Chile time

Took a quick trip to Chile to see the beach and resolve some visa issues. The bus ride was 6-7 hours, (one way) and some of the mountain roads were really nerve-wracking. I honestly didn't like looking out the window. There's no railing, and the drop would be certain death -- or worse. So I didn't look out the window. I watched a bunch of R-rated movies they show on the bus, which struck me as odd. Peru is a Catholic country, and there are kids on the bus and boobs on the screen. Go figure. Getting into Chile is a little bit of a process. The bus arrives in the Peruvian town of Tacna. There, you hire a collectivo, which is an ordinary passenger car. The car takes you to the border. You check out of Peru, then get a visa to enter enter Chile. The driver then takes you to the Chilean town of Arica. The driver kind of handles the whole thing for you. I was a little nervous when he took our passports and went inside some building. But he came back and all was well. Arica is a nice beach town, and Chile certainly has a more American feel than Peru. Cars in Chile stay in lanes. The poverty isn't quite as visible as in Peru. There are still markets and such, but there's clearly a different vibe in Chile. The beach looked pretty nice too, but didn't really spend much time there. The visa was the main mission. You do the same collectivo thing to get back to Tacna/Peru, going through customs and getting that all-important 183-day visa. Watched the Hangover and Unknown (in Spanish) on the way back on the bus. Police came onto the bus twice, taking IDs and checking passports. There also was a 30-minute baggage check by police about an hour into the trip.  Travel is serious and time-consuming stuff in Peru. I was happy to get to Arequipa. It felt like home and I celebrated with a combi ride and anticuchos from a street vendor. Nothing like it.

Street meat

I thought it was time for catchier headlines. Actually, I've gotten into the habit of eating meals from street vendors now that I live in the old part of Arequipa (girls at the college say it's the barrio).  I'm eating antichuchos -- in all likelihood it's beef heart -- nightly. It's usually about four pieces of thinly sliced beef on a long thin stick, and has one or two potatoes on top. I'm hooked. It's a good balance to all the fresh fruit I'm eating. And the ladies cooking it are kind enough to take the cigarettes out of their mouths while they hand it to me. Well, some of them do. This is one of the real plusses here ... good food almost falls out of the sky. And it's soooo cheap .... one of those wood skewers costs a sol (27.2 cents).
I've noted many of the positives, but there are clearly some drawbacks. I live right off the main drag and the air is awful. Bus fumes, car fumes, taxi fumes, people fumes, everything. While I'm whining ... walking is part contact sport and part chicken. Who will back down as we approach on the sidewalk (and the sidewalks are very, very narrow)? No one? Then we'll collide. There may be a Spanish word for excuse me, but it's never spoken. On the little buses called combis,  which are a cheaper and better way to get around than taxis, it's no shock to have some stranger's arse in your farse. Forget personal space here. If you need your three feet, leave town for the day.
Teaching grammar is a bit of a challenge. Applying terminology to phrases that are instinct for me isn't so easy to do for students who don't speak English. But the teaching is going better as I settle in -- I'm able to lesson plan.  The student I tutor has just arrived so I'm signing off. After class, some queso helado. Look it up.

You can't get there from here

I got an invitation to an Arequipa restaurant opening Saturday. The invitation included a map with a red block showing where the restaurant was located. For the record, it was on Acunsion, which is simply Ejercito extended. I guess it's 3 or 4 miles from my apartment. At 5 p.m., I get on a bus which has Ejercito on the window, but when I'm in a sketchy part of town I'm told it's not going where I need to go. The driver's "assistant" (most buses have these guys who collect fares and yell out the door) tells me to get out in sketch town and walk a few blocks and catch another bus. Or I think that's what he said. Like a good gringo, I do what I'm told. I'm walking and see no buses with Ejercito or any streets I recognize on the window, so I flag a taxi. I show the driver the map, and he's asking questions, but I'm not picking up what he's asking. Regardless, I get in, and away we go. He wants 8 soles, the most I've ever paid for a ride here, but it sounds fine to me because it's getting dark and I don't know where the heck I am. We drive for quite a while and I'm a bit nervous because it's all alleys and side streets. (I'm told taxis sometimes kidnap gringos and rob them ... and worse). But sure enough, we reach Ejercito and appear headed to the red block on the map. He takes me to a restaurant, but it's not on Acunsion, but the name of the restaurant matches the name on the invite, so I get out. At the restaurant, they tell me the opening is not there, but down the street and to the right. It's dark now and I'm walking streets I don't know in a part of town I don't know. I ask two guys at a gas station and they tell me to head back the way I came and turn down some street. I do that for a bit, but get a funny vibe and ask a mom and daughter who are headed my way. She says I'm headed in the wrong direction and need to walk about 12 blocks the other way. I walk those 12 blocks and bumble into the opening, but the person I was meeting wasn't there. So I start walking the 3 miles or so to town. Along the way I see a bus with Ejercito on the window, and get a ride that takes me within a quarter-mile of my apartment. On the way to my place, I stopped and bought street food -- five pieces of meat and a potato on a stick -- for 1 sol (27.3 U.S. cents). Home by 7:10, minus about 11 soles, and in for the night.

