New Year’s with Navy Boys!! ;-)

Lima, Peru

The days leading up to New Years were spent connecting with family members and going out in Lima. My cousin took me to Larcomar in Miraflores for the first time – it is a boardwalk type mall that overlooks the coast of Miraflores and the beach and is absolutely gorgeous. There are the best of the best stores and restaurants, a movie theater, and tons of things to entertain you. We met up with some old college friends of my cousin’s and went to a restaurant called La Dama Juana – they had a live show featuring various styles of Peruvian traditional dances from the different regions. The food was Criollo – my favorite!! I decided to go for the buffet so I could sample all of the incredible dishes I haven’t had in many, many years – Arroz con Pollo, Causa, Ceviche, Carrapulcra, etc etc…SO GOOD!!! The show was incredible – I saw dances from the Sierras/Andes region that I had never seen, and some Afro-Peruvian dancing (Negroide) that I love. Fun night and would recommend any one check that place out when visiting Lima. My cousin Carlo Mario is in the Peruvian Navy – and I was honored that he asked me to be his date for the Navy’s New Year extravaganza at the Naval Center in Lima. This year was the year he earned his next stripes, and tradition is that the official ceremony where they change the shoulder boards happens at the New Year’s party. It was my role as his date to do the official change of stripes – and I completed my mission like a champ! My cousin looked so handsome and the Naval center was absolutely breathtaking. The party was amazing – a live 12 person band that played all the best music and had the party poppin’ all night! The theme was a bit of circus/carnival so there were jugglers, men on stilts and huge 12 foot masks walking around keeping everyone entertained. All of my cousins Navy buddies were so nice and I had a blast dancing the night away…we left around 5:30 AM – totally content and totally tired. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! ;-)