Reflections on Miraflores, Lima

Like all cities, Lima has several neighborhoods, each with a distinctive character. The one that I stayed in during my trip to the city was Miraflores. Several years ago, it was a plantation, but now it is a bustling, trendy, and wealthy neighborhood. For me, it was a definitely interesting contrast to the touristy city of Cusco as well.

The first thing I noticed about Miraflores was that it wasn't densely concentrated as Cusco and the prices were higher as well. To grab a meal here, you have to walk at least ten minutes, which is very different compared to Cusco, where there were several restaurants on the same street as our hostel. I also felt that I had to walk more here to find a restaurant compared to the Chinese cities I've lived, Beijing and Shanghai. When you get to a restaurant, you have to pay about 50% more for the same meal compared to Cusco. I would say that prices here are almost comparable to American ones. This makes me wonder how much you have to earn compared to the average Peruvian to afford living here.

Another thing I noticed about Miraflores is that Peruvians here are whiter than those in Cusco. In Cusco, most light-skinned people I saw were visitors from abroad, but there are plenty of light-skinned natives in this neighborhood. I thought that perhaps Peruvians in Lima were whiter in general than those in other cities. However, when I went to other parts of the city, I didn't find that to be true. I would even guess that the average skin color here is lighter than in many parts of Miami.

Miraflores defies a lot of stereotypes of Latin American cities. There aren't any shantytowns or roving gangs here. Instead, the streets here are very clean and neat, and I rarely would see any graffiti. Unlike Cusco, there are plenty of trash cans available. Overall, I would say that this neighborhood is more comparable to a European city such as Munich than a Latin American city like Santiago, Chile.

There are plenty of upscale restaurants here with a wide option of cuisines to choose from. There's Mexican, sushi, burgers. Compared to Cusco, it seems a little harder to find traditional Peruvian food and I did not find any restaurants that offered a daily set menu. I thought this was a bit strange because I saw plenty of such menus in Santiago.

At the seaside Larcomar mall, you can frequent many typical chain stores that are common in America. For example, I saw stores for Adidas, Nike, and North Face. I even saw a Chili's and a TGI Fridays. However, in a Peruvian twist, you can also find stores that specialize in authentic Alpaca wool products. Overall, I would say that the mall is very similar to the Green Hills Mall in Nashville. While the mall was very beautiful, I did not find it so interesting because I can go to the Green Hills Mall any time.

The main thing I didn't like about Miraflores was that I felt it wasn't representative of the rest of the city. It felt very similar to things I could find back in Nashville, which was disappointing for me as a tourist looking for a different cultural experience. I think I would have gotten an experience more representative of Lima if I had stayed in a different neighborhood. On the other hand, this makes me want to return to Lima in the future to experience more of the city.

I wonder what in the history of Miraflores has made the neighborhood so affluent and white compared to the rest of Lima. I also wonder if there is any connection between the amount of white Peruvians here and the neighborhood's affluence. Staying in Miraflores definitely made me think more about the importance of race in Peru.