Part 2 Lost in Lima

Lost in Lima continued...

We began our journey to the restaurant Edo with coca tea in our hands and eagerness in our hearts. The streets were still busy with honking cars and bustling people, and we were confident we would make it there in about twenty minutes. The sun was already down so it was a bit frightening at first, but as we walked and talked and laughed and talked some more, any fears I had of being unsafe were obsolete. It wasn’t a very cold night in Lima, somewhere in the 60’s I presume, so with our light sweaters and hot tea we walked fast hoping to make it to Edo before our Colombian friend. Before long we felt as though we had been walking aimlessly for more than ten minutes, so we stopped to ask for directions. It was a coffee shop that we chose to stop in and immediately they knew what we were talking about. “Dos cuadras mas” and he pointed in the direction we were already walking. Excited to be told we were so close and heading the right way, we continued on foot. Unfortunately after two more blocks, twenty honking cars, and three flirtatious locals, Edo was still nowhere to be found.  So, we did what any intelligent tourist would do, and stopped for directions again. This time it was a security guard who told us again, “Dos cuadras mas, no mas cinco minutos,”  and again we took off expecting to arrive at our destination soon. Block after block passed as did the minutes and we began to feel anxious. Where are we? I thought. Truthfully none of us had any idea. “Dos cuadras mas” was all anyone told us when we stopped to ask “oh si Dos cuadras mas, Dos cuadras mas.” This phrase quickly became ironic and annoying because not only had we already walked two blocks and then two blocks again and then two more blocks, almost an hour had past and Edo was still nowhere in sight. All we had to find the restaurant was a name and a street address and out of the four intelligent, educated, and experienced people I was accompanied by that night, not a one of us had a map. Of course the luxuries of Google maps and GPS were not available but we did run into one police officer with a smart phone and he ultimately told us exactly where we needed to go, and trust me, it was more than dos cuardas.  We began to fear Ivo would have left the restaurant by now thinking that he got stood up; we never told him we were going to walk so he had probably already been there at least thirty minutes. We had no service to contact him, so as our pace quickened in hopes of reaching our destination sooner we prayed he would still be there waiting for us. Once we were on the right street and we saw that the numerical address’ were going in the right direction, first 2000, then 3000, and so on (we needed to be in the 6000’s), we grew hopeful that we would be eating soon; lord knows all that walking built up an appetite. Finally as we turn a curve in the road I see it. “Edo! I found it!” The group laughs along with me, “Couldn’t you have ‘found it’ forty five minutes ago!” Felicia teases. We cross the street and finally we are here! We look around nervously looking for our friend from the tour, Ivo, and sure enough he is sitting in solitude at a table prepared for six. We receive a warm welcome and explain why we are so late. Ivo says it is fine and that he thought maybe we were lost. We tell him the story of our decision to walk, and he laughs at our bad judgment. “At least you are here now!” he exclaimed and we proceeded to order our food. Because Lima is right by the Pacific Ocean, the sushi and fish we ordered was fresh and decadent. It seemed like we ordered everything on the menu! I tried a little of each, but was blown away by the smoked tuna roll. “OOF” became the most heard phrase at the table “OOF so good!” and “OOF try this one!” it was truly amazing. The conversation at the table was a mix of Spanish and English, as Ivo primarily spoke Spanish while Felicia and I primarily speak English. Despite the language barrier, it was not difficult to understand what was being said at the table. There are only two things in this world that are universal; smiles and food. And this night had plenty of both!

To be continued...