10.50am, Sunday, May 17, cafeteria in Lima ....kissed by a waiter

Oh my, I just took a bite out of my crema volteada (flan) and it is delicious.

I have come from an exhibit of 'croces' - crosses - in the municipal building. They were made of all kinds of materials, from old gear shifts to ropes and rocks.

While searching for a cafe to write in, the waiter of the first restaurant I passed tried to get me in for breakfast and kissed me on the lips when I said goodbye. How rude. Yet still I stay polite in the face of such overt, if salesman-like, politesse. If you ask me, this is the problem with kissing strangers on the cheek. It can go wrong.

I was keen to write this morning but one of the hostel workers who was preparing breakfast wanted to practice English with me. He has been studying English for 8 months and speaks pretty well. He helped me with Spanish as well. I thought I got off to a late start this morning but my clock was two hours ahead of the correct time. Not sure why.

In any case, the day is still young. It is cloudy and humid, with a chill in the air. I feel well rested but mentally tired. The suburb isnt beautiful enough, or the day nice enough, to make me excited about exploring.

Yesterday I arrived in Lima airport to the sounds of a family in traditional dress singing traditional songs. I dont know if this is usual or if they were there to greet a long-missed relation. I spent too much money on a taxi. I was looking for the public bus at the airport and one particular driver singled me out for accosting. I resisted his negotiations at first. But when I left the information stand to look for the bathrooms - the attendant spending much time with the man ahead of me - he accosted me again, this time with an English-looking English speaker, beefy, with red face and close-cropped hair, dog tags. He told me that the bus I was looking for had moved and the taxi wasnt that much more expensive.

The driver told me it would cost 15 dollars. However once I was in the taxi and on my way towards downtown Lima and told the driver I was going to Miraflores he said he had to charge me 25 dollars, or 75 solars. I got him down to 70 solars when I said he could just take me to the city. He wanted to take me to a particular hostel and (pretended to?) looked confused when I showed him the address of the hostel I had booked.

So he took me where he wanted, walked me into his selected hostel, and was there when I told the clerk that I was actually booked into a different hostel. The clerk tried to get me to stay there - it seemed a decent hostel - but I insisted Id lose my booking fee and could he please show me where I am.

Pirwa hostel is not the place to arrive when you are feeling fragile and confused. The woman at the front desk was not full of information and cheer. However, it is clean; doesnt have many guests; and I have a four-bed dorm room to myself. I felt better after talking to Marya, the Dutch traveller, and the sweet Peruvian hostel worker who is learning English.