Dolares o Soles?

I'm getting accustomed to the layout, customs, and language of another country today. It hasn't too difficult, since it's South America still and Spanish is still spoken here.

I've already seen some Spanish differences though between here and Chile. Internet cafes are called cybercafes in Chile but here they are locutorios, like they were in Spain.

In Lima, they take dollars or nuevo sols (local currency) at most establishments. How cool is that to have a currency called new suns? Haha

I saw someone paying with dollars earlier at a supermarket and it pleased me to see them, even though I don't really like to admit it. It just shows me that I'm getting closer to home.

Lima has an irregular layout with many diagonal streets and 6 way intersections, although it's still not *that* difficult because most of the streets are in a grid pattern. Walking around the streets in Miraflores, one of the young trendy areas, it feels a lot like east LA. Middle class suburby, with lots of low small buildings of different colors but nothing flashy and lots of metal gates in front dividing personal lawns from the sidewalks.

Their supermarket called Vivanda is seriously excellent. It looks like an upscale American supermarket inside with a whole deli bar and people making sandwiches and pre-made salads. I was very impressed in there. Higher quality than the ones I saw in Santiago even.

My hotel happens to be close to the ocean. I saw it today during my cab ride to my hostel. It was a beauty, even if it's not a beach. I'm such a sucker for the ocean. It's almost like a drug.