Out of Lima

Peruvian Paso horses are well known around the world. They are unique in that they have a different gait than most other horses; this gate makes for an especially smooth ride.

On Saturday, Doris & Reini & I went on a tour with LimaVision to a Paso Horse Farm. Reini is the wife of a Hatch engineer who is also working in Lima for a while. She's a lot of fun and very interesting to talk to. She is Indonesian, her husband is Australian, and she lived in Japan for 9 years! The three of us joined an American couple and an American woman and her mother for the tour.



We drove out of Miraflores and through Barranco, out of Lima and into the hills and mountains. We drove past the beaches in Barranco, and out onto the highway. To the left and right were hundreds of small houses, built up the side of the desert hills.

There were long spaces of fields, abandoned old buildings, crumbling buildings that served as homes and shops. There was a long stretch of flower shops, with flowers of all imaginable colors. There was even a long strip of beach toy stands! There were little shops all along the side of the road, and peddlars on bikes selling ice cream or with drink and snack carts.


Once we got to the outskirts and out of Lima, there were funny little cars on the road. I couldn't tell if they were an original construction, or if they were composed of the parts of three old motorbikes. Whatever the case, there were dozens of them, all the way out to the Paso farm.













More pictures and the story of the Paso farm tomorrow! :)

Larcomar & A Sunset

Yesterday evening I went for a walk along the wall in Miraflores and down into Larcomar. Larcomar is a big tourist area with dozens of shops and restaurants. The shops are either brand name shops or have very expensive 'Peruvian' souvenirs. I wandered around, then had dinner and headed home.


A beautiful sunset, perfectly viewed from Doris' living room.








Larcomar



Unfortunately, I woke up sick this morning. I think I expected to be able to avoid getting sick while I was here, but that certainly was not the case. I went back to bed and slept until almost noon, and went to work. I think there's two reasons I got sick: the restaurant food had bugs, and I haven't been eating enough. So after feeling sick all day, I resolved to avoid both situations again. Doris and I bought some fresh chicken and vegetables and I made a hearty chicken soup for dinner. I'm going to bed early, and hoping to wake up refreshed in the morning.

Ceviche & Miraflores

I slept almost 10 hours last night, and woke feeling very rested and much more energetic. For breakfast, I made oatmeal with nuts and muesli on top. Doris eats very healthy, so she has many healthy foods in the kitchen. Did you know there is a flour made of the leaves of a cocaine plant that is extremely healthy? No – its not a narcotic, just a very healthy additive to food. Sort of like flaxseed or oat bran.

Work was busier today, which made the day go fast again. I went for lunch with one
of the women (Giovanni) and one of the men from the office. We went to a Chinese-Peruvian restaurant. I’ve been told there are a lot of these restaurants around Lima. At some point in time, many Chinese moved to Lima and started combining Chinese food and Peruvian food – hence today there are many Chinese-Peruvian restaurants. The food was very good – fried rice and a sweet and sour stir fry. I also had ‘Inca Kola’ – a soda drink that tastes very similar to Cream Soda pop, but is a fluorescent and radiant yellow.

Many people have advised me to be very careful of what I eat and drink, as foreigners often get very sick from the water here. Locals do as well, but not as often and not as badly, since their bodies and systems are used to the water quality. I avoid ice cubes, freshly washed uncooked food (like fresh veggies), and anything that could have bugs and hasn’t been cooked or boiled. I hate being sick in foreign countries – it leads straight to homesickness.

After work, the driver brought me back to the apartment. As it was already 7pm, and I wanted to go for a walk around Miraflores, I quickly changed and headed back out. I walked along the beach wall to a large open park area. It's warm and humid out, and I didn't need a jacket - I could have worn shorts, but I don't have any. Along the wall, every 30 or 50 feet, was a couple - generally kissing. It seems to be a popular place for a date. At the park, I turned up a main road and started looking for somewhere to eat. There were a lot of people walking, and a lot of traffic. Traffic in Lima seems much more stressful than in Vancouver, although the drivers seem very laid back. Changing lanes is more of a forced merge than anything else, horns are honking, and people are walking between the cars and across the road. Along the sidewalk are small street vendor carts, with chips and chocolate and drinks. The area I am in has several nice hotels and a couple casinos, so I expect they're used to having tourists. I found a small restaurant called "Mamma Olla's", and decided to try it. I ordered fresh strawberry juice without ice, and 'ceviche' - a South American seafood dish that originated in Peru.



It was delicious. Ceviche is fresh seafood with a citrusy spicy sauce. I didn't eat the mushrooms, as they were uncooked and I wasn't sure how safe it would be. But then again, it was all covered in sauce, so perhaps the sauce would transfer any bugs to the whole dish. Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed my ceviche. There was some kind of fish, octopus, squid, and prawns. There was cooked yam on the side, as well as some white corn.

