Living in Peru : your everyday companion

translated by Wolfy Becker
 
(original German text by Mathias Thurm, Die Welt)

Iglesia La Ermita in Barranco, Lima (Photo: elmorsa, at Flickr)

In the "Barrio Barranco" people are realizing the extreme social opposites existing in Peru's capital from a relaxed and friendly side.


Through the eyes of Peruvian writer Sebastián Salazar Bondy, Lima was "La horrible". The verdict of his colleague Mario Vargas Llosa, who owns a luxury apartment with ocean view in Lima's upper-class district of Miraflores, is also anything else but flattering: "If you live in Lima, you either have to get used to adversity or dirt, otherwise you'll turn crazy or commit suicide."

Nevertheless, most foreign tourists cannot escape Lima. Jorge Chavez International Airport in Callao, located on the outskirts of Lima in midst several shanty towns, is the eye of the needle for international travelers headed for the Sierras, the rain forest, Lake Titicaca, or the old Incan capital Cusco and the nearby sanctuary of Machu Picchu. Their stay in the loud, smelling, by extreme social opposites affected eight-million metropolis, usually doesn't last longer than the wait for the next connection flight.

The Bridge of Sighs: Puente de los Suspiros, Barranco, Lima (Photo: elmorsa, at Flickr)

That's actually pretty sad, because not just the Plaza de Mayor or the very nice looking districts of Miraflores and San Isidro are worth a visit. Primarily the still widely undiscovered Barrio Barranco shows the city from a whole different perspective.

Bordering south of the business areas of San Isidro and Miraflores, Barranco, with its 3 1/2 square kilometers and 40,000 inhabitants, is not only the smallest but also the oldest of Lima's 22 districts. After officially being founded in 1874, Barranco mainly used to be Lima's beach, pleasure and entertainment district. Many wealthier Limeños had their summer- and weekend residences there.

Fortunately Barranco was spared the fate of San Isidro and Miraflores, where today the old colonial architecture of the Spanish conquistadores has been replaced by modern office- and apartment buildings, shopping malls und recreation centers.

Here you can still find architectural contemporary witnesses of a boom long gone, buildings that emanate the rather morbid Bohemian charm: the typical wooden balconies with prim balustrades and house walls as colorful as the world of comics: from blue to red, yellow, green, turquoise, pink and purple, the whole a color palette. It almost seems as if these colors are meant as a contrast to the rather scarce natural greens.

Colorful facades: La calle Cajamarca, Barranco, Lima (Photo: elmorsa, at Flickr)

If the strikingly colored facades express something like a fairy tale, something unreal, then this impression is even more underlined by the old streetcar of the Museo de la Electricidad. The discarded wooden wagon drags up and down Avenída Pedro de Osma just like it was a hundred years ago.

On the bigger streets however, like Avenída Bolognesi and Avenída Grau, which connect Barranco with northwest Miraflores and southeast Chorillos, the bluster of big city life is ever present. Drivers of taxis, combis, minivans and buses, shoeshine boys, hawkers and cambistas, the money changers in their blue and beige vests, are pretty straight forward if they "scent" a potential customer. And this group includes everyone that doesn't walk straight ahead without hesitation, especially blondes, the trademark of gringos.

Bajada de baños, Barranco, Lima (Photo: elmorsa, at Flickr)

Honking, whistling, and convincing argumentation are their main tools to get into business. Many times, the services they offer, which shouldn't be accepted or agreed to without intense negotiations, turn out rather helpful. A taxi drive for about 12 Soles (4 dollars, 3 Euro) is still the fastest and most convenient way of getting to the center of Lima, even if your nerves and vertebrae are put to the test by the rickety vehicles hurtle over pot holes and speed bumps. It is amazing how traffic laws, if there are any, are influenced by the size and value of a car, the awareness for unpaid liability insurances, and the competition for the loudest horn and the longest arm. Still, all things considered, accidents really don't happen that often.

Barranco unfolds its most charming assets and exceptional character away from the wide and busy avenues. If you stroll from Parque Municipal in front of the public library down towards the Iglesia La Ermita, whose red facade glares from afar, you will soon reach the wooden "Puente de los Suspíros". The "bridge of sighs" is not only the hot spot for the young and old on weekends, but also something like the district's landmark. The great Peruvian chansonière Chabuca Granda honored the bridge by dedicating one of her songs to her. A memorial near the bridge pays homage to the artist and her motif.

Nothing has changed until today. As it always was, young couples meet there and sometimes send their big sighs of love towards the sky. Surrounded by the many tiny inviting restaurants with terraces on which one can enjoy the evening sun, a small footpath, the "Bajada de Banos" leads underneath the bridge down the cliffs towards the ocean. All hustle and bustle, noise, and smell of the city seems endlessly far away from here.

Bajada de baños, footpath into the ocean (Photo: elmorsa, at Flickr)

The few tourists finding their way to Barranco are provided with an astonishing number of options in regards to cozy little bars, cafes, restaurants, salsa and jazz clubs, for example the "Posado de Los Angeles", "La Noche" or "Monos Morenas". These are all places that would attract the same crowd if located in one of Germany's hip student districts.

The "Juanito" however, right across the Parque Municipal, is the opposite. You won't see anything but a lowered corrugated metal curtain until late afternoon. After sundown however the scenery changes rapidly and the place comes alive. The common people of the neighborhood meet and discuss anything with tapas, beer and Inka Cola.

If you are a tourist with at least a little knowledge of the Spanish language it is very easy to engage in a conversation with the local crowd.