Peruvian Ghetto

2/28 and 3/01

Callao Peru (and Lima)

When we first docked in Callao, Peru, I felt like we needed to bar the ship. It was kind of scary when we had to get off the ship and do a drill. This place was not safe, even the locals said you needed to take a taxi directly to Lima, otherwise you will get mugged. No question. So, after our epic boat drill in the morning that took literally 3 hours, myself, my friends Pablo (guitar player) and Jessica (the other singer in m cast) decided to find an artsy part of town to go listen to music and get coffee. It took forever to explain (even with a Spanish speaker) that we didn’t want to go shopping; we just wanted to go where the cool locals go to have fun. So, we split a cab that was 15 bucks per hour, and we headed to a place called Barranco. But our cab driver was determined to charge us more than 15 so he didn’t even end up taking us to our destination because he went over the hour. We ended up stopping in an Incan market, which was really cool anyway. But since I am trying to at least attempt to pinch the pennies, I thought we should try to find this place that people told us about called Barranco. So, having my Spanish friend Pablo with us, we trusted him to find the cheapest transportation there. We then hopped on this tiny van/ bus that looked like a clown car while it was still moving and just laughed and went for it. We were so crammed in there. The bus was so tiny, but it was built like a regular city bus with hand railings and ceiling bars. We were totally the only people in there that spoke English. It only cost 50 cents though, so it was worth it for the experience. We then got to our little area of town and it was exactly what we wanted. There were locals, hippies and backpackers everywhere. It was ideal. We were a little hungry, so we wanted to stop and get come coffee and food. Turns out, we loved the place that we stopped and stayed there for 2 hours drinking the native drink (Pisco Sours which have Lime, egg whites, agave nectar, and pisco, which is distilled grapes) and eating their snacks (Fried popcorn kernels) and homemade Ceviche. Oh my gosh, the food and drinks were amazing! But even better than that, we were the only people in there, so we OWNED that place. Jessica played a few of her songs on their piano, Pablo picked up their guitar off the wall and played his Chilean music, and I attempted to play a few songs on the guitar while Jessica and I sang. It was so much fun. We were just living the life of a local. This had to have been one of my favorite days. The owner of the restaurant said to us he was so delighted to have us musicians in his “house” and that he wished we could stay longer. After many Pisco Sours (haha) we decided it was time to explore. We then went around this cool little town and saw a hostel for backpackers. We wanted to maybe stay in town for the night since it was such a neat area, so we explored this adorable hostel. It was so cheap, we really wanted to stay, but Jessica had her expensive camera with her, so we didn’t end up staying. We then wandered a little more, because it was just so nice there. Pablo began to chat it up with some Chilean selling jewelry on the street. I remember thinking; this really reminds me of Venice Beach right now. There were TONS of hippies and artists and surfers right in the area. We asked if this place was happening at night, and the locals said it’s not safe on weekdays, don’t come back. We were kind of bummed, but thanked them for their honesty. We then wandered more to check out a cathedral and the other side of town. There were these motorcycles with plastic covers that we really wanted to take us back into town. They didn’t go all the way back to Callao, just around town (I can see why now, these are REALLY dangerous) Thank goodness we are alright, but we hopped in and took a ride to another part of town, clearly not as safe. A day later, I found out that no one takes a risk of riding in those things because so many people die. Whoops (sorry Mom) I got out without a scratch haha and it was so much fun! After that, we hopped on a bigger bus. Thank God for Pablo because Jessica and I would have been dead if he did not speak Spanish for us to get around. There were two older ladies on the bus who told us to really watch our bags because they assault people right off the bus. I was scared, but really aware of my surroundings. The bus took us closer to where we needed to be, but not to Callao. We stopped several cabs asking them to take us to Callao, but none of them would take us. Ya’ll this was the ghetto! People apparently break into cabs and rob them. We finally found one taxi driver to take us only because he had no idea where he was going. Ah ignorance is bliss. If I would have known how dangerous this part of town was I wouldn’t have slept with the windows open! But again, we were fine. I truly think there is something said about sending out fear energy when you go out. If you act confident, people tend to think you know what you are doing. In other words, act like a local and people leave you alone. It’s the naive tourists who 90 % of the time get mugged. But caution is always good too. We finally made it back to the ship and didn’t go out again at night. They threw a party for crew only to make sure none of us went out. Apparently last year, a crew member was beaten severely. So, we found the best part of town and had a blast while it was still safe. I didn’t go out the next day either since I had friends visiting on board and tons of adorable little orphans on the ship that day. I don’t regret it since I’m not even sure how we made it to that little gem of a place called Barranco, and I am not sure if we could have found it again. Twas a little slice of heaven. J