Aaah, Agua Dulce Beach. The Summer mecca of your average Limean.
Dusk is approaching and the day’s beach-goers tote their empty, plastic soda bottles and sand covered bags up the cliffs to catch their combis and return to their homes in the impoverished, dusty hill districts.
Yet as the beach-goers end their day Agua Dulce welcomes another crowd set – the “night owls.” No, they are not headed to the clubs, those have long since been eradicated by the municipality, only the exclusive tourist restaurants have managed to survive.
Atypical to Peruvian fashion the public space is salvaged from wasteful use. The night is in its infancy and municipal parking attendants faithfully take their guard at the curbside entrance of the beach. In hand is their trusty flashlight.
Cars, taxis and moto-taxis cruise down the Costa Verde road circuit. As they approach Agua Dulce an attendant waves the flashlight from left to right. “Open for business” is what the attendant is signaling with their alkaline powered apparatus.
Random vehicles slow down and approach the entrance. Drivers pay the attendant the 5 Soles parking fee and proceed to enter with their passengers.
A short distance away, a young bi-national couple has just finished dining and touring the Bajada de los Baños in the bohemian district of Barranco . Prior to concluding their evening they decide to take a romantic stroll along the sidewalk that limits the beaches.
It’s a beautiful night, the Pacific waves crash along the shoreline and the salty mist of the ocean perfumes the evening air. A gentle breeze sets in and the towering cross atop the Morro Solar hill illuminates the back drop of the Limean bahia.
The young couple, a Peruvian national and his American sweetheart, casually make their way hand in hand from Barranco’s Sombrillas beach towards Agua Dulce beach in Chorrillos.
The Agua Dulce parking area is half filled. The American sweetheart observes the attendant and the cars that occupy the lot, but something appears rather odd to her.
The windows of the passenger vehicles, taxis and even moto-taxis are covered with old newspapers and magazine sheets.
“Is that what I think it is?” She innocently inquires of her significant other.
He nonchalantly answers, “It’s cheaper than going to a hotel.”
In utter disbelief she exclaims, “But it’s a public beach!!!”
In her mind she could not comprehend how a country so pronouncedly Roman-Catholic could condone such an open display of immorality!
“Have they no shame?!” she pondered. “Does their venerated Virgen Maria, the holy matriarch that protects their city, beaches and waters turn a blind eye during the night?”
At the foot of the towering cross atop the Morro Solar is an open air shrine and gigantesque statue of the Holy Mother; a gift bestowed upon the district at the turn of the 20th century by the French.
“Dios mio! Just to think how busy the confessionals must be during Sunday masses!” Reasoned the American sweetheart to herself.
“It’s not illegal here?” she questions her Peruvian other again.
“No,” he cooly replies. “It’s even busier on Secretary’s day.“
“What do you mean by that?” she asks with a confused expression painted across her face.
“The bosses take the secretaries out, even if they are married” He continued.
“Married? You mean they come HERE to have an affair with their secretary?!” It was just too much for the American sweetheart to process.
“Sure, it’s a cheap date for the boss,” her Peruvian other affirms.
The couple continued their stroll, the American sweetheart’s neck twisting further right with each step she took, eyes still fixated on the scene of multiple cars.
The vehicles rocked, swayed, even lightly bounced, unsettling the dirt and sand in the parking lot. Shadowy figures emerged between the sheets of newspaper and fogged up glass.
Now the American sweetheart never thought of herself as ultra conservative. She was by no means a saint as a teenager.
She remembered back to the day when Britney Spears shocked a national television audience by wearing a racy, flesh colored costume at the MTV Video Music Awards.
-Or- when Janet Jackson had her infamous wardrobe “malfunction” on live TV during the Superbowl and even a television report on how American society was viewed as “too sexual” in Asia and the Mideast.
American culture too sexual?! Not compared to what the American sweetheart was witnessing that night with her own two eyes on the Peruvian beach!
This wasn’t exactly her first experience with culture shock. She had been exposed to it before a few times in her life.
A visiting German friend once bared her bust as she sunbathed in the American sweetheart’s backyard – Good thing the neighbors had fences.
Then there was a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico when she was fourteen. Left and right she was openly offered alcoholic, margaritas on the rocks and quality “tobacco” paraphernalia.
In front of Agua Dulce beach a large public warning was posted. The American sweetheart looks up and in the limited Spanish she could understand she knew well enough that the large letters on the sign spelled out that consuming alcohol on the beach was strictly verboten.
“That’s funny,” she chuckles, shaking her head.
Her Peruvian partner looks over to her, “What’s funny?” He asks.
“It’s illegal to drink on the beach, but it’s NOT illegal to have sex on the beach. I don’t know, I think that’s rather weird.” She states.
“That’s Peru for you.” Replies the other.
“Yeah, I guess that’s Peru for you, huh?” She quips back.
“We get a car and we can do the same thing,” her partner teases.
“No, thanks!” laughs the American sweetheart at the absurd proposition. “This ‘night owl’ will have her sex on the beach in-a-glass.” *
Filed under: Cultural Experiences, Odd Happenings, Random Stuff | Tagged: lima, costa verde, mañana te cuento, peruvian movies, barranco, chorrillos, bajada de los baños, peruvian beaches, combis, agua dulce beach, sombrillas beach, sex on the beach, culture shock, short stories, bay of lima, virgen del morro, morro solar, britney spears, janet jackson, french statues, public displays of affection, public nudity, lima beaches, peru beaches, peruvian culture, peruvian sexuality, circuito de las playas, poor lima districts, poor cities of peru, night owls, things to do in lima, mañana te cuento 2, peliculas peruanas
A prime example of “A Dulce Rendevouz”:
Mañana te cuento
Warning: Do not click on the link to watch if you do not like sexually explicit movie scenes.
Wow, probably a product of restrictions at home. I always noticed more young people necking in parks than is common in Europe, or maybe it is in the blood!
Excellent post!
I grew up 2 hours outside of Amsterdam, so it takes a lot to scare me
I’d have to second Alan, all the young couples you see making out in the parks are pretty much a product of big families living together (2 or 3 generations in one house sometimes) with some kind of taboo about bringing your boyfriend/girlfriend over.
Here in Cusco I think there’s a lot of sort of pretentious “proper” attitudes.
Yes, Peruvian PDA. Instead of getting a room they find a park bench or a beach to do it.
Actually, I see a lot of it in Chorrillos along the Malecon. Although I can’t blame them, at least when they do it in public, they pick a scenic place to do it.
[...] Cusco is an expensive city by Peruvian standards, thanks to the tourist industry. The cost of real estate is entirely out of line with personal incomes. Asking prices for nice apartments easily exceed $50,000. Consequently, as in all of Peru, it’s not uncommon for 2 or 3 generations of a family to share a home, which is also why you find lots of young couples making out in public places. [...]
Great blog, Rachel. Congratulations!
Ah….about this post. L’amour! LOL (now….were you the original American sweeheart?)
‘Tis moi…and it is in fact a story partially based on true experiences.