After dinner, I kept walking down the main road until I hit Kennedy Park. I'm not sure what I expected to find on my walk, but I didn't find it. I think I was expecting to see some less modern places, but the stores were similar to what you would find anywhere in North America. There were a few stores for 'artisans' which had some different things, and some beautiful jewelry. But there was also a McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Payless shoes. Speaking of shoes, there were tons of shoes! I found a small shopping mall with several dress stores upstairs - packed with dresses of all kinds, and several shoe stores downstairs - the walls were lined with shoes, everywhere you turned. Most of them were fairly cheap, from $8 - $15 Canadian. I was tempted to look through the dresses and shoes, as well as buy some things from the artisan shop, but as it's my second day here, I decided not to.

As it got later and darker, the streets started to seem less crowded, so I started back. When I reached the park area near the apartment, I walked to the edge of the wall and found an entire shopping and food center just below. By cutting up through the park, I hadn't even noticed it on my way out. There were restaurants and shops galore. Tomorrow, that's my exploring destination. I will also try to take more pictures tomorrow - it was almost dark by time I went out today, and I don't think the pictures would have worked too well. And - I'll admit it - I didn't want to look like too much of a tourist, snapping photos of everything with a flash blinking.

When I got back to the apartment, Doris was home. We chatted about work a bit, and she informed me that I was crazy to eat ceviche because it is raw seafood and has more potential for bugs. Oops. Oh well, as ceviche is (I think) Peru's best known dish, I had to try it sometime or another. Let's hope I don't get sick. Now I'm ready to study some Spanish before bed. The best way to learn a language is to be immersed in it, and as I am immersed in Spanish, I might as well learn!

Buenas Noches...

Day One

I slept soundly and woke to the noise of the little travel alarm that Gelly has lent me. I listened carefully but heard no noises outside my room. I decided to get up anyways, and if I had extra time, I could see how much Spanish I could fit in my head before work. I had a quick shower and put my computer and things in my bag for work. I ventured out of my room just after seven o’clock, and met Doris. She showed me the kitchen and told me to help myself while she got ready for work. I grabbed a banana and some pineapple and went to stare out the window. It is a gorgeous view. The living room is all glass facing the ocean. You can see far down the beach on both sides and way out into the ocean. Across the huge bay, I could see the cross that had been brightly lit the night before, up on a hill. I watched people run and walk by, and a police helicopter on the beach. About 15 minutes later, the driver arrived, and we went downstairs. On the way to the office, she told me about the project, the office, and the other employees in the office.

We arrived at the office around 8am. Again – a small elevator. I wonder why the elevators here are so much smaller. The office is small, but very nice. There are about 35 desks/offices, and a few more people than that. The project manager ‘presented’ me around the office and introduced me to everyone. I spent most of the morning reading specifications and looking at drawings and trying to get a feel for what the project encompasses.

The office manager (Doris) took me for lunch around 1pm. My first meal in Lima, and guess what we had? Japanese! I had a delightful Tempura Don (tempura lunch box meal). After lunch, we went straight back to the office. Tomorrow I will try to get invited or invite myself to go out with some of the other people in the office. After lunch, the day went surprisingly fast. Everyone seems to work a little bit longer hours, here. Doris works much longer hours. I waited until 8pm, then asked if Cordero, her driver, could take me back to the house. He did, and here I am. I was going to go for a walk, but I realized it’s almost 9pm here, and I need to catch up on my sleep - I'm exhausted.

Having been there and done it once before, I know that moving to a new country (especially where you don’t speak the language) is difficult, so I sort of knew what to expect. But all the feelings and thoughts are still the same, and you still feel and think them. A couple times today I thought – ‘What am I doing? I don’t know enough to help in this office, I certainly don’t know Spanish to communicate well with them, and I miss my home and Gelly and the familiarity of my office and Vancouver.’ I counter these thoughts with more thoughts: about how it’s the first day and I didn’t sleep enough last night, or eat enough this morning, so I’m bound to be tired and a bit out of sorts. Soon I will get to know people in the office, I will catch up on my sleep, I will have people to talk to and do things with, and I will feel more comfortable and excited about this opportunity I have. I know it’s an excellent opportunity – not just to help another office, or just to see another country and learn another language, but to challenge myself personally and professionally, to network, and to grow my skills and abilities. I am an excitable and enthusiastic person, and I know I am excited and enthusiastic to be here, even if I don’t feel it every minute of the day. Overall, while there have been one or two moments that I wanted to jump in a taxi back to the airport and jump on a plane to Canada, I am happy to be here and ready to learn and experience new things.

Vancouver-Houston-Lima

Twelve hours of travel went surprisingly fast, when I think back on it. At the time, four and six hour flights seemed very long – especially as I am not one to sit still for 30 minutes, let alone several hours. But my flights were fine, and I arrived safely in Lima.

