Lima, Peru May 9-16, 1979
After somewhat dreading my arrival in this seething city of 3 million or more, I find I have ‘fallen in love’ with Lima. It’s a terrific city – a real city-city in the European sense of the word, like London or Athens or Paris. Always a crush of people on the streets – street vendors selling coat-hangers, tablecloths, sweaters, purses, jewelry, candy, cake, fruit and coca. Some of them just kids, perhaps no more than 12 years old, but already very shrewd little business men and women. And all the shops. There’s nothing you can’t buy here. And there are hundreds of really good restaurants and cafes, serving super salads, fruit juices and of course wonderful pastries. And music, and theater, and incredible museums. It’s all here. And the city is so clean and so safe-feeling that I can really enjoy it. The men here generally leave the women alone – they may look, but they keep their mouths shut. So I’ve been able to lift my eyes from the pavement, to put a little spring back in my step, and a smile on my face.
I’ve been here almost a week, a week of pay de limon, torta de chocolate, de queso, de prune, de manjar blanco y de manzana; a week of mazzamora morada, leche asada, arroz con crema and crema voltada; a week of sublime bars and street sweets and donuts filled with apple dulce; a week of paltas and papas and tomates rellenas, ensaladas mixtes, ceviches de pescado; a week of jugos de fresas y crema, papaya, manzana, and a wonderful surtido of papaya, pina, banana, beet and apple juice; a week of the most wonderful food I have eaten anywhere! And about five more pounds of flesh on my bones to show for it. I tell myself I’m preparing for the food drought ahead... .
Apart from eating, Sue and I did manage to drag ourselves out of the various restaurants, cafes and sidewalk jugarias just long enough to keep up a daily dose of culture – a museum a day: anthropology, ceramics and textiles, erotica, gold, and the fascinating museum of the Inquisition. I felt pretty overwhelmed by it all – lots to see, but unfortunately not much description or explanation of what we were viewing.
I was particularly taken with the weavings of the Paracas culture. It existed, in a coastal area just south of Lima, near the Nazca Lines, from around 800-100 BC. So it predated the Nazcas. The Paracas buried their dead in sitting positions, wrapped with multiple layers weavings. Their textiles are thought to be some of the finest ever produced by a pre-Columbian Andean society. Many of the textiles were amazingly well-preserved, apparently due to the very dry nature of the tombs in which they were found, and the colours are astonishingly vivid. The flying ‘space-man’ figures, men – or gods – holding severed heads, or intricately patterned snakes, and the strange birds and animals depicted in the weavings captured my imagination.
The images above are all from post-cards I bought at the museum.
I made pencil crayon and water colour renditions of several of the figures. I found them fascinating and disturbing in equal measure.
For more information on the Paracas culture go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracas_culture
The Nazca culture, which came shortly after the Paracas culture, and lived in the same area, flourished from around 100 - 800 AD. They are of course most famous for the Nazca lines, a series of huge geoglyphs scratched on the surface of the ground, about 400 km south of Lima, between 500 BC and 500 AD. They are now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For more information on the lines go to: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/700/
Like the Paracas, the Nazca created fabulous weavings and wonderful ceramics. Their weavings are similar to the Paracas, equally intricate, using several unusual weaving techniques.
Nazca ceramics are most famous for their polychrome character – at least 15 different colours can be found on Nazca pots. Designs range from very realistic depictions of fruits, plants, birds and animals to highly geometric forms. Pots come in a wide variety of shapes, including human heads, and a wide range of fishes, birds and animals. Many ceramics are decorated with unusual figurines. According to Wikipedia, “The Nazca believed in powerful nature spirits who were thought to control most aspects of life. The Nazca visualized these nature spirits in the form of mythical beings, creatures having a combination of human and animal/bird/fish characteristics, and painted them onto their pottery. These Mythical Beings include such varieties as the Anthropomorphic Mythical Being, Horrible Bird, Mythical Killer Whale, Spotted Cat, Feline Man and Rayed Face.”
For more information on the Nazca culture go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_culture
I was also intrigued by the weavings and ceramics of the Chancay culture. The Chancays emerged in the same general area as the Paracas, but much, much later – from around 1000 – 1400 AD. Their weavings were equally beautiful, and included incredibly fine weavings done with a gauze-like material. Apparently these weavings were for ritual and magical use. I particularly admired one in which fish had been woven into the fabric and appeared to be floating or swimming in gently undulating waves.
