Yesterday I made my way back to Pueblo Libre to see Astrid and to visit Hugo y Luz- Astrid's great aunt & uncle. Apparently they were upset that I hadn't called them which is completely valid as I said I would keep in touch. Well to me, keeping in touch means calling when I get back to the states, but to people who don't have as long to live, it means call in a week. Oops. 'Why didn't you call us' was the first thing Hugo said to me! I stayed for lunch which we started off with a salad of lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes and tuna with aji paprika olive oil drizzled on top. Salad was followed by pineapple chicken accompanied by rice. There's nothing like home cookin! Ingredients here are so fresh and not very far removed from their origin. I love it here! Astrid and I left Hugo y Luz's house where Astrid's mother and 2 uncles are staying as well during their visit to Lima. We strolled around Pueblo Libre catching up and browsing the local markets that have the same touristy chatchkees as the next. We winded down the evening with a Peruvian dessert of which I forget the name but it resembles a warm rice pudding which usually has raisons (although this particular establishment had run out) and sprinkled with cinnamon (Jane is cringing right now- shout out to Jane who hates cinnamon with a passion! Love you boo). It was a perfect way to wrap up my afternoon. I trekked back to Barranco and took it easy for the night as I had the day off. I watched a wonderful and moving documentary which was recommended to me by 2 different friends. This life-changing film is entitled 'Earthlings' and I recommend that each and every one of you look into it. Keep in mind it's slightly visually disturbing. That's all I have to say about that (in a Forest Gump accent).

I ventured out to Central Lima today for the first time which is actually quite sad (that fact it took me this long, not the actual area). Because I didn't have access to money for so long as I was robbed at a festival when I first arrived, I wasn't able to explore as much as I wanted to. Luckily Astrid wanted to go explore the touristy stuff downtown so we put together a plan, chatted with the lovely local Peruvian girls in their early twenties who work in reception at my hostel, about how to take the bus, where to eat, and how much a taxi should cost if we choose to not take the public bus. We're on a budget so the public bus it was- which was 1.5 Soles. Astrid and I stood on the crowded bus holding on the the handles that dangled against my forehead which is located in an entirely different atmosphere than the average Peruvian, and rode the 45 minutes to central Lima. We were greeted by a giant statue of which we didn't hesitate to take pictures and then proceeded to walk in the wrong direction to the non Plaza de Mayor for about 10 blocks- but its okay- we took the scenic route! After finding our way to the correct tourist-infested Plaza, we found a location for lunch as it was almost 2pm and neither of us had consumed anything other than coffee for the day! We sat at the first outdoor cafe we could find and ordered ourselves a starter of fried yucca with a delicious Peruvian style tartar sauce to start out with followed by causa de pollo for Astrid (read my last blog with a description on causa) and Palta Rellena for me (an avocado half with a scoop of chicken salad in the middle), both traditional Peruvian dishes. We sipped on cappuccinos and chatted for 2 hours. It was fantastically lovely. When we finished up lunch around 4, Astrid and I roamed the streets of Central Lima taking pictures of the wonderfully designed structures that we could tell had a lot of planning involved in the architecture and execution. We probably should have kept in mind that many buildings that are open for tourism close at 5pm because as we approached a museum, a disappointed crowd was leaving the front door as they had been turned down for entry because of the time. Oops. We went to the one place we knew wouldn't turn us down; church! We entered the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas and scooted past the other tourists waiting in line to take a peek at one of the many dedicated shrines of various saints, Jesus, and Mary decorated with flowers, gold, and crucifixes. As the sun was setting, I knew I needed to get on my way back to Barranco before it got dark. Astrid walked me to the bus station and she caught a cab to head back to Pueblo Libre. I was slightly concerned about finding my way back but knew with the head on my shoulders I've had for some time now that I would be able to figure it out! Welp I missed my stop by 6 stations because I misunderstood the name of the bus station. Luckily, the bus system is similar to the metro in DC in that if you miss a stop, you can get off and hop on the next vehicle heading in the opposite direction for no extra fee. I still got off at the wrong stop because apparently there are 2 Metros in Barranco (Metro is coincidentally the name of the big chain grocery store near where I live and I use it as a landmark on a day to day basis. I found a security man, asked if I could walk to which he replied no as it was too dangerous. Luckily he told me not to pay more than 3 Soles for a cab for where I needed to go and I was dropped off at my front door! I spent the remainder of the evening winding down from all the tiring walking all day and sat back with 2 groovy Aussies to watch another mind-blowing documentary. Go watch Zeitgeist 1. Then Zeitgeist 2. Then 3. They're pretty controversial and I'm pretty sure you will never be the same.