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| Flowers at the park |
It’s been
hot since we got here. The sun is so strong in Lima. According to my siblings,
the radiation levels in the city are some of the highest. Despite these
warnings, I still managed to burn myself by walking around the city without
sunscreen. I have heard several times that Peru is one of the countries that
will be most impacted by climate change and, experiencing such a warm fall
(over 30 degrees Centigrade at times!) makes me wonder if the changes are
already starting to be felt.
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| The birthday boy! |
I would be
lying if I didn’t mention that my favorite photography day so far has been my
nephew’s birthday party. My nephew, Nicolas, is half Italian-Peruvian and half
Japanese-Peruvian. We learned that in Japanese culture, it is important to
celebrate the third year of life, so my sister went ahead and planned a big,
fun party. At this moment, Nicolas is very into cars, trucks and anything with
wheels, so my sister threw him a Cars-themed party that included big
decorations, a gigantic inflatable slide and bouncy area, a trampoline, lots of
yummy food, and a children’s show that revolved around car-racing!
It was a big
party and they probably won’t be throwing another big party like this for a
great while. My sister told me they had to work hard to make this happen!
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| Nicolas and his presents! |
Some may say
that such a party is too much for kids and, if it weren’t my nephew’s party, I
might agree. But, once you are in the party and you see all the kids having
fun, and all the family and friends spending time with each other while the
kids play, it really seems worth it. For those who are not familiar with
birthday parties in Peru, or at least in Lima, grownups are usually invited to
the party along with their kids. To Joe, who grew up in the US, this is totally
different as grownups are usually not included in kids’ birthday parties. I
personally like the whole family thing because it brings everyone together to
celebrate.
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| My cousin's exhibit at MALI |
Once the
party was over, we went back to my sister’s house and unloaded several bags of
presents onto the living room floor. In total, Nicolas ended up with 71
presents from his friends at school and his aunts and uncles! He was one
excited kid. My sister is now in the process of sorting through the presents
and seeing which ones he’ll get to open, which ones he’ll get to keep and which
ones he’ll have to give away to kids who are less fortunate. As she pointed it
out, a 3-year old doesn’t need to have SO many toys!
Yes, that
day was by far my favorite one. Not only did I see Nicolas celebrate, but I
also saw my nephew Adrian and met my niece Julieta.
But, not all
photos that are taken with love make for good photos to sell or turn into
cards. I mean, I would buy a million photos of my nephews and niece, but except
for my siblings and my mom, I don’t think many other people would be interested
in them!
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| Historic Center of Lima |
My second favorite photo shoot happened on accident. On Monday we jumped on a cab headed to Downtown Lima, to the Parque de la Exposicion, a park that includes several art museums, a small lake where you can rent rowboats, a public art exhibit, and many other attractions geared towards public enjoyment. We were going there to catch an art exhibit featuring one of my cousins, David Zink Yi (http://davidzinkyi.net/). David is an artist who currently lives in Berlin, Germany, but who is now spending some time in Lima with his family while his exhibition is taking place.
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| Colonial Balconies |
Unfortunately, we forgot that on Mondays most museums are closed so, when we got there, the guard told us we had to come back some other day. We were then forced to change our plans. We decided to start walking towards the heart of the historic downtown, an area which includes the Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace) and many other gorgeous historic colonial buildings and churches. The historic center of Lima was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
We walked through the different plazas, and along the Jiron de la Union, a pedestrian street lined with colorful colonial buildings that have now become stores, tattoo parlors, and restaurants. On the Jiron it is common for people to offer you services for your trip or products such as maps or tours.
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| Balcony in the Municipality |
After walking in the heat for a while, we reached the Plaza Mayor, the main plaza, which is surrounded by the Palacio de Gobierno, the Municipality and the Cathedral of Lima. The Plaza in itself is quite impressive but the buildings around it are even better! Lima is nearly 500 years old (founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro) and was the main post of the Spanish Crown during the era of the Conquistadores. The buildings show the importance of the city and speak of the historical events that took place inside them. I personally think it is quite amazing and puzzling that some people who come to Peru skip Lima altogether!
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| Jiron de la Union |
We walked around the plaza and I snapped photos of the monuments and buildings. My main interest was photographing the historic balconies of the buildings surrounding the plaza.
Apparently, besides having been known as the City of the Kings, Lima also used to be known as the City of Balconies, with about 1,600 of them still around the historic center. The balconies are of Arab influence and were built in the late 17th and 18th centuries, most of them during Colonial times, and some during Republican times. These balconies are made of carved wood and are closed balconies.
I had a photographic feast with these beautiful balconies. As you can see in the photos, they are huge in size and the designs are very varied as well.
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| Plaza Mayor |
When we were done, we headed out to meet family for lunch and then to hang out with my older nephew Adrian. The rest of our stay here has been like that, hanging out with family, taking it easy and enjoying the low-key lifestyle of the city. It is going to be hard to leave and go back to work and life, but maybe, at some point in the future, we’ll be living this slow-paced lifestyle everyday.
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| Downtown Lima |
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| Lima´s coast |
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| Sunset on the coast |
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