One Night in Lima

Stepped out into the electric December night in the charming and fashionable district of Miraflores. Still had eight hours to kill before my flight home.




Wandered around, looking at the lights and seeing the sights, soaking in as much Peru in my final hours as I could.



Then I headed to Las Brisas del Titicaca, a peña in central Lima, for a show of folkloric dance.




The place was already a flurry of activity when I arrived there around 11:30, and it took me a little while to figure out just what the hell was going on.



I hope you can make this out. Those headdresses are in the shape of condor heads, and the capes are representative of the wings, as these guys were spinning around.



The condor dance over, some weird, Lucha Libre looking guys came swarming out on to the dance floor.





They were joined by men wearing bull costumes, a toreador of sorts, and dancing girls in (I guess?) traditional dress. After the masked weirdos carried the defeated toreador offstage, the crowd applauded heartily, and the announcer came out to introduce the next spectacle.




I still wasn't really following that well, but I gathered that each dance was meant to showcase the cultural traditions of a different region of Peru. But the overall effect was more like that of a Vegas show, (with the elaborately-costumed dancing girls showing plastered-on smiles and lots of leg), or maybe a nightclub floor show from some 1930s movie.



I have no idea what happened next. I think they called it the Dance of the Reyes Morenos, which loosely translated, means Dark-Skinned Kings.






Maybe some video will clarify:


There was also some sort of Gargamel character involved.





I should mention that the crowd, mostly locals, ate all this up. Me, I just sipped my Pisco (yeah, whatever, I've never been one for doctor's (much less shaman's) orders) and tried to process it all.



Occasionally, to give the dancers a break, these guys would come out.




Ooh, this was one of my favorites. The guys were in white suits with black shirts, white ties and fedoras, and it wasn't all flashy and skirt-flaring like the others, with all the stomping around. Just elegance and grace, with a little bit of spice. rrrAOWWrr.





Ooh! There was a hambone one that I enjoyed a lot too:




And then every hour and a half or so, the band would start playing some salsa, and everybody would get up and dance. And I mean everybody. Old men, young children, couples, singles, all shaking their booties until the wee hours. And I mean the wee hours. I had thought I was going to be the last one there, but when I finally left at like 2:30, the party was still going!

One of the final dances was the Marinera.




A beautiful and amazing duet, that I can't really do justice to with the pictures.

A fitting last night in Peru.




From the cab to the airport, I saw this billboard. As you can see, Darlene is Chica Max 2008, which means "2008 Max Girl". Mmm.

So that's it, folks! Here I sit at the Bogota airport, trying to fill a five hour layover by stealing glances at South American stewardesses. I hope you enjoyed my adventures, I know I can be a little verbose at times, but I do get starved for English expression. I hope to see all of you soon, and (last time!) please take a second to give to the public school kids. Really, any amount is welcome. By the way, I can't even see the amount you donate, just that you have donated, so don't worry I'm gonna think you're cheap. I just don't want this ridiculous look to have been in vain. Remember, it's tainted all of my pictures from Peru. It would be much cooler if I could remember that it did some good.

¡Hasta la proxima, chicos!