Peru's history blends into the background, but is present in everything you see.

Balconies visible from homes overlooking Lima's historical center remain from when immigrants moved here from Seville.

Chinatown.  Five percent of Lima's population is Chinese, primarily descended from contract laborers brought here between 1849 and 1874, to work in mines and on plantations. They represented a historical transition from slave to "paid" labor, yet a Peruvian resident told us that an American Confederate general expressed horror at the treatment of "coolies" by the people they worked for. Another group of Chinese settlers came after the founding of Sun Yat-sen's republic in 1912, World War II, and the establishment of Communist rule in 1949.

Presence of Catholic missions. The Jesuits arrived in Peru in the 16th century. The Dominicans, and several other orders, brought Catholic influence to Peru, and built a cathedral above an Inca place of worship.

Settlements on the outskirts of Lima. Ate was settled by people who fled their rural villages during the 80s, barely escaping with their lives. Meeting citizens of Ate, we realized we had made several assumptions about the people we would meeting, that they would be desperately poor and isolated. Our assumptions moved aside as we were invited into homes, no two of which are the same, and saw taxis dropping off and picking up riders. Of course, meeting individual people also changes your perceptions, because once you meet people and watch them prepare a meal for you, it's no longer possible to think of them as nameless faces in the crowd.

We saw thousands of Catholic men, women and children celebrating the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday in San Martin Square. It seemed as if the entire city was there. We learned later that celebrants' purple robes represented a sign of penance. A Jesuit historian told us the holiday was introduced to native people as a forced alternative to indigenous celebrations.

These are only a few examples of the ways in which multiple cultures have blended against a complicated background of worldwide political and religious forces. As anything would be with so many factors in play over so much time, the picture is as complex as it can be.  Our perceptions constantly evolve as we learn more about why we see what we see.