Revenge of Mistura

I woke up this morning and my stomach was not happy with me. I felt pretty nauseous and gross, but I had a class at 9 where we were going out into the city and touring the public spaces of Lima, so I couldn't exactly miss it. So I showered and then laid in my bed as long as possible before I had to catch the bus. 

First, our teacher took us in taxis to the Plaza de Bolivar, which is in front of the Congress and has a statue of Simon Bolivar. Apparently, the plaza just opened to the public 2 weeks ago, because it had been closed off for years for security of the congress. 
Then we walked to the Plaza de Armas, which I've been to before. However, I did learn that even though the whole plaza looks like colonial architecture, it's all from the 19th century, and the only thing that's old in the plaza is the fountain in the middle, from the 17th century. (The church is older too, but it's been rebuilt a bunch of times after earthquakes.)
Our teacher pointed out how strange Lima is, because on the same block you can see colonial architecture, neo-classical, baroque, and modern structures with no aesthetic value whatsoever. It feels like there's no rhyme or reason to the city at all. 
We walked to Chinatown (el Barrio Chino) next. He told us how the racism towards the Chinese is probably the worst out of any minority in Lima, at least historically. 
Then we walked along a street that he said used to be really elegant and high class, and when he was a boy he used to wear his Sunday best whenever he went to that neighborhood, but now it's really decadent and he can't walk down the street at night without having like 3 hookers come up to him. 
We ended the tour at the Plaza Dos de Mayo. A lot of the plazas are very similar to French architecture, with the round shape connecting important avenues, and the monument in the middle. I think it's cool that all the plazas seem to have their own color scheme as well. For example, all the buildings around the Plaza Dos de Mayo are blue, all the buildings around Plaza Bolognesi are orange, and all the buildings around the Plaza de Armas are yellow. 

I was pretty excited to be done with the tour around 12:30 and to get in a taxi back to the university. 
I had to go to the ISA office to pick my schedule up for Ica this weekend, so I hung out there for awhile and ate some saltines, and talked about Hoarders with the people hanging out there. (They get Hoarders and I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant in Peru!)
Then I headed home, had some tea, and took a much needed nap. When I woke up, Grandma had made me some soup and I felt good enough to eat it. 
It's almost 11 and I pretty much feel back to my normal self, my muscles are just a little achy. 
But I'll be ready to go to Ica tomorrow! It's in the desert and we're taking a 2-day excursion to go sandboarding and go to the Islas Ballestas where we can see some penguins and sea lions!