Hard to picture

I had my first real bummer of the trip when my camera got stolen. Let my guard down for a moment, and guess what. Knowing that you could get your jock itch stolen here, I should have been more diligent. That's my bad (one of the idioms I'm teaching my students). Lesson learned and time to move on, and besides, it's replaceable. When I get a new camera, I'll post more pictures. On the plus side, and I'm finding more and more plusses each day here, I found a place to live. It's a single room with bathroom, cable, internet for about $200 U.S. a month, or 500 soles a month if you're a currency junkie. There's a shared kitchen, but it's kind of small. So what. The place is right in the middle of everything in Arequipa, and halfway between the college and main office where I work. My landlord Juan seems very cool. I'm understanding the taxi system a bit as well. You're always quoted a price that's a sol or two above market value. If you don't know market value, you pay. If you do, the taxi driver almost always comes down when you name your price. You use ATMs here just like the U.S., which is nice, and they offer both Spanish and English, just the like the U.S. My Spanish has a ways to go, but is improving. I'm able to bumble through a conversation and usually get my point across, and understand some of what is said. I was able to converse enough with Juan to get the apartment deal done. The longer I'm here the more I like it. Hope that trend continues. The other teachers are cool, and we share strangers in a strange land stories. Time to lesson plan.

Get to work

The institute I'm working for needed me to teach right away, which is great, although I came early to kind of ease in. I have two classes I'm finishing up and will tutor a student as well. Brisk pace here at the institute with lots of students coming and going. I'm still trying to learn my way around town, and like I've noted, it's all about the taxis. Looking for a place, and I've been told that one-room setups with shared kitchen run about 450 soles a month. For a reference, $40 got me 109 soles at the bank today, so the prices here are pretty reasonable, although the dollar is sinking against the sol.  Still marveling at the food ... ate one of the greatest mangos I've ever had yesterday -- ate the whole dang thing and it was huge. It cost 4 soles and was well worth it. Internet is a tad slow here but at least I'm able to post and was finally able to call my dad on skype today, although the connection wasn't the greatest. Off to class.

Off the bus

Made it to Arequipa after 16 hours on the bus from Lima. And it was every bit of 16 hours. The bus never exceeded 95 KMH, and averaged about 65-70 KMH, if that. A snorer sat next to me and a kid with whooping cough (or something worse) was behind. I'm sure I did my share of snoring as well, so all's fair.  My boss picked me up at the bus station, and I explored the city center a little. Wonderful ice cream, cool central market (where change back from a purchase is always a controversy). The fruit, veggies, grains, meats all looked great for a very reasonable price, if you pay attention to your change. Food in Peru is really good, so far. Weather is not too shabby either ... cool in the morning, warm in the afternoon, cool again at night. Very bright sun. I seemed to have adjusted OK to the altitude. Had a headache the first day, but Sunday walked about 5K and felt fine. Enjoyed ceviche for dinner (a fish dish with onions, peppers, spices and sweet potato). My attempts at spanish are keeping the locals laughing, and I definitely have some work to do in that regard. I got a few odd looks Sunday, especially when I got lost and wandered into a little farming neighborhood.  A nice man directed me to the nearest calle. I'm reporting to work tomorrow and will begin looking for an apartment, so it's time to sign off and mourn the loss of the U.S. women's soccer team. Peru, however, beat Colombia 1-0 on sabado.

Lima

The flight from JFK was remarkably smooth and included two meals. Can´t beat that. The big excitement was the cab ride from the Lima airport to the bus station. It seemed like a free for all on the roads, with drivers ignoring road signs, other cars, traffic lights. They didn´t ignore their horns, which are beeping constantly. Amazingly, I did not see any accidents, but I  saw,  honestly, about 20 to 30 really close calls. My driver was awesome, rarely taking his eyes off the prize (any open space he could squeeze through). I imagine all big cities operate this way, but this was even a cut above the New York and L.A. traffic I´ve been involved in. It was something else. Also, there´s quite a bit of trash on the street, which takes some getting used to. Regardless, folks are pretty nice so far. Not many English speakers, but they´re very patient with my very humble attempts at Spanish. Had an excellent coffee, wonderful shredded chicken sandwich (with crunchy french fries and a fresh tomato on it), and papaya smoothie for about $4.50 U.S. at the bus station. Weather is very Calif.-like, with overcast skies and cool temps in the a.m. burning off and warming up in the p.m. No complaints so far. This place looks great. We´ll see how I feel after the 16-hour bus ride to Arequipa.

Philly airport

At the Philly airport ... my bag was too heavy by 5 pounds so I transferred books to my carry-on and came in exactly at 50.0 lbs.-- the limit. If it's 50.1 lbs. you pay another $90.  I'll be waiting around a lot ... fly to laguardia and then take a bus to JFK for flight to Lima. Have to check in my 50-pound bag again at JFK. Lady at check-in in Philly was very nice when my passport swipe didn't take. Maybe business is down -- all the Philly airport folk were nice. Internet connection at the airport is free, but very slow. That's OK since I've got time. The lady next to me is texting while working on her computer and talking with a bluetooth. Now that's connected. Absolutely awesome weather in Del. today. Wished I could have stayed one more day since all previous days were hot hot hot. Enough drivel. I'm off to buy expensive airport drinks. I did have a Charcoal Pit cheesesteak before the limo picked me up.

Delaware in July

This isn't Delaware, Ohio. It's Delaware, as in the first state and home of scrapple. I'm staying at my dad's non-air conditioned house, with the temperature around 90 and the humidity in the same neighborhood. Only 10 days until I go to Peru. I gave my cat to my buddy Ron yesterday, and it was a pretty sad moment. My out-of-its-mind ferrel cat from Glen Helen was finally starting to behave like a pet. I'll miss that beast. I saw Vic and Wayne on my way out the door of Y.S., and we had a couple of good yuks. Of course, stopped in  on the Sturm(inator) before leaving town, and he gave me a couple of large waters that were essential to surviving the long drive to Del. Tying up some loose ends and working on my dad's house until I leave.  Also, I'm getting crushed nightly by my new MacBook's chess game.