Lima: children of migrants

According to the Peruvian National Statistical System there are 9 million 752 thousand citizens in Lima and the district of San Juan de Lurigancho is the most populated with over one million inhabitants. In total there are 43 districts of Lima Metropolitana and 6 districts of Callao province. 14 districts of Lima do not appear in the next picture of the five (cinco) Lima and Callao sectors.  Nevertheless, this picture is a good presentation of the present Lima.

As you see Lima is divided in five sectors: Norte (North), Este (East), Sur (South), Moderna (Modern) and Antigua (Ancient). The most traditional districts are located in Lima Antigua and Lima Moderna. As the name implies, Lima Antigua (Ancient Lima) is characterized by its beautiful colonial architecture, republican buildings and some of them with precious balcony.

The popular tourist destination are Lima Antigua, Miraflores, Barranco and San Isidro.

Over the years Lima has changed radically. At the beginnig of the 40s, the migration process started and since then, Lima changed for ever. In 1945 the popoulation in Lima was about 573 6000 inhabitants and the current figure is over 9 million people. This figure provides us a very good idea of how significant migration was. A crisis in agriculture was the trigger of this event.

The current inhabitants of Lima are primarily descendant from Andean people. For example: my dad´s family is from Cajamarca (north of Peru) and my mom´s family is from Ica and Ancash (South and Center of Peru, respectively); so I have a great mix in my blood.



My family: a mix from Spanish and Andean people (my aunt, the woman with glasses says that we also have African blood.)

This huge diversity provides the city with many pictures. Pictures that vary depending on where you live. I remember that during a flight from Europe to Peru, a man from Ecuador, who lived in Rome, told me that most Peruvians in Rome said that they lived in Miraflores. I had to laugh, but it was not true. I guess he was suspicious about my answer. Miraflores is definitely the new "meeting point" in Lima, the "welcome door" for our foreign visitors. The amount of tourits is amazing and every time I walk in Miraflores, I find myself surrounded by people all over the world. Its location next to the Pacific Ocean is a perfect place for running, riding a bike or just for taking a walk. Miraflores is also a business area where middle-class and some wealthy people  live. San Isidro, its neighbouring district, is maybe the most elegant and one of the most wealthy districts. Districts like Surco, La Molina and a little bit Barranco and San Borja are the homes of Lima´s richer families. Here it is expected to see large residences, mansions, luxurious departments and white Peruvian people, some of them of European ancestry.

 

But, in Peru, we are predominantely mestizos (mix-raced), but at the same time our physical features and special entonation are our distinctive marks to recognize our origins in Peru. We are all different. 



With lovely friends, all of us with Andean roots

As I previously said, the migration to Lima started in the 40s and from the 40s to the 70s, districts like El Agustino, San Martin de Porres, San Juan de Miraflores, San Juan de Lurigancho, Comas, Villa El Salvador, among others, appeared. All these "new" districts are populous and some of them are famous for their industrial areas. The district Villa El Salvador, created in 1971, is the most representative example with its industrial zone and its very visited market.

The majority of the population of these "new districts" belong to the middle, lower-middle and lower class. If you were in a bus going through these places, you will find yourself with people of different ages whose travel is anymated by loud vernacular or cumbia music. People going to work, study, to visit someone, people who dream for better life conditions.
Each time I get into the only electric train in Lima, whose route embraces Villa El Salvador (South Lima) to San Juan de Lurigancho (East Lima), I am impressed by the view along the route: urban areas, malls, hills fully crowded, large retailers, big businesses, poverty, dirt, a narrow river (Rimac River) and children, the new hope for change.

The famous Ovalo de Miraflores

A crowded train with children

A part of the huge San Juan de Lurigancho

 

It is also very important to mention the influence of foreigners long settled in Peru, specially in Lima, like the Japanese, Italian and Chinesse colonies, among others. Maybe these three are the most popular in Lima. A Chinese restaurant in Peru is called "Chifa" although the food is a mix of Chinesse and Peruvian food which is hugely appreciated by Limeños. Limeños also love Italian food and in Lima there are some Italian cafes that I enjoy a lot.  Nowadays, the trend is the Japanese food with more Sushi bars in whole Lima. 

Chifas are everywhere in Lima with affordable menus.

Café Gianfranco, a cafe with Italian style in Miraflores

A famous sushi bar in Lima
 

The presence of many cultures is definitely exciting and enriching but, on the other hand, it may lead to a problem of identity resulting in a problem of complex.  Socioeconomic status, appearence and skin color become differentiation features. Unfortunately, this distinction originates discrimination and words like "cholo"* and "serrano"* (refers to the natives from the Andes) are used in disdainful manner to refer to the provincial origin of people living in Lima or to connote "uneducated" or "poor".  In Lima, for a long time there has been a distinction between people born in Lima already settled for a long time and people  from the Highlands whose Spanish is not so well (for them) and seem poor. But according to my experience in overseas, I guess this is an issue in most big multicultural cities caused by historic facts, absence of inclusion policies, poor education, among others. The hope for a better future with more inclusion must always be alive in most of us.

Actually, there is a lot to say about Lima and its people, but my intention was to give an overview about this difficult, but always friendly city where people "of all bloods" (as the title of the famous book by the Peruvian writer José María Arguedas) live.

 

The best attitude!

Thanks for reading me!

* Peruvian cumbia music is a  mix of Andean and jungle rhytms influenced also by Colombian rhytms.)

* Cholo and serrano are words whose meanings are not always pejorative. It depends on the entonation and your relationship to other people (how close you are to them).

* According to the great Peruvian historian Maria Rostworowski, the word "cholo" has its roots in the Moche culture (pre-Inka culture of the north coast of Peru) and it means "boy" or "young man".