Notes on Lima, a Former COVID Epicenter of Doom
Since it didn't involve Machu Picchu, it's likely you never saw that in the news
As the plane descended onto Jorge Chavez International Airport, I wondered if the pilot was trolling the entire cabin. “We are five minutes away from beautiful Lima, Peru! Welcome to beautiful Lima, Peru! We hope you enjoy your stay in beautiful Lima, Peru!”
Beautiful? Lima? Like a hairy mole on a gorgeous woman’s face. The sky was pitch black outside my window, the lights of the 11 million people that call this city their home the only thing breaking the darkness. Maybe the pilot felt he could get away with such a bold lie; there was no visual evidence at midnight to refute it.
As I like to tell people, my hometown is not pretty but it has its charms. Mostly food-related. The dramatic cliffs that overlook the Pacific Ocean are a highlight. If you want any historic picturesque pics, head to Barranco and the Center. That’s it when it comes to anything aesthetically pleasing. Lima can be fun, dynamic, and exciting but even at its best it is also a chaotic stew of too many cars, too much noise, and too many maddening idiosyncratic Peruvian ills too ever be RELAXING. Even at its best, it leaves me drained.
This is the only city where my body begs for naps.
And right now, I’m not here when the city is at its best. At least not according to my family and friends. It’s hard for me to tell because I have been here a total of five days and my range here tends to be super small. I stick to my extended family and a handful of friends I haven’t lost touch with. My parents’ apartment is, fortunately, in the middle of the three most appealing neighborhoods, meaning I have very little reason to go beyond their existence. And since traffic is a nightmare, I rarely want to.
Even in my little bubble though, I can still feel the battle scars of the hellish two years my country has been through. Our COVID death rate was one of the highest in the world, a sobering figure that had less to do with a lack of lockdowns and restrictions than a result of the decades the government spent refusing to fund health services, a reliance on the informal economy, and overcrowded homes.
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