After being here 10 days I figured I'd to write a couple notes about my impressions of Lima and Peru and then do a second segment right before I leave.

• People use their car horn about once a block, and a city of 8.5 million makes for quite the annoying chorus of blaring.
• While the food is amazing, potatoes and rice are served with every single meal here. Every single one.
• Buses and other enclosed areas (like the school stairs) are not made for people around six feet tall, and I have gotten accustomed to ducking. 
• No rain and the most predictable weather of all time (75 and partly cloudy) is amazing. 
• I guess it gets hard to enjoy the good without the bad, as we already find ourselves like Peruvians, who complain and throw on a coat when it drops to 70.
• There are ruins and historical sights everywhere here, due to the lack of erosion because of the constant weather. When it doesn't rain in 47 years, all those ancient adobe ruins tend to keep.
• Americans may be known for creating quite a bit of waste, but sadly I've used more plastic water bottles in 10 days than I have in the last year in the states.
• God bless the dollar to sole conversion rate. While spending 50 soles in one night might sound bad, converting it to 14 U.S.D. is comforting.
• That being said, American things cost American prices, so you're better off with the Peruvian version here. (Ex. Oreos cost at least twice the knock-off Latin America brand.)
• American politics are in the global spotlight, many people bring up Trump in conversations. (And we couldn't even say whether there was a Peruvian president or prime minister before we showed up).
• There is no doubt that Trump is the most famous American right now, thankfully I have yet to here anything negative about us. So far we have encountered nothing but welcoming people.
• The Peruvians are having their own political struggles as the daughter of a former (now imprisoned) president leads the polls for their election in early June. It doesn't help that she's still leading after being accused of money laundering.
• And voting is mandatory here, so nothing can be blamed on people not getting out to vote.
• I feel safer here than in New York City due to the enormous police presence. When walking friends home at night there can be an officer found on almost every other corner.
• Still it makes you wonder why Miraflores PD is so large. And I'm sure that can't be said about the less affluent districts of the Lima.