Señor de los Milagros

So today was a long day filled with a lot of fun and interesting things.  I started the day with getting dressed in purple (because that's the color for the day of Señor de los Milagros).  I met Tonisha and Mark at the park and we got on a micro to head towards the center of Lima.  We started out at the Iglesia de las Nazarenas, where the original mural used to stand.  It's pretty on the inside and out (see pictures below).  Also, there were several people there and there were vendors selling rosaries and also turrones.  A turrón is a nastily delicious treat that is sold a lot during these festivities.  It pretty much consists of a cookie, honey, and sprinkles.  It's very sticky, but so good and sugary.

La Iglesia de Las Nazarenas

Inside of the church

Turrón

 We then went on a mission to find the procession with the "float" (which is actually a heavy wooden platform with an image of Christ and Virgen Mary on it).  We walked along it's route and we came across a huge crowd of people so we assumed that the procession would be going by all of them.  Well come to find out it was inside of the hospital that was right there, so we waited for a little bit.  We got a little impatient so we decided to go eat lunch at a nearby restaurant.  While at the restaurant, again I thought someone was kicking my chair or I thought I was getting dizzy, but then I realized it was a temor.  This was the second one since I've been here.  Today's earthquake was outside of Ica and it was a 6.9.  It wasn't that strong, but it was strong enough to make me think I was dizzy. :)  While we were at the restaurant we heard the procession start so we were ready to go and find it again.

Alfombras de flores (Carpets of flowers)  These are images that are
on that street that are made with sand and flower petals.

 We walked up the street and found the procession.  It smelled of incense and we could hear the band and the people singing.  Also, it was very crowded!!  Everybody was pushing to get a better look at the "float."  Also, it moves so slow, which is understandable because it is a group of men carrying this heavy "float" (Sorry, I can't remember the name :/) and they stop to set it down every half a block for about two minutes.  To put it into perspective, the procession started at 6:30 a.m. and we were there at 2:30 p.m. and it had only been a total of 8ish blocks.  That's not very far at all for that amount of time!  That's a block an hour!  Now, granted they stopped in the hospital and who knows where else before that, but I can understand why it is known to last until the early hours of the next day. 

 After watching the procession for about 15 fifteen minutes, Tonisha left, but Mark and I decided to explore more of the center of Lima, considering we've been here three months tomorrow (which is today now) and still don't know much about Lima.  We went to the Convento de San Francisco (San Francisco Convent).  There are catacombs (burial chambers) underneath the church so we took a tour of those, which also includes a tour of the other rooms of the convent and there's artwork there, too.  It was pretty interesting.  I mean obviously there are more exciting things to do here in Perú,but it was a good little day trip.

Convento de San Francisco

One of the many pits filled with bones
(I didn't take this picture-it's from the internet,
because we weren't allowed to take pictures)

 We then walked to the Plaza de Armas and just looked around.  The Plaza de Armas is a plaza that is surrounded by the Government Palace, Cathedral de Lima, the Municipal Palace, the Archbishop's Palace, and the Palace of the Union.  That's a lot of palaces. :)  Anyway, after all of this it was getting pretty late and we were tired so we taxied back to Miraflores (we weren't feeling a micro on a Friday when it was almost rush hour).

Government Palace

Once we got back to Miraflores, Mark randomly brought up going to a movie.  Well, I love the movies so I didn't/couldn't turn it down.  We saw Contagio (Contagion).  It was okay.  Not really a movie I would suggest though.  The ending wasn't that great.  After the movie, I went home finally.  I had a long day out, I was tired.  I ate dinner and then my host mom's cousin and her husband came over for snacks and wine.  I sat with them for about an hour and listened to them talk.  Her cousin's husband, Lucho, was really funny.  His wife said, "He's always cracking jokes, even when things are serious" and then Lucho said something that I completely agree with.  He said, "En la vida, si no te ríes, te mueres" (In life, if you don't laugh, you die).  Even that comment made me laugh, he was a genuinely happy guy and it made me smile. :)

After visiting with the three of them, I headed to Café Z.  While there, I worked on the beginning of this blog and I watched part of a Grey's Anatomy episode, while eating a brownie, ice cream, and frozen fresa (the usual).  Then, Tonisha met up with me there.  She was heading out to a discoteca and I decided to go with because it was a discoteca that's only two blocks from my house.  Well, I was only there for a half hour or so.  It was still consider "early" when we went so nothing was really going on and it was a tad boring, so I decided to leave.  Although, it was boring at that point in time, it did seem like a VERY nice discoteca.  Apparently, it usually costs S/.200 ($74) to get in.  Don't worry, I didn't pay anything.  Our Peruvian friends got our names put on the list.  Obviously, having my name on the list was pointless though, since I was there for less than an hour.

Anyway, now I have packing to do for Lunahuaná.  I don't know why I always leave my packing for late at night, but I do. :(  Anyway, we're heading out at 8 a.m. in the morning for Lunahuaná and then we have a long next two days ahead of us.  I'll be back on Sunday so you'll hear ALL about it, but I will tell you that I'm going horseback riding, rafting, four-wheeling, and wine tasting in a matter of two days!  It's going to be busy!  Well, I hope you all have wonderful Halloween-y weekends! :)  Dulces sueños!