The Lay of the Land

One of my favorite ways to get to know a place is by just wandering around. Or, in many cases, getting lost. I’ve tried to do this (well, not necessarily get lost!) several times since I’ve been here, and while I still have a lot to learn about Trujillo, I’m beginning to learn my way around. On a couple of runs (of the very few I’ve taken hasta ahora), I’ve managed to get a little lost, ask for directions, and find my way back to familiar territory (don’t worry, Mom, it’s all been in safe places and in full daylight). It’s a great way to see places I might not necessarily see otherwise and, after I get home and look at a map to figure out exactly where I was, I add another piece to the slowly-growing picture of my familiarity with the city.

So let me show you around Trujillo a little bit. We girls live in an apartment building (La Casa Blanca, as some people call it) on the busy corner where Larco, a main road, crosses Avenida España. It makes for a lot of noise as traffic and honking taxis pass on both streets, but that part has been pretty easy to zone out, and the location is great. Our apartment is quite nice and actually has twice as many beds as we need, as sometimes there are more female interns. But we’ve got a nice kitchen fully equipped with a fridge and gas stove/oven, as well as a dining/living area where, on the enviable occasions we have some free time, it’s nice to relax and people-watch on the busy street below.

La Avenida España actually encircles the historic center of downtown Trujillo, made up of a grid of streets filled with everything from panaderías (bakeries), farmacias, and optometry clinics to restaurants and beautiful old Catholic churches every couple of blocks. There’s also the Mercado central, which sells everything from clothes to flowers to household wares and, of course, just about any fresh food you can imagine (just be sure to wash your produce in the appropriate bleach solution before eating it!). Like many Latin American cities, the heart of this 15-square-block circle boasts the main Plaza de Armas with its impressive ring of refurbished, colorful, colonial-style buildings (including a church and several municipal buildings) anchored by a statue whose subject I haven’t quite figured out yet.

Although the city’s center has a very definite downtown, it isn’t marked by tall buildings or a noticeable skyline. In fact, very few buildings are more than 5 or 6 stories tall, and most only have between 2 and 4 floors. Trujillo is laid out sort of like a wheel, with la Avenida España encircling the hub and other main roads raying out like spokes toward the outskirts of town. These main roads delineate and connect the other areas of town, which are distinguished by their own business districts or residential neighborhoods. Bodegas (small stores where you can get most of your basic food or household items), larger supermarkets, or even one of Trujillo’s several public or private universities (such as la Universidad Nacional or Universidad de César Vallejo) are easy to find dotted around, as are little squares and parks where you might find a coveted patch of green space, or neighborhood concrete courts where kids play soccer or basketball.

La Avenida América parallels España in that it corrals a circular area of Trujillo, but it is a little further out and contains more, including España and the city center as well as other neighborhoods. Further out from América, things aren’t quite so organized, and the outskirts of Trujillo sprawl out pretty expansively. As in many urban areas, the average household income and standard of living drop as you get further from the city center, and the PanAmerican highway takes you through these levels of suburbs and districts as you leave Trujillo: through Milagros, La Esperanza, Arevalo, Parque Industrial, Wichanzao, Clementina. There are countless others, I’m sure, and I’m not exactly sure how they’re organized, but I supposed they are all, more or less, part of Trujillo.

So… welcome to Trujillo! The local time is 8:00 pm. I hope you enjoy your stay here, or wherever your final destination may be.