Hip, Hop, Peru continued from Page 47 were impressed upon me, if ever I found myself alone in unfamiliar territory, were: • Never hail a taxi from the street • Once in an authorised cab or uber, keep the window up and the door locked • Use the municipal police force (they are highly visible and each district has a number of personnel on the streets) for help and guidance • Keep your diamonds and designer bags at home • Don’t flash the cash I never once felt unsafe and relished the lunchtime swarm in the Government district, known colloquially as Downtown. Here, street food vendors do battle with trinket sellers, who do battle with city workers, who in turn do battle with their political masters, in a race for the best seat in the hundreds of cheap and cheerful restaurants in the CBD. Everyone is equal at lunchtime. Limans love their food and lunch is the biggest meal of the day. No one wants to waste a minute. The L’eau Vive (Living Water) or its Spanish moniker, Las Madrecitas de Agua Viva, is a magical restaurant run by Carmelite nuns inside their charter house. During the lunch and dinner hours, the doors open to anyone who can afford its 20 soles ($AU8) three-course meals. When the doors close, they reopen to feed those who can’t. The food was tasty and wholesome and the welcome even warmer.
The gardens in the Museo Larco
I’m not a shopper, however, that said, with time up your sleeve, you can discover why the city is home to some of the best gold workers, tailors and shoemakers in the region. Good quality fabric, cotton, in particular, and skilled tailors make a bespoke suit or shirt in just a few days. Rings can be fashioned in a matter of two to three days.
Entrance to the L'eau Vive
midnight. Turkey is the hero and is often taken to the local bakery to be roasted because Limans either don’t have ovens or rarely use them.
Did I mention the churches? Just as I am a sucker for museums, I do love a good church, as most selfrespecting agnostics do. There are plenty to choose from, particularly in Downtown. Lima at Christmastide is when they are at their most smiley.
In the evening, families of all ages and sizes troop to mass, which can be as short as 45 minutes or can stretch on for quite some considerable time. But a bit like a football match, people seem to come and go at will. We left after a polite 90 minutes, just in time to see a few Baby Jesus dolls being blessed by the priest in time to return to the home manger for the stroke of midnight.
Lovers of religious art may not find anything particularly sensational but I did rather enjoy the depiction of the Last Supper with a roasted guinea pig on the menu. That gem could be found in the dining hall in the monastery of the Church of San Francisco of Lima on a tour of the church’s catacombs. There were a scattering of skulls and hundreds of femurs with hip balls attached – many looked in better condition than mine.
That auspicious hour is marked by some of the best unofficial firework displays bursting out across the skyline. From balcony and apartment block vantage points, people run books on which district puts on the best display. After the last cracker fizzes into the night sky, the ambulance sirens start wailing. It was all very reminiscent of Guy Fawkes night decades ago…and why backyard bonfires were eventually banned.
A city of many millions of Catholics at Christmas time is ripe for fiesta. On Christmas Eve, non-retail businesses close about 2pm and families head home to prepare the meal that will be devoured at
And a final note is on health care.
The shops may look grungy and a little dodgy but the outcomes are wonderful and the prices compelling.
Household potable water is bought in bulk, and for tourists, it’s in bottles available from supermarkets and bodegas across the city. Tap water is not to be drunk without boiling. There are also plenty of opportunities for food spoiling in this humid city. With seafood being the number one delicacy, it is also the number one super highway to the toilet bowl. Let common sense be your guide when choosing venue and dishes, then sit back and enjoy. The cuisine of Lima is delicious! The public health system is mightily overworked, the private system expensive, and as a result, pharmaceuticals of many hues are readily available over the counter, usually from the stern-looking pharmacist in the local shopping centre. Smiling is not advised, but medical knowledge is a significant advantage. Vamos, Lima. I miss you.
48 | MARCH 2020
MEDICAL FORUM | PAIN MANAGEMENT ISSUE
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