The woven designs tended to be highly geometric, in the forms of humans, plants, birds, fish, and animals such as cats, dogs, and monkeys. The bird and animal figures often had elaborate head dresses, so perhaps might have been gods.
From a postcard I bought at the museum.
The other Chancay items that I found intriguing were the many ceramic objects – mostly pots and drinking vessels, some very large, but also some solid figurines, likely votive objects or idols. The creativity in the shapes of the vessels was remarkable. There were many in the shape of human heads, but additionally there were frog pots, cat pots, fruit pots, warrior pots, foot pots, fucking pots, and killing pots. There were also some astonishingly intricately molded and sculptured pots, some depicting family scenes with whole groups of little figures sitting in little houses atop a perfectly fitting lid. Some pots had strikingly primitive line drawings etched on their gently curving surfaces, telling a story of hunt and capture, battle and kill.
And then there were the many pots specifically for the drinking of chicha. These had two spouts – the second spout enabled air entry, thereby ensuring a constant flow of chicha from the other.
For more information on the Chancay culture go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancay_culture
The Chimu Empire arose just after the Moche civilization, in around 900 AD. It was situated in northern Peru, along the coastline. The Mochica and Chimu people built pyramids such as the ones we saw near Trujillo. The capital of the Empire was Chan Chan. The Empire was the last to be conquered by the Incas, but finally fell in 1493. The Chimu were tremendous artisans, creating textiles, pottery, and various items of metal, including of course gold and silver.
For more information on the Chimu Empire go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimor
Mochicha painting - fabulous supernatural figures
One section of the museum was dedicated to the gold and silver ornaments made by all of the cultures. There were some very finely filigreed and lacy pieces of jewelry – earrings, nose rings, necklaces and bracelets, some with precious stones. Lots of little beads, beautifully crafted. Large breast plates and death masks made from both gold and silver, hammered into thin sheets and stamped with various designs. Little toys and instruments, like this rattle that I bought...
.... and votive figures and lots of tumis (of course). The tumi is a ceremonial knife, often used in the sacrifice of animals.
Peruvian tumi knife and detail of head.
In addition to the several museums we visited, Sue and I also went to book stores (my backpack is heavier with almost a dozen more books). I’m surprised by the wealth and variety of literature here. Finally I see books in translation (ie. into Spanish) that are worth translating: more philosophy, politics, sociology than I have seen yet. All the newest titles translated into Spanish, and in many places available in English. Also leftist newspapers – world news! (finally), and millions of magazines.
What I’ll remember about Lima:
- shopping and window-shopping: jewelry (lots of junk), books, music, post-cards, crafts, miraflores marvels (“La Gringa” textiles, ceramics, block prints…).
- very clean, open and airy (hardly any high-rises!). Friendly, courteous, helpful people, and woman-hassle free! This is such a welcome relief.
- lots of lost-looking drugged out gringos, and single gringas, wandering the streets, stumbling over door-sills into restaurants, yelling in hotel corridors at four and five in the morning, throwing up all night, and laying amazing trips on their compatriots.
- fun with busses – and a terrific bus map of the city.
- Jiron Union between Plaza San Martin and the Plaza de Armas, especially between six and eight at night, where street vendors sell table cloths and tooth-paste, t.v. antennae, jewelry, books, plastic wares, cassetts, razor blades, envelopes, cigarettes, candy, popcorn nuts, fruit, herbal teas, jugos and pop, hot and cold food, and likely their wives and children. Crowds of people half walking, half shopping, half socializing, somehow making their way up sidewalks and the street, weaving in and out among the cars and bicycles.
- the post office bazaar!
- the only “hello baby!” came from the white and red guards at the National Palace, and that almost every time we walked by…
- so many child street vendors; so young, so independent, so many beggars.
- everything closes down at ten pm.
- hardly any trees, no birds and no animals of any sort (no dogs, no cats, no horses or donkeys or llamas).
- Miraflores residencias: clean, arched, two-storied and often balconies homes in pastel colours; obvious Spanish influences; gardens of poinsettia and bouganvilla; maids opening doors.
- street eating, street reading, street chess!
- dress codes showing a distinct European influence – tight-panted men in business suits and snappily skirted, high heeled women, very feminine and glamourous with lots of lipstick, nail polish, jewelry and perfume
- feeling relaxed and at ease
Lima is a great city, and I’ve enjoyed my time here, but I’m still glad to be on my way tomorrow, on a train, to Huancayo, Ayacucho, and….. CUZCO!
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