Rosa: Welcome to Lima, a brief overview of a city with over 9 million people ...

I am from Lima, so I think I know my city well enough (I hope so). Anyway, I am writing now about Lima because I am aware of the big change that is taking place here, in Lima.
I was born in the middle of the seventies, so I spent my childhood during the eighties -a decade I love a lot. But it was during this time that the terrorism was at its peak moment. I remember a city with a slightly better order, some days there were explosions in important locations of the city, much more street vendors in Lima downtown, blackouts, English and German classes in the state channel 7, nice Spanish rock, a few tourists, buses (no combis) and Marcon Van Basten (I am his fan). Many years have gone through and Lima has now another face: more buildings, more towers, a lot of personal cars, a lot of universities, more people and much more tourists.
Honestly, the last thing does still impress me. When I was a kid, there were barely tourists, but now I can recognize people from Europe, Asia, America (I mean the whole continent not USA).
Lima is becoming a metropolis and the food is the main cover letter, besides Cuzco with Macchu Picchu.
I have to confess that I have experienced a new city through the eyes of my Spanish students. Since they are from other countries, I have seen another angle of my own city. An interesting angle that have allowed me to understand me and the people who live in Lima (not all of us are born in Lima) much better. We are so diverse, so diverse that maybe the one thing that can unify us is the food, the soccer and the history. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if Cuzco were not in Peru? I may sound weird or cold, but everything in Lima has to do with Cuzco. But we are more than Cuzco, we are not just Highlands, we are much more than that. We are people trying to discover ourselves, trying to understand ourselves, trying to accept ourselves. This is a long, a very long process. I don´t know about the actual situation from other Latin American countries, but I guess many of them, special the indigenous ones, might have the same feelings. We are an amazing mix. Well, this is a personal opinion, just mine.

Next: People in Lima ... a rough topic