Living an Ordinary Life in Arequipa

Today is my 35th birthday. I will spend most of my day either at school or studying which at this point in my life makes me completely happy. I’m still worn out from my weekend excursion to Colca Canyon and have decided that I’m either really getting old or I’m much more out of shape than I thought.

I woke up early this morning and opened some birthday cards from some friends that I had taken with me from home. What lovely surprises…thank you all for the smiles. I then decided that since it was my birthday that I should go back to sleep. That worked for a little while but now I am ancy again and ready to do something but not something that includes leaving my warm bed.

I was going to write about my Colca Canyon experience first but I think I’ll save the really exciting stories for later in the week…perhaps this weekend. Although weekend excursions to canyons and mountains are exciting there is plenty here in daily life that amuses me. So, I thought I’d share that with you; a little glimpse of my kooky life in Peru. These are just a few of the things I’ve experienced in the short week and half that I have been here…

· I walk to school every morning. It’s a good 30 minute walk so I’m figuring it’s almost two miles. (I’m not trying to set any land speed records, okay.) But on the way to school I pass several interesting things. Dogs on the roofs of houses looking down into the street to see what or who they can harass. I pass by my favorite sign every morning about half way into my walk; hot dogs. It makes me laugh every time. Just before I get to school, I have to cross the street where there is a manual traffic signal i.e. a little policeman in a little house. At night he has a glow stick similar to the ones they use at the airport at night to help the pilot know where to park the plane.

· You all know I’m a big fan of animals. So it shouldn’t surprise you that within my first week I went to the supermarket (don’t think Wal-Mart here, it’s not that glamorous) and bought some dog treats. There are more dogs running the street here than I could count in a lifetime. In the mornings generally you can find them foraging for food. You might think that the sight of puppies running the streets would break your heart on a daily basis but sometimes it makes me smile. (Like I said, it’s a kooky little world I live in.) There are times when I’ll pass a “family” of dogs because that’s how they act. They hang out together and it’s clear to me that they watch out for each other. Frequently I’ll pass a group of four or five dogs who look like they’ve never even dreamed of a bath and all but one, the lookout dog, will be taking a nap. I can only imagine the loyalty in the group. Hey guys…looks like there’s trouble up ahead, we better get outta here.

· Every day I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my host family. You would think that mealtimes would be peaceful times where one could relax. And sometimes I do. But most of the time my brain is in overdrive trying to keep up with and stay involved in the conversation. It’s always a glorious moment when I say something that was intended to be funny and everyone laughs. I’m just always praying it’s because I said what I was trying to say. The meals are delicious though. Lunch is definitely the biggest meal here and is always three courses. The first course is generally soup. Before arriving here I’d only had one type of soup in my life and pretty much would veto anything other than homemade potato soup. Not anymore. I eat whatever it is they put in front of me. I’ve been told that people in the larger cities don’t fix cuy (guinea pig) or gato (cat). Yep…that’s right, those cute little fuzzy pets of yours are dinnertime chow for an entire country. The second course is generally some type of meat and rice. They also fix a lot of vegetables, which I’ve never been really good at eating. The third course is generally some kind of fruit dish. My favorite…fresh pineapple, sautéed in butter, sugar, and fresh orange juice. You talk about yummy.

(This is my school.)

· I think the only reason I’m able to eat all the fruit and veggies here is because they are so fresh. I have never had fruit so juicy in my life. I don’t know that I’ll be able to eat it anymore when I return home. Serena said the same thing when we were in Miami, that she couldn’t eat it when I offered her some grapes. At the time I didn’t understand but now I totally get it. There is a difference. And it’s huge. One of my favorite fruits is something that grows on a tree, looks similar to an orange but has a shell like an egg. You have to crack it to eat it. It looks totally disgusting. It reminds me of something out of Alien verses Predators…slimy clear liquid with nasty green colored seeds. You shouldn’t have an edible picture in your head at this point, because it doesn’t look edible but it is out of this world delicious. You just don’t want to chew, just swallow. It’s very dulce…Spanish for sweet.

· Going to the bathroom is always a fun adventure around here. It’s not that you can’t find one but generally when you do come across one there is never any toilet paper. So, I’ve gotten used to carrying around my own. And the tricky part is if you do have some then you have to remember to put it in the trash can afterwards. I have to really think about it to remember…no multitasking for me in the bathroom any more! The shower is another thing I’m figuring out. At home, I’d always take a shower in the morning while some people take showers in the evening right before going to bed. Here, I quickly learned that if I want a hot shower I have to take one between 2 and 4 o’clock in the afternoon. The water is solar heated which basically means it sits in a black tank on top of the house which warms the water when the sun beats down during the day. I am fortunate to have an electric heater shower head but it’s no match for the cold water in the morning or at night. You can only imagine how crazy my hair is every day from 8:00 am until mid-afternoon. I’m glad I brought plenty of ponytail holders.

· Another interesting thing I’ve noticed is that they ration napkins here. They have the corner on the market for the world smallest napkins. They are the same size as ours but only one sheet. So where ours is like an 18x18 inch square of paper folded multiple times theirs is just one little sheet. So if you’re going to spill anything on your lap you better be good at strategically placing food.

(This is my apartment.)

· The transportation around town is quite interesting as well. Most of the buses here resemble VW vans and are commonly packed with 50 people. It’s quite a sight and an experience. I haven’t taken the bus that many times because I’m not really sure where they all go just yet. They all have signs on the front but by the time I have figured out which one I should be on it’s already passed me. You’d think that the guy hired to yell at people to get on the bus and who tells everyone where it’s going would help but my Spanish isn’t that good just yet. So generally I either walk to the Plaza de Armas (the city center) or I take a taxi. The problem with taxis for me is that I look like a foreigner…blonde hair (at least half of it…that irresponsible hair thing I’ve got going on) and blue eyes make me a target for every freakazoid out there. Anywhere I’m going a taxi should cost 3 soles which translates to $1.00 American…pretty cheap transportation when you figure it takes me about 40 minutes to walk from my apartment to the Plaza…about 2.75 miles, one-way. But commonly this is how the conversation goes…”A la Avenida San Martín…cuesta es?” And I commonly here “cinco soles” or worse “siete soles” to which I reply “es muy caro, no gracias” and then go look for another taxi. Yesterday was the first day that the first taxi driver I asked replied “tres soles” – Yahoo! No walking for me! I think it might have something to do with my Spanish getting better, I’m not sure. Maybe I just got lucky and got an honest driver.

(This is my teacher, Elivra.)

· I’m also working on my whole “being assertive thing”. Regardless of whether it’s standing in a line or walking down the sidewalk if you don’t take charge you’re not going to get anywhere. So, I’m learning basically how not to be as polite as I used to be. I am also learning how to disregard constant horn beeping telling me that I need to hurry up as I cross the street. This place would be a nightmare for a third grader…they’d never get across the street.

So that’s pretty much what I’m up to these days…passing out treats to the pups who live on the streets, studying Spanish about 6-7 hours a day, and mixing in some fun with my new friends. I was originally thinking about staying here 3 weeks then traveling for a few weeks but I really like my Spanish teacher, Elvira, and things are going well and I’m enjoying being able to speak the language. It’s amazing at this pace what a difference a day can make…so I don’t know. I suppose I’ll leave it up to chance at this point and see which way the wind blows. Isn’t that what Mary Poppins does?

(These are my friends, Ines (Germany) and Anna (Poland).

Author's note: I was unable to publish this blog until the following day due to the fact that all of South America was without internet service. My birthday has and will continue to be celebrated on September 24th.