Comments on Lima
Lima is a shockingly noisy, dirty, chaotic city. Crossing the street is its own challenge.
I did a lot of walking in Lima, and by the end of the day, there was a black soot in my nose from the clouds of black smoke coming out of the cars, many of which do not seem road-worthy. The noise comes from taxis that honk to ask you if you want their services, so they honk at every pedestrian on the street. The buses (which are vans) that have a doorman that shouts out the names of the places they will stop. If they see a pedestrian, they shout at them. Honking, shouting, black smoke spouting.
Another thing that is very different is how overtly friendly the men are… and by that I mean that they seem to like to whistle and shout out at you, and if you don’t acknowledge the attention, they persistently continue until you show that you know they are talking to you. They will come up to you in the street and engage you in conversation and ask if they can join you in your walk, and of course within the first 5 minutes of a conversation, everyone in Peru asks you if you are married or single. It is a funny, funny place.