Random Peruvian Information

August 11, 2008

I’m so happy I was able to talk to my mom today! She called because our Disney Tour guide called her and said there was “a tiny emergency” not a bad one, just a tiny one regarding our plans. She helped us out and gave him our cel number and then called me too. I know she was happy to talk as well – it’s never good to hear there is any type of emergency. While we were talking I realized there are so many things that I have become used to in 1 week that are really pretty “strange” for lack of a better word. Here’s a run down in no particular order:
- In all of Peru, you are not allowed to throw toilet paper in the toilets! Every “nice” bathroom has a little trash can for the purpose. The plumbing cannot handle paper.
- Lima currently has no working sewage treatment plant – the raw sewage goes directly into the ocean.
- One of Peru’s top industries is fishing from the ocean (see above!)
- All the houses, even those in “nice” areas like Miraflores or Surco (notice the “ on everything I describe as nice?) have major security. Electric wires attached to iron barbs surrounding the properties. And the thing is, the areas I described above really are pretty nice.
- Graffiti is everywhere.
- Lima is very damp and gray. Worse than Seattle. They say it never rains here. It’s a continual spit of moisture. All our clothes felt damp, all the time. Even after picking them up from the laundry down the street from the house. If I return to Lima, I will not bring cotton clothing.
- Houses in Peru do not have central heat. Since it is winter now, it gets quite cold at night. (30 in Puno) We’ve been okay so far – we bundled up at night at the CCS house and the hotels in Arequipa and Puno have 2 or 3 alpaca blankets per bed!
- Peruvians like their horns more than their brakes. Whenever you cross the street, you are risking your life! Well that is an exaggeration, however it is pretty scary. The small streets we are getting used to, but the huge ones I am happy to leave behind in Lima. While staying at the CCS house we had to cross El Ovalo Higuerta every time we wanted to go to Plaza Vea (Peru Wal-mart). Kique told us that CCS volunteers call the Ovalo the “Circle of Death”! It is a roundabout with 4 or 5 lanes and 8 to 10 entrances / exits. It is so scary. I have some video I hope to post.
- Any time we go somewhere, there are a million people around. Any time of day it seems. And, unlike Italy, very few speak English! It’s actually cool, although sometimes worrisome, because I have been communicating using my 20+ (AAGH!!!) year old high school Spanish – or lack therof. Sometimes I even think in Spanish. And I have found myself talking to Rachel and trying to remember the Spanish word to describe something before continuing the conversation. Why?? She knows English!!!!!
- Things are SO cheap. The money is Soles. Here’s a comparison. A bottle of water here is about 2 Soles in a restaurant. That is approx $.90. In the US $3 or $4 ( I assume – I never get bottled water in the US restaurants). In Italy 3 or 4 Euros - $7 or $8 for water!!!!!! We have found so many cool souvenirs. My favorite is an Alpaca sweater for 240 Soles. In the US it would be $300!!. I have worn it almost every day for a week, though. It is much better then wearing damp cotton sweatshirts. (see above). Another update example - We went to the little store next to our Puno Hostal for bananas to eat on the bus tomorrow. The owner said “Esperan, por favor” and ran out of the store. He came running back with 4 bananas and some platanos (baby bananas) We said we would like the big bananas and 4 bottles of water. We paid 5 Soles for everything and he threw in the platanos for free!!!!!
- We are having a little trouble with electricity – the phones don’t seem to want to stay charged. Pat bought me a Peruana hair dryer. Like 15 Soles - $3.
- Everyone here is SO nice. (Well, until today in Puno, when our tour transfer driver refused to take a passenger to her hotel saying it was too far!) The people bend over backwards to make sure we are okay – organizing tours, arranging cabs – our Hostal Imperial desk clerk just brought me water for some tea. And they don’t expect tips. We have been trying to tip them, though, given how cheap it is for us and given the average earnings of Peruvians. 1% of workers earn more than $3,300 per month; 10% earn between $755 and $3,299; 30% earn between $315 and $754; 59% earn less than $314!!! According to the government, 80% of the population uses 90% of monthly income on food, leaving 10% to cover housing, clothing, education, recreation, etc.
- Niceness Update 8-11-2008 – We tried to return to Talipan’s on Monday night – where we ate our first night in Puno and they said they had NO tables. Even though we could see some! Maybe we offended them by asking to pay with Visa or actually leaving a tip! Never mind that we did not complain when they did not bring us plates, silverware or napkins! I might have to do a review on TripAdvisor.
Well, that’s quite a list – I am sure there are more things. I’ll add them as I remember them.
And, as this post is so long, I am going to do another describing our last few days.