Limeños who could afford it escaped to the beach this long holiday weekend. I'd never seen Barranco (my district) so peaceful. Reminded me of New York during Memorial Day, July 4 or Labor Day. Doris and I stayed around and it was good. Miguel Villafane was in town and we met up Friday night - he's the Puerto-Rican based filmmaker I met at NALIP conference two years ago. We took him to San Antonios. This place is a Limeñan institution. Terrific giant salads (a rarity here), deserts, sandwiches and tamals in a setting that reminds me of a Denny's or a Greek diner - and I mean that in the positive sense, meaning fast service, comfy booths, air conditioning, clean bathrooms.
Saturday night Miguel invited us to see Wakuyani, a political theater group that's been performing for 30 years. We capped off the evening with a very late pollo a la brasa. The next day Doris invited me to go to Las Flores for her brother's birthday, but I begged off. I chose to be the neurotic workaholic New Yorker drinking overpriced coffee drinks at the sanitized Starbucks. I have gotten over my shame of doing so. Some of the regulars were there, including a group of three American clean-cut college guys wearing "Jesus Rocks" t-shirts.