LIMA

On our last full day in Lima we're invited to theatre festival in Lima Norte by one of my students. She sends quite specific directions, telling us to follow the PanAmerican Highway North and get off at a stop called Juan Pablo 2 (After the Pope). From there it's two blocks to the site of the festival.

So we catch the bus/metro (basically a dedicated bus lane) North, into uncharted territory. The festival lies beyond the end of this 'metro' lane. We get off at La Naranja and ask for advice on getting to Juan Pablo 2. One man suggests one bus but the people who work there suggest another. The stop at the end of the line is called Lenin. We take that one. A bright, modern orange bus. The edges of Lima are scrappy. The hillsides are adorned with small, brightly painted one-story houses. We ask on the bus where the stop is. It turns out that the stop is known by another name. But we get there. In the middle of the dual carriage way is a stop clearly saying Juan Pablo 2. So far so good.

We walk down a couple of blocks and there's no sign of a theatre festival. We walk into a shop and they've never heard of a theatre festival. Someone suggests we try the other side of the highway. So we walk back again. But no-one has heard of any festival or the place we're trying to get to. We make calls. No-one seems to know where we are. Then we ask someone who tells us we're miles and miles away. We need to go to the Oval. And catch a bus from there. We ask how far away this Oval is. He says it's a long way away. We need to catch a bus across the road. We cross the road. There's no bus stop. Different types of buses pass. The old beaten up ones and the minivans with someone calling out from the open door for passengers. We ask twelve different people which bus to take and get twelve different answers.

Finally, with evening drawing in, we decide to head back to La Naranja, the bus station at the end of the 'Metro' line. From there we try to catch a cab. But none of the cab drivers have ever heard of the place we're going to. They charge us 30 Soles to get in the cab. In the meantime we've been talking to my student from time to time. She doesn't have a phone so calls from payphones, which cut off. She says that they're charging us non-local rates. She also says it could be dangerous after dark.

We give in. We never get to the festival. We go back into town and eat one of Lima's most popular dishes, fried chicken, at a place called Rockys. Washed down with a pisco sour.

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