learning to dance to the beat of the Peruvian drum

Well I've now completed by second complete day in Peru, both of them spent in Lima.  It is a fascinating city, a disturbing combination of neatly-trimmed and manicured parks and half-finished cement block homes tightly lining most of the streets.  Areas of the city are very attractive, and we enjoyed a nice walk along the ocean and through some nice parks where there are bike paths, young professionals walking their dogs, and diversity.  We attracted very little attention in that part of town.



 People tell me one of Peru's trademarks is its food, and I find that to be true so far!  We've had a couple of traditional Peruvian dishes... pollo a la braza (which is basically fried chicken with french fries), aji de gallina (a delicious chicken sauce eaten over potatoes with a boiled egg and olives), and mazamorra morada with arroz con leche (a sweet purple corn and fruit sauce served with a rice pudding-type thing).  I'm loving it, but perhaps my hips aren't!  Ha ha.

We have also been getting to know some of the sisters -- Rosaleen, Pilar, Adriana (a novice), Juanita, and others.  They seem to be a very vibrant, committed community with a deep, rich history with the people of Peru.  I hope to learn much more from them as time progresses!

There are many sites around Lima worth seeing... churches, parks, museums, but I think one of my favorite activities so far was visiting the community of sisters in Lurigancho, a district in east Lima.  First of all, it was a wonderful celebration of Rosaleen's birthday, and I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with their community.  It was a perhaps profound moment, though, when Adriana was giving us a tour of the house and took us out on their balcony and then up to a higher roof, where we could see the whole neighborhood.  I can't describe it, but you can see the picture (and there's a couple more on facebook).  The reality in which this community of sisters is submerged cannot be forgotten from this vantage point.

As we were walking to catch a bus to go home from the party, we stopped at a monument there and Rosaleen told us a story.  I don't want to shortchange the immensity of the event by describing it briefly here, so please forgive me for not giving it due detail and emotion, but I think it offers a very slight taste of Peru's historical reality and the presence of the sister's and other members of the Church within that reality. Seven people were killed in that place by the police in 1989.  One of them was an Incarnate Word sister, the rest were inmates from the prison who escaped in protest of poor living conditions. They took the whole ministry team hostage, and the police opened fire on them (knowing they were unarmed).  The sister was the first one shot and killed, and after that they men from the prison put their other hostages on the ground and covered them with their own bodies to protect them; no other hostages were killed. Six of the nine men from the prison were killed.  Even after a life hardened by who-knows-what kind of upbringing and life in one of the most notorious prisons in the world, these men had the compassion to protect their hostages.  I have yet to reflect more fully on that event.

We have one more day in Lima tomorrow, when we will visit a couple of museums, including a museum of national history, which I am very excited for.  Then Wednesday we will head to Chimbote!  I may add a brief update on tomorrow's happenings but if not my next post will be from my new home six hours up the coast!

Peace and unrest to you.