You’re not crazy. The post immediately before (or below) this is also about Lima, yet it was written in May 2024. This post is written in February 2025. My excuse is that the blog muse has been silent due to a variety of factors including, not surprisingly, the current political milieu.

Short answer: my in-person training class for the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was so well received last April that not only was I asked to offer an eight week/three times a week class during the fall of 2024 but I was also invited back for another three-week in-person class just this past January. Who knew you could become a rock star just through teaching English?

I thought I would give you (and name for myself) some of the highlights and interesting odd moments of this latest sojourn. Much of the time was spent as the last visit: teaching from 7:00 am to 11:00 am Monday-Friday (missing breakfast and subsisting on strong black coffee through the class) and then eating and resting and preparing for the next day after that. Here’s a shot of my long daily commute each way to the training site:

Lima traffic is crazy and pretty much non-stop. I named it “El Baile Loco,” the crazy dance.

Since this training class designed for advanced learners who were involved in the OECD Accession process, I got to play with some pretty fun and wonky grammar points. One of my favorites is below:

But thanks to serendipity and just plain luck, there were a lot more people to play with this trip than last. I spent one full Saturday with a participant I had met during the last training session. We visited the amazing Basílica and Convent of San Francisco, Lima (personal photos NOT allowed indoors – google it – this is a stock photo) and saw this treasure from the 17th century and its catacombs with the remainders of thousands and thousands of skeletons:

As we left the complex, we stumbled into one of Lima’s frequent weekend parades:

Another weekend day, I joined with a new friend and toured the nearby neighborhood of Barranco, known as the artsy hippy “Kreutzberg” of Lima and famous for beautiful murals/graffiti:

Nearby we stumbled into an outstanding restaurant, Mérito, where I finally had some of that world-class Peruvian cuisine that I had only read about previously. Here’s my first ever Ceviche, beautifully plated up:

A third trip out found me at a somewhat odd cultural center that featured a combination of foods, dances, and horseback riding from across the country. Somewhat touristy, but with some Peruvian insights I couldn’t have found elsewhere. Here’s a picture of the culinary offerings along with a sign which explains why I ultimately didn’t try very many of them:

The sign that stopped me in my tracks:

But the dancing more than made up for the food. Here’s a snap of a dance that originated with the African-Peruvian community in the south of the country, a dance in which the boys and the girls swish their tails and others actually try to light the swishers on fire:

Anand here’s me being a good sport and posing on a barstool saddle:

One big difference between this visit and the last was the choice of hotel. My funders had booked me into a typical drab boxy tourist option, but I rebelled and relocated myself to a much friendly venue in the livelier district of Miraflores. Here’s a shot of evenings on the terrace in front of the building:

And a shot of one of Lima’s many cat parks nearby:

And finally, a shot from the informal Friday night gathering my class held in my honor before I left this time. How can you not love these faces and want to give these beautiful souls the best you can? I will always feel privileged and honored by these opportunities.

Adios, Lima, hasta luego. You have my heart.