When I flew back to Lima, I was greeted at the airport by Señor Luis, the taxi driver who has taken us to the schools, and his wife, Maria. They've been wonderful chauffeurs. They drove me to the apartment, where we met Gustavo, the Peru tour manager. Gustavo has been great at taking care of all the details, getting me to the gigs, dealing with the schedule and the schools, making sure I'm fed and watered. He's also good company, so that makes it very easy.
Here's the inside of the apartment. I meant to take pictures of the outside, but haven't yet.
It's quite comfortable. On the past two tours in Latin America, I stayed in hotels. This is a real treat.
Gustavo took me to lunch to welcome me officially. We went to an amazing buffet so I could taste different kinds of Peruvian foods. Have I mentioned how much I like ceviche? I didn't think I would. Raw fish in lime juice with onion and hot pepper? Nah, I don't think I'll be eating much of that, I thought. I was wrong. Believe me, it's fabulous. The lime juice cooks the fish. I must have had four or five kinds of ceviche at the buffet. My favorite was where I chose what seafood would go in it. I chose salmon and octopus. I could have added several other sea creatures, but decided to keep it simple. We washed the food down with chicha morada, a drink made from purple corn with cinnamon and clove (it's not the fermented kind of chicha). Yum.
We waddled out of the buffet. Gustavo took me back to Miraflores, my new neighborhood, and oriented me. We went to Larcomar, the fancypants mall overlooking the ocean a few blocks from my house. He took me past the lavanderia where they do laundry for around a dollar per kilogram (cheap!). He walked me to the grocery store and past the drugstores. We also passed a few casinos, but didn't stop in (and we're unlikely to). Gustavo left me to my own devices, with some food in the kitchen, a cell phone, and instructions on when we'd meet on Tuesday to go to the first school.
The next day was the only week day of the next five weeks with no school performances, so I took time to settle in, pick up my bag from the South American Explorers clubhouse, wander around the neighborhood, get more staples at the grocery store, check e-mail, and generally get myself prepared for the performances.
More on those soon.
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