Surprise

Having been to Sur America before, there are things that don't surprise me about Miraflores.

You can't toss a one Sol coin without having it fall into a slot machine. This is not a surprise.

There are big chain fast food shops all over the place. McDonalds. Burger King. Pizza Hut. KFC (that's what it's called here). Sad, but not surprising.

For coffee there's Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. Even sadder, still not surprising.

On the surprising end, they put Americans to shame with their penchant for flag waving. Places of business, houses, apartments, cars, there are Peruvian flags everywhere. Many, curiously, as just the red white red stripes, without the coat of arms in the centre, kind of like a Canadian flag without the maple leaf in the centre. This surprised me a lot.

But, imagine my surprise when, walking around town to register for español classes, to buy some maracuyas at the market, and to eat some street food, I see more branches of a Canadian bank, than I would see branches of that bank while running similar errands in the streets of Montréal.