Lucas and I have been in Lima for 14 days now and I have taken just under 800 pictures. Overwhelming to organize? You bet.
Notice how neither of us fit in the door frame? I’ve never felt tall before now. It is a wonderful feeling : )
After church on Sunday (the 30th), Lucas and I took advantage of the incredibly rare sunny weather and walked the long way home. It was perfect. The parks we walked through were filled with families, joggers, dog walkers and locals soaking up the sun.
We recently learned that Lima receives 1500 hours of sunlight per year. When people called this the grey city they were not kidding. To put this in perspective, Seattle receives 2000 hours of sunlight per year. Sunday was the first day that we saw the sun since stepping off the airplane (14 days ago). Since Lima is on the coast, the weather is consistently 60 degrees, overcast and humid all year. Technically right now is winter here but you would never know the difference between today and a day in January.
One specific park we walked through is called “Parque del Amor” and I’d say it represents the prevalent PDA here in Peru very well.
Seriously, aside from this sculpture, there are people making out everywhere. I’m always tempted to sneak a picture but then feel creepy and refrain.
We asked one of the local girls working on the project if it is normal to see people passionately kissing in public. Her answer was, “Yes. They are not ashamed of their love.” Around here, hello and goodbye hugs to people you don’t know very well are publicly accompanied by a kiss on the cheek, so I guess it is only natural for expressions of love to publicly include passion. An interesting cultural difference.
This wall, framing the cliff side of the park, has the names of lovers on it such as “Romeo y Juliet.”
I don’t know if he knew he was in the picture or not but he didn’t look like he was moving any time soon and I wanted the shot haha so here is a random man.
The church building was nice and so were all the people. The Bishop and other members made sure to talk with us. It is amazing how consistent the church is even on a different continent. Made me feel at home.