Professional Peruvian Volunteer

"It's easy to know what you want to say, but not to say it." - Mario Vargas Llosa

I started work on Friday. There wasn't much easing into things. One day of fun and to the office. This was nothing like working with BioItzá in Guatemala. They speak a lot of Spanish and they speak it fast.

My new desk. At least 1 person laughed at me when I took this picture.

Thankfully, I already had two days of speaking Spanish at home to prep me. I found that I could understand basically all of what people were saying to me, but I definitely initially had some trouble responding in kind.

So far everyone I have met has been great. I definitely need to get  use to the cheek-kissing as a hello. A few awkward moments when someone went in for one and I was unprepared.

My office-mate is a Belgian ex-pat who was in Peru with his wife on a spouse visa (she's an engineer so she could find work instantaneously). Apparently Peru is as bad as the US and as a spouse, you cannot work in Peru. So let me tell you from hearing about his travails, it's been hard for him to get a work visa.

Working hard

He's already shown me his favorite lunch places around. It is apparently cheaper to buy a real lunch than to try to go out and buy a sandwich. Almost everywhere has set lunch menu that costs between 6 and 9 soles that includes a fresh juice, appetizer, entree, and dessert. But more on that later. There will be an entry on food.

I had a meeting with Hugo where he gave me a run down of what I would be doing in more detail. In a very short form, the Peruvian government is preparing to implement an initiative to pay people to not cut down trees (there's more to it, but that will hold you over), and to do so they created a bunch of new institutions. These institutions are pretty untested and it's not clear they are actually representing the right people and that they have the capacity to do what they are supposed to. So I am going to help them design a study to assess: (1) how transparent and participatory they are, (2) effective the measures they have in place are to ensure no harm, and (3) if their conflict-resolution mechanisms work. So...a little intimidating.

To cap it off, I am giving presentation to the Ecosystems team this Friday. In Spanish. So...more intimidating. But this is good for me, right?

So I can't wait until Saturday, both so my presentation will be over, and because I'll be moving into a place in the actual city! (To be clear, there is Lima the district which is in Lima the Province, which is in Lima the region. All of which is distinct from Metropolitan Lima - what you would call the city of Lima - which is generally agreed to be 30 or so of the 43 districts in the Province.)

I still have not decided on a place (I am going to see the current first choice tomorrow!), but I will definitely know by the 1st, which is when I should be moving in somewhere. And then, bye-bye 1.5-2 hour daily commute each way, hello spare time. (I honestly have never appreciated Embarq more. Lima only has 1 real BRT line and it works beautifully. The city needs at least 10 more lines. And definitely extending throughout the province.)

It may be a long trip, but at least Chaclacayo is sunny!

Once I'm in the city, you guys will get more exciting updates when I actually post pictures of fun places I have visited, including the city's world-renown museum. And I definitely plan on visiting the Pre-Colombian pyramid that is just hanging out in the middle of San Isidro. Just imagine driving through the Lima equivalent of Georgetown and BOOM! Pyramid.

So exciting.

Huh, I guess I really am a hipster...

http://article.wn.com/view/2013/05/05/Who_knew_Lima_Peru_is_South_America_s_secret_new_hipster_han/#/related_news

First Post!

The beginning of my trip has been the usual ups and downs of excitement and trepidation.

As I almost always do at the beginning of a long trip, I spent most of the morning feeling like I should get out there and explore my new surroundings, but not really wanting to leave my room. But my host, Mami (my "Peruvian mother") acted as my guide on Thursday, and I got to see Colonial Lima. Peru's famous hospitality is apparently famous for a reason. I was introduced to my host family through a friend and without ever having met me, I was offered a place to stay for a week and picked up at the airport. Mami has been diligently showing me around and helping me find my way since I've gotten here.

Mami

Until I move into an apartment in the city proper, I am staying in Chaclacayo, a district about 45 minutes northeast of Lima proper. And as a result, I have become proficient in the various public transportation options available to get to and move about within the city. The easiest way into the city is to take an auto, or shared taxi, for 5 soles. The drive takes about an hour without bad traffic, and the traffic is about as bad as you'd expect it to be. Every time I think I've gotten zen about how aggressive everyone is, there is inevitably a close call where I'm sure someone's going to get injured, but really just results in a lot of yelling and honking.

There is also a really amazing BRT systems that crosses the city (the Metropolitana), and it only took 20 minutes to get clear across town in it during rush hour, which let me tell you, is quite the feat. (Traffic here sucks. Really, it sucks.)

Photo credit: http://www.subwayjoyride.com/2012/10/09/lessons-from-lima/

The old city center is kind of dingy but has gorgeous colonial architecture. Mami spent the walk educating me about Lima history. My favorite feature is that each block has its own name posted on a tile at the corner, with caligraphy that suddenly transported me back to Barcelona. (I later found out this was on purpose, and they actually have a whole park meant to look like Gaudi built it.) People tended to do the same trade if they were from the same region, so they would set up shop together. For example, "Calle de la Mantequeria de Boza" is where butter-makers from the Boza district worked. There is a downside to this, however. There whole area is pedestrian-only so there are no street names, and it is really hard to find a place when all you have to go on is that name of that one (sometimes partial) block.

This one isn´t mine. Photo credit: http://cdn4.vtourist.com/4/2335763-The_tiles_Lima.jpg

Obviously a highlight is la Plaza de Armas which was where the colonial seat of power was. It has the presidential palace, the old military barracks, the mayor's residence, and the Archbishop's palace. All in all, a great representation of the Colonial pomp. Imagine all the doors covered in silver and you have an idea of how ostentatious it was.

The Archbishop of Lima's Palace

Presidential Palace

Mayor's residence

Pathway to the old Officer's Club

Apparently for Independence Day last year, someone anonymously filled the fountain in the middle of the plaza with pisco to get people to come out and celebrate in the square. I would say you should be sure to be there next year for Independence Day, but it probably won't be happening again. It was received pretty negitively overall, as people complained that if someone was going to drop a lot of money to do a stunt like that, it should be on something useful like feeding the city's poor or improving services.

The fountain in question

In general, I've been struck by how much of a drive towards the collective good I have seen here. Lima's newest slogan is "Ciudad para Todos" and political slogans are plentiful. Just today, a man got on the bus I was riding to asked for everyone's attention. I immediately expected a story akin to those I am used to hearing in US cities (usually a petition for bus fare to get home to sick children). Instead, he most eloquently began to explain how he saw the city's infrastructures failing the poorest. He discussed how he got into advocacy after moving to the city to find a job, and he was not only unable to find a job with a livable wage, but also in a neighborhood with a tuberculosis outbreak because of a lack of sanitation services in his low income neighborhood. He was specifically soliciting donations to support him and 120 workers in his neighborhood to demand that the new, expensive hospital that was just built in their district provided treatment for tuberculosis to district residents. However, the most striking part was that almost everyone on the bus dutifully reached into their bags to donate a few soles to him.

Obviously, I can't imagine such a reaction on a DC public bus, but I haven't seen anything like that in any other major international cities either. I hope that I'll be able to learn more about the political dynamics in the city while I'm here, and how this potentially stronger affinity towards collective action interacts with a state that is largely seen as corrupt and self-interested.

Next up: I explore the new districts including Miraflores, San Isidro and Jesus Maria!