"Miraflores" Miraflores by Rickman77

Parque Kennedy

I spent my first two weeks in South America in Miraflores which is one of the nicer neighborhoods of Lima, Peru. It is a middle class neighborhood with a touch of the upper class here and there.

My plan was to spend 10 to 14 days in Miraflores right off the bat to get adjusted to being in South America, to take a week of Spanish classes, and to get back in the swing of traveling. My plan was mostly carried out in vain. I did benefit a bit from my Spanish classes, though just talking with the locals and traveling around is the best way (and also the cheapest) way to learn.

I defintely did not get adjusted to living in South America as Miraflores is similar to any city in the U.S. It is first world all the way while the rest of the country is second or thrid world.

When I left Lima and Miraflores after 13 days I quickly found myself in culture shock. Only minutes out of the city down the Pan American Highway the buildings went from first world, to third world quickly. After an hour on the bus mud huts and shacks were the norm and the Lima seemed like it was a world away.

I did enjoy my two weeks in Miraflores though. I made lots of friends, many of whom I keep bumping into around Peru and some whom I've ended up traveling with for a few days here and there. And to some degree it did help me to get adjusted to Peru, the food, and a little of what I was to expect ahead of me.

All in all, Miraflores would be a nice place to live, but it wasn't the most interesting place to spend 2 weeks.

My favorite thing about Miraflores...
For some reason the people are really intrigued by gringos. More so than anywhere else I have visited as of yet. Daily I would get called out by a group of girls to come talk to them. Hourly I would be stared at with wonder by men and women. It was nice to recieve all the attention and to have girls constantly trying to pick you up instead of it being the other way around.

After two weeks in Miraflores I had come to expect this type of attention from the rest of Peru, but, it's just not the case. Or at least they aren't near as forward about it in the rest of Peru. It seems a bit odd as well considering that Miraflores is the most developed part of Peru that I have been and is also flooded with tourist. You would think you would get more attention in the little towns where tourist were not near as common. Hmmm....

• Pros:Nice, safe, affords all the emenities of a modern city.
• Cons:Everyone stares at you...no neccisarily a bad thing.
• In a nutshell:Just another big city.