El fin de semana: La Playa, Fútbol y Ciclodia

SO, the weekend is almost done.  Sitting here on a bright and warm Sunday afternoon with a cool breeze coming in through the open windows of my room collecting my thoughts....

Overcast Beach - southern Lima

 It's fall in Lima, and the weather has been amazing.  75 degrees during the day, 65 degrees at night, sunny...like california ;-)  However, that doesn't mean the beaches are like California at this time of year.  Sunny in Lima = foggy & overcast in the southern beaches.  The beaches to the South of Lima are supposed to be the best in Peru and it was definitely nice but it was the cast of characters that made the trip.  To protect the innocent I will refer to my new found friends and companions as el español , el profesor, el gordo, y los limeños (two brothers).  These guys are hilarious! We went to Playa El Silencio (Beach of the silence) and it was divided up among vendors who were like jackals at a carcass trying to aggressively direct you sit in their section of the beach.  They bring food, beer, water and whatever else you need to your beach chairs, there was a live band playing and some beach-side clubs were starting to open up around 5pm.  We relaxed in our chairs, watched the surfers, ate some local peruvian dishes on the beach, drank some beers, conversed with the vendors on the beach selling everything from books, to gum, to ice cream, to chicken sandwiches and had a great time eventhough it was overcast and a little cold with no sunshine.  Guess I'll just have to come back during beach season in Jan/Feb ;-)   
 

E.T. selling ice cream in Perú

Then we went to get lúcuma ice cream -  lúcuma is a fruit unique to Perú and they make it into a yummy ice cream with a distinct flavor....it's sweet, kind of like a light nutty sweet potato flavor and the ice cream here was light orange in color.  It's yummy.  They like to mix it with pecans and it makes it even yummier ;) The really interesting thing is that it's in a location similar to Roswell New Mexico or Area 51 that has a ton of UFO sitings or OVNIs.  SO, they have E.T. peddling lúcuma ice cream and some people believe that lúcuma fruit was actually given to the Peruvian people by extraterrestiral species.  I bet you thought E.T. just wanted to phone home - I know I did. 

The Gordo then  took off to see his favorite Fútbol team and we went to play volleyball & Fútbol with some of the limeños friends. We had an international team of a spaniard, two  limeños, an ecuadorian and the token mexican-american from the U.S. - after getting thoroughly stomped in volleyball we had to make-up  for it in Fútbol aka soccer.  3 on 3 soccer, on a small concrete court, fist team to score 2 goals wins.  We had 4 teams total and, of course, I get the two last picks since I'm the new guy from the U.S. but we had teamwork. GO Teamwork!!! 
 We ended up winning and you can see one of our last goals in the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1974617487639&saved#!/video/video.php?v=1974617487639&comments

After experiencing some of the nightlife in Lima in the District of Miraflores, which is an upscale area of lima known for it's night life, shopping, gardens, flower-filled parks and beaches, I decided to stretch out the legs this morning on Ave Arequipa.  Every Sunday the 52 blocks of Ave Arequipa are closed for Ciclodia to support exercise and healthy activities in Lima.  I took a tour of all 52 blocks and saw parks filled with people participating in free Zumba classes, cardio kickboxing classes, spin classes going on, free water stations with water and powerade as well as streets full of cyclists, runners, roller bladers and families walking together.  I thought it was the perfect way to end my first weekend in Lima with sunshine, exercise, and enjoying the unique culture of the city. 

More info on ciclodia -
http://www.livinginperu.com/news-14265-lima-lima-cyclists-skaters-take-over-av-arequipa-first-ciclodia
http://www.munlima.gob.pe/Publicacion/Publica.aspx?nid=2181&t=El-domingo-27-de-febrero-se-inicia-el-programa-Ciclodia-Recreativo