led to Plaza de Las Armas, which is the main square with the cathedral and presidential palace. When I arrived there was a policeman on every corner keeping people out of the center of the square and throngs of people lining the edges. Turns out there was a rally car show about to happen. The cars were boring, but the spectacle was fun to see. I then went to the San Francisco Monastery and Catacombs, which were beautiful and eery. Afterwards a Peruvian who had lived in Seattle for 2 years be-friended me. We went and ate Chinese food in the tiny Barrio Chino (I saw not a single Chinese person, but the dim-sum was delicious) and then went and got pisco and played spot the tourist from a balcony. Ask a Peruvian and they will say that Pisco is a national Peruvian beverage. Ask a Chilean and they will say that the Peruvian is full of it and pisco is clearly Chilean. I really like the peruvian variety, I´ll compare it to the Chilean stuff later on. My new Peruvian friend was HILARIOUS. He spoke excellent English and kept surprising me when phrases and slang. He taught me some peruvian slang and then we discovered that we both spoke Italian. After a few minutes of speaking Italian he informed me that I didn´t speak English and broke into a pretty decent English accent. I almost fell off my chair.

This morning I went to an arqueological site in Lima and then took a long bus ride south to Huacachina, a little oasis town surrounded by sand dunes. Tomorrow, sand boarding. Now, showering off the sand from hiking up the dunes earlier.