As I was walking the colonial streets of Lima this afternoon with a friend in tow, I mentioned how nice it would be to be transported back in time to old Lima. The fashion of the time of the Creoles was to wear a silk shawl worn coquettishly covering the head and face, except for one eye. This fashioned since mid 1500s, and lasted about three hundred years.
My buddy Ricky dissuaded me of my romantic notions pronto. He said what is now the sidewalks in the early days of the Virreynado of Lima, in some parts of the city, there were canals instead which was the sewer system.
He said that when some slaves became too old and gravely ill, they were unceremoniously dumped there to die. This caused horrible pestilence to permeate the city, for which reason the women wore these shawls to mask the stench.
After walking through the underground communal tombs of the convent of St. Francis of Assisi, where the bones of the faithful were in display originating back to 1546, Ricky then asked me the following. Why is it that Peru has the lowest numbers of European immigrants in South America with the exception of the Spaniard conquistadores.
He said the Viceroyalty of Lima and therefore the Catholic Church, was the most powerful in South America. During the inquisition, solvent European merchants were targeted and falsely accused of heresy. The wealth of these merchants was confiscated, and their next of kin forced to convert if they happened to be of a different religion.
Finally, as our tour came to an end Ricky told me that if not for a freak incident, the Incas would have easily driven out the Spaniards. It happened that the last Incan general still alive surreptitiously gathered a formidable army from across the expansive Incan Empire. They congregated atop what is today Mount of St. Cristobal.
Tens of thousands of warriors’ blood thirsty for vengeance looked down on Lima, surveying the puny strong hold of the conquistadores.
As they descended down the mountain and reached the outskirts of Lima to cross over the river Rimac, inexplicably and suddenly, the river rose instantly to unprecedented heights.
The turbulent and furious tide drowned a good portion of the warriors in its wake. Witnessing this phenomenon, the remaining warriors dispersed.
Since that day in Spain, was the day of St.Cristobal, this very mountain was christened in honor of this saint.
This bit of information left me sad, yet reflective. I have to admit I would not be who I am today, nor believe what I believe in now so fervently, if perhaps for that freak of nature. Still, I feel divided by conflicting alliances, as one is towards divorcing parents fighting for custody. The way things developed is what is deplorable.
At least one positive thing Ricky mentioned was the place where I was Friday called Chilca is where the most UFO´sightings have occurred in Peru. Chilca really does have a different vibe. People swear by the miraculous medicinal properties of its saline lagoons.
I plan to return there next week to request an audience telepathically. I will sit outside late into the night with a camera ready just in case.
