Blog Post #1: Lima the Horrible?

While it has only been merely two days in Lima, I have been attempting to take in all the city has to offer. I traveled to Lima with very little background knowledge of Peru, leaving me open minded to what this experience may bring. However, I was really surprised to learn some names and connotations that Lima has earned for itself.  “Lima the grey” or “Lima the horrible” being some of which that had particularly surprised me. It had left me wondering what had caused Lima to earn such nicknames. 

The readings this week lead me to believe that perhaps there is a large colonial influence to this. In the brief chapters we read of The Lima Reader, several authors provide analysis of accounts of Lima from the journals of Spaniards, ranging from years between the 1530’s-1920’s. Many of these authors note recounts of their initial understandings of Lima as a beautiful city, yet were disappointed upon arrivals. I noted similar terminology amongst the excerpts of perceptions of luxury and beauty, turning into descriptors of filthiness, dullness, and disorganization. I thought this disconnect between the idea of what Lima was, and how it actually functioned was reported so oppositional, considering the organization of Lima was directly related to its colonization by the Spanish. 

One section that I felt this was especially evident was within Bernabé Cobo’s passage. Cobo discusses how Lima was built and colonized by the Spaniards without the consideration of the Indigenous peoples living there too, quoting “the Spanish would have to share the City of Kings with the people who did the work” (pg 16). The expansion of Indigenous communities surpassed far beyond what was expected when building Lima. Yet, I don’t know if I necessarily agree with Cobo that the Indigenous peoples were not considered in its construction. 

I found Cobo’s description of the main plaza to especially exemplify this- as Cobo takes special attention when describing the most monumental and beautiful buildings on each four corners of the streets. These descriptions note the grandeur of the churches and chapels, as well as the secular town hall. Later on, it was mentioned the church was one of the first buildings burnt in a by the Indigenous communities during a revolt. 

I feel the extravagance of buildings representing religion and law were not passively included in Lima, but rather served as symbols of presence and power by the Spaniards to the Indigenous communities- especially as Catholicism was used as a means to justify colonization. I couldn’t help but wonder if some of the connotations behind Lima’s nicknames would still be present had the Spanish had succeeded in their ideas of a grand city.