18 March 2020
Our hotel room looks out onto a street corner. Our first two weeks here, there was construction going on at the corner we couldn't see - a huge excavation, lots of rebar and concrete, walls circling the site with danger signs (peligroso) all around, and cranes swinging supplies into the crater.
There was also some road work, which nearly stopped traffic to a standstill as one lane was dug up, something (pipes? cable?) was put in, and all was covered in dirt.
And then the shutdown began. Suddenly, there is peace and quiet. No traffic noise with impatient drivers leaning on their horns. No jackhammers. No car exhaust drifting into the room if we open our windows.
I can actually hear birds in the city!!
20 March 2020
Our view directly across the street encompasses part of an apartment building, a smallish house, and a tiny mini mart or bodega. Richard likes this little shop for snacks, cold soda, things like that. I'll admit that I like their alfajores, which are made fresh, not packaged.
Anyway, they have a shop cat! Not sure if the cat is male or female, but he/she a white cat with several large black spots. The cat is named Lucky, and she/he usually sits right out front, next to the door, so he/she can greet customers as they come in and out.
Occasionally, the shop owner will close the metal gate, so that customers stand outside and request what they want. The person inside hands them the item and collects the cash.
This gate helps with social distancing, I guess.
But Lucky just goes back and forth through the spaces between the metal bars, not worrying or even thinking about Covid-19. Because Lucky really is lucky to be a cat!
21 March 2020
On our street, every night promptly at 8 PM, someone blows a trumpet or something (it sounds like a trumpet pretending to be a cow!), and everyone leans out the windows or stands on their balconies, applauding. I asked at our hotel in my mediocre Spanish, and was told that they do this to thank the medical personnel, police, firefighters, all the people working to save lives and keep people safe during this pandemic.
So tonight, at 8, I heard the trumpet mooing, and opened our window, applauding along with everyone else on our street. It actually was emotional, having this socially distant interaction with people. After a week of barely talking to anyone, of keeping my distance and washing hands every time I come back to our room, it really was emotionally fulfilling to participate in a group of other people. Celebrating our common humanity!
22 March 2020
Lima has parrots that go flying around in small flocks! PARROTS!!! We're on the sixth floor of our hotel, so they fly by at eye level, a flash of green zooming by!!! And always squawking!!! Such a delight to see, and they always take me by surprise, even though I know they're here.
We also get fog drifting up from the ocean, about six blocks away. Days are usually a mix of sunshine and cloudy, but some days, the fog comes whispering through, shrouding the tall buildings and softening the cityscape.
And then, the parrots fly by, loudly yelling "We're here! We're here!"
23 March 2020
It's a good thing I travel with a couple of sketchbooks and a small pouch of art supplies - I joined an online sketchbook revival! It will give me something new to do while we wait out the shutdown or lockdown or whatever we want to call it.And me being me, I recovered my sketchbooks with lovely paper from a display at the Starbucks (actually, two Starbucks) in Kuala Lumpur. Plus the pouch is an upcycled huipil (embroidered top) from Guatemala!
Nice memories of our travels - as are my sketches.
23 March 2020 Part 2
The friend I met up with in Puerto Chacabuco, just over a month ago, sent a note today. (She's safely back in the US at the moment.)
The ship we were on, Holland America's Zaandam, left Buenos Aires on March 7, heading to Santiago - a cruise similar to ours but minus the Antarctica portion. They left before all the shutdowns and lockdowns and closures of ports across much of South America. And now, they aren't allowed to dock.
Another ship, wandering the seas!
They are refueling and restocking food right now, anchored off Valparaiso, Chile. And then they are heading north, hoping to find a city where they are allowed to dock and let passengers disembark, and hopefully find their way home.
What a mess!
I'm really happy we managed to get our cruise in, and that we got off the ship before all this craziness got going!
Links to some stories from the Zaandam, if you are interested:
https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/jack-knox-life-on-stranded-cruise-ship-not-all-that-bad-1.24103041
https://www.vicnews.com/news/passengers-from-nanaimo-now-on-mystery-cruise-due-to-covid-19-state-of-catastrophe-in-chile/
https://www.vicnews.com/news/passengers-from-nanaimo-now-on-mystery-cruise-due-to-covid-19-state-of-catastrophe-in-chile/
Thus ends our first week of nation-wide lockdown in Peru.
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