we’re back in lima. i liked cusco & i love lima, but all of a sudden today i am so, so ready to go home. it’s all i can think about, really. sleeping in my own bed, drinking coffee in the morning, spending time with friends, reading at the beach, getting burritos, not worrying that every single thing i eat is going to make me sick… i miss all of that. intensely.

so. today we flew back to lima. david picked us up at the airport. we got a new room at the hotel. this one has a desk & a fridge & snacks. nice!

david picked us up in the afternoon to go to pachacamac, but we decided to stop to get sandwiches on the way. as we drove up to the sandwich shop there were police in riot gear EVERYWHERE on the street, david said it was because the prime minister was in town. then, while david was in the restaurant picking up our sandwiches, a huge mass of people came down the street, holding banners, yelling over a loudspeaker & chanting things in spanish that i didn’t understand. the cops stopped them a block away from us. we heard pops, david said later it was tear gas. so! welcome back to lima, here’s a communist protest.

after that, we went to pachacamac, which was a GIANT pre-incan city. it was almost entirely empty, so we drove & walked around & david told us all about the ruins. he’s a smart one, that david. it was super interesting & kind of nice to have it just be the three of us walking around the ruins.

later, mom & i went to get a drink at the orient express ($12 for two drinks is expensive even at home, but mom liked that the bartender played nat king cole for us so she tipped the shit out of him) & then i got an ice cream at a corner store.

tomorrow we’re going to the larco museum, then to the indian market, then to dinner at … a fancy restaurant out on the pier overlooking the ocean. mom told me the name but i don’t remember. danitza, david’s daughter, might come to dinner. i’m super excited to meet her.