Notes on Lima

My first weekend here I decided I loved Peru, and I haven't had to change my mind since. Lima reminds me a bit of Miami. There are palm trees everywhere and there's greenery everywhere. The medians all have grass and flowerbeds and are very well kept, just like the yards in front of houses. I've been to three malls so far and they were both huge and very nice, two had open air walkways. Some familiar faces in terms of restaurants are KFC, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and of course McDonald's. Even though there are lots of these fast foods restaurants Peru definitely has its own unique, delicious cuisine that I'm only beginning to experience.
Peru basically invented food. Way back when, Peruvians domesticated potatoes, pumpkins/squash, tomatoes, avocadoes, quinoa, and various corn varieties. They make drinks out of corn, chicha morada (purple corn with spices) and various types of chicha beer (fermented chicha). Fried corn nuts (just like our corn nuts) are eaten as snacks, and so are toasted and salted individual corn kernels (surprise, they taste like popcorn). I had some recoto relleno (chile relleno cousin) which was a spicy red chile pepper stuffed with a meat sauce (kind of Sloppy Joe-esque) with a cheese and potato pie/cake on the side to cool off your mouth. Had some tasty chicharones (just like Garcia's!) that I could have definitely eaten another plate of, accompanied by huge corn kernels (forgot to mention, the corn on the cob they eat here has quarter sized corn kernels, no joke, so there are 10 kernels per row on a cob of corn) and habas (lima beans, which you're supposed to peel but the shell isn't really that tough). I can't wait to try guinea pig, or 'cuy.' We had some stewed alpaca this weekend and it was pretty tasty, kind of like a beef roast. Authentic ceviche is next on the list of things to try, yum. Also the chicken a la brasa (grilled) is recommended and I have to give the local burger chain Bembo's a try! Inca Kola, the national soft drink, is delicous in its own quirky way. It's highlighter yellow like Mountain Dew and tastes like bubble gum, so you know it's healthy.
There's a large Asian population here so there are tons of 'chifa's on every corner. The food they serve is supposed to be kind of a mix of Chinese and Peruvian but so far it's seemed mostly like Chinese food (which is still super tasty) but I'll just have to try more and see!
Carambola (starfruit) juice = delicious. The famous maracuya (passion fruit) is here, of course, so I can get my fix. Hoping to get my hands on some fresh papaya soon too.
Taxis are an adventure here and very different from Argentina. After you flag one down you have to see if they know the place/intersection you want to go to. Apparently the government changes street names willy nilly so you have to give directions in terms of major streets and landmarks like gas stations and supermarkets. After the approximate location has been agreed upon, you can negotiate price. So far it seems like you should be able to get anywhere you want to for under 15 soles. And of course if the cab driver doesn't give you the price you want you can wave him on his way and grab another taxi. The one advantage of this system is that the cab driver will take you where you want to go as efficiently as possible to save himself gas whereas in BsAs he could run up the meter driving you in circles if you weren't sure where you were going. On the downside, no one has a GPS so if you're going somewhere obscure and you're not quite sure where it is, you're out of luck.