Challenges of Living in Peru

Hello again readers of my blog.  Once again, it’s hard to believe that another month is coming to a close.  My work and other activities have continued keeping me very busy throughout the week.  Recently, I started leading a discussion group for students who are studying English at the school.  That is a lot of fun, but also difficult at times to try and explain why we say things the way we do in English.

Seeing as how I am living in a country other than my own, there are certainly some challenges that go along with this experience of living in Peru.  I want to share a few of those so you can get a better idea of what life is like for me.

• Spanish:  That’s a pretty obvious one, isn’t it?  I think I am doing much better with Spanish during this trip to Peru compared to my trip last year.  The biggest thing that has helped me is just having confidence in my abilities and trying to do the best I can when communicating.  There are always times when I don’t completely understand what another person is saying or when I don’t know how to say something in Spanish.  People usually appreciate that I am making the effort to try and speak with them, so I usually don’t have too much trouble.  Although, at times it is very frustrating not being able to express myself like I would be able to in English.
• Water:  This one might surprise you if you’ve never traveled outside the U.S. before.  Here in Callao where I am living, there is no hot water that comes from a tap.  This is generally the case throughout the entire country, unless you have a gas water heater.  So, this means that every day I get to take cold showers!  Another interesting point related to water is that all tap water is shut off at 10 PM every night until the following morning.  Meaning, that if I try to turn on the faucet at 10:01 PM, nothing comes out.  The local government does this to try and conserve water because Peruvians in the past were known for severely wasting water.
• Noise:  Maybe it’s just me, but it always seems like my surroundings are very loud.  Here’s a few of the noises that I typically hear on a daily basis: children yelling and playing in the street, radios playing music, cars honking their horns, street vendors advertising their products by talking over loudspeakers, the song “My Heart Will Go On” (the theme song from Titanic).  A quick explanation about that last one:  there is a street vending company that sells ice cream here that rides through the city on bicycles and plays “My Heart Will Go On” on a loudspeaker so that you know they are approaching where you are…it drives me nuts!!!  Why, of all songs, the theme song from Titanic?

Hopefully you have a better understanding of some of the quirks and challenges of living in Peru.  There are, of course, many others, but those are some of the most prominent ones.  Enjoy the final days of February!

Photos!!!

I finally got around to updating the photo gallery with some new pictures.  There are a couple of pictures from my birthday celebration back in January as well as some pictures from my trip to Lunahuana to go river rafting.  You can look at those photos by going to the photo gallery, or you can click here to go directly to the pictures.

This week has flown by fast.  I have been very busy with my work at the school.  Recently, I submitted an analysis report that I wrote (all in Spanish!) for the computer system that I am designing for the school.  Lately, I have been focusing primarily on technical support work while the school’s staff is in the process of reviewing my report.

Have a good weekend!

Nature Doesn’t Like Me

Well folks, I think Mother Nature is out to get me.  After getting sunburned two weekends ago, I managed to get eaten up by bugs this past weekend.  I went with my host family to go river rafting in a town called Lunahuana.  I remembered, of course, to put on sunscreen, and I actually managed not to get sunburned!  However, little did I know that I would be attacked by bugs.  I didn’t even realize that I had numerous bug bites on my legs until we got back to the house that night.  Two of the other kids in my host family also had the same misfortune as me, so at least I didn’t feel as bad this time.  Maybe this weekend I should just stay in the house and not go anywhere!

I hope to put up some pictures soon from my first few weeks in Peru, so come back soon to check them out.

Welcome to the Month of Water

Part of the fun in travelling abroad is that you get the opportunity to experience a culture other than your own.  Sometimes things are more-or-less the same between the two cultures.  Other times, things are dramatically different.  From my experience living in Peru, I really hadn’t come across anything that would seem off-the-wall to a person from the U.S. until this past weekend.

During the month of February in Peru (remember, it is currently summer here), people play something called “carnavales”.  Simply put, carnavales just means that you are outside having fun and playing with water.  Seems harmless, right?  Well, there’s more.  On Saturdays and Sundays during this month, it is completely socially acceptable to stand on your roof and throw water balloons at or dump buckets of water on random strangers walking by your house.  It’s pretty much an all-out water fight.  For example, I left the house with my host family on Sunday to go to the beach (again!!!), and as we were walking down the road, people were throwing water balloons at us.  It was one of the craziest things I’ve seen.  There are a few rules to this game.  It is unacceptable to throw water at an elderly person, a woman who is pregnant, or anyone walking with a young child.  Anyone else, however, is fair game.

I have no idea how carnavales came about, but I do know that this month I will be walking down the streets with my eyes scanning the rooftops just in case!