I passed through Vancouver airport security shortly after six o’clock in the morning, after a short and sweet goodbye to Gelly, lest I dissolve into an emotional mess or something resembling it. By the time I passed through security, I had just enough time to pick up a bagel B.E.L.T and a large tea from Tim Hortons and find my gate.

I love travelling, hotels, planes, and adventures in general. I always ask for a window seat so I can see the ground (or clouds) below, and so I can watch from inside as the plane takes off. I have never taken detailed aerodynamic courses, but I do know the basic physics of flight. But - outside of equations and calculations, what an incredible feat – to lift such a large and heavy body off the ground, and suspend it in mid-air with two small flat popsicle stick-like appendages. Have you ever watched the wings of the plane as it leaves earth and heads into the clouds? They bend a significant amount! Aside from the physics of lifting such a large body, I find it amazing that the materials can bend so much but provide enough strength and stiffness to support the weight of the structure. As an engineer, you might think I am used to the things that the fields of Science and Engineering have conquered, but I think some things will never lose their wonder.

My first flight (Vancouver-Houston) was 4 h 20 min. I tried unsuccessfully to nap, and wound up spending most of the flight half dozing and half thinking about where I was headed. In-flight movies and TV cost $6, which I could not talk myself into spending for a short four hour flight. Halfway through the flight, of course, I wished I had purchased the entertainment. But – with only two hours left, I decided it certainly wasn’t worth it at that point. Oh well. I do enjoy flying – it’s exciting and fun – but sitting still for so many hours is not.

We arrived in Houston to the pouring rain, almost a half hour early. I disembarked and found my departure terminal, then went in search of lunch and a good book for the next flight (I ended up with Steig Larson’s ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’). At twice the price of the in-flight entertainment, a good book will last me at least 6 or 8 hours, and will be a far more satisfying experience. My next flight (Houston-Lima) boarded almost 30 minutes late. The flight was long, but thanks to my book and (this time - complimentary) in-flight entertainment, it certainly wasn’t unbearable. As we passed over the coast into Ecuador, I tried again to nap but wasn’t able to fall asleep for more than a few minutes. The flight landed almost an hour late, I think mostly due to the late start. When we finally arrived in Lima, I made my way to customs. The air was warm and a little bit sticky, although not near as humid as Japan was in the summertime.

Once I got through customs and picked up my bag, I ventured to find my taxi. I was told two things: 1) If you need a taxi, get one from someone inside the airport. Do not leave the airport to find a taxi; 2) Taxi America will be picking you up. In the first area through customs there were many signs on a board with people’s names. I could not see my name, but didn’t relish the thought of accidently taking the wrong taxi. The man by the sign was sending people out to the right, but people were also leaving to the left. I asked him where I could find Taxi America, and he told me to go left. Through the left door was a wide cordoned off walkway, with dozens and dozens of people standing against it, looking for people to come through the door. Some held signs, most seemed to be waiting for friends or family.

A uniformed security man asked if I needed a taxi, but I saw someone holding a sign with my name ‘Estefanie Wilson’. The man took my bag and I followed him outside. He was saying things in Spanish, and I was doing what you should always do in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language – smile and nod. Then he said “Ablo espagnol”? This I understood – “No ablo espagnol!” He laughed, I laughed. We made our way to the taxi, where he let me in, put my bags in the trunk, and locked my door. As he walked around to get in the driver’s side, I laughed to myself and thought how strange it was that I was more than 5000 miles from home. He asked where I was going – and I only know this because I heard the words ‘hotel’ and ‘casa’ (house).

As we drove through Lima, into San Isidoro, and into Miraflores, I tried to take it all in. It reminds me more of Thailand than Japan. There were dark houses and buildings, some very torn down, lots of graffiti in some parts. He drove fast, and there were certainly moments I thought we were going to rear-end the car in front of us at a red light. Also – the lines on the road didn’t always seems to mean anything.
We were driving down dark narrow streets, with quiet & dark houses. A few scattered people were taking out garbage, sweeping, or riding a bike along the side of the road. For no particular reason, I remember thinking, “I’m going to really like it here.”

We made a left and he started talking again, motioning out the right of the car. Immediately to our right was a big dark space – the ocean. I couldn’t see it, but I could smell it. Warm salty air filled the car, and I realized – I don’t go to the beach enough in Vancouver. The beach was beautiful at night. Across a large and long bay was a big brightly lit cross, shining on a hill. Along the beach was alternating sandy and park areas, with playgrounds and decorative statues. When we reached the address I was staying at, a man came out and motioned me inside. I said goodbye and thank you to the driver, and the door man brought me upstairs. It was a very small elevator - fitting five people in the space would have been difficult. Four would have been barely comfortable. It had an outside door that swung open. Once inside, the inside door slid across.

The Lima office manager has been kind enough to invite me to stay with her. The doorman let me in to the apartment and gave me the keys. I wondered if she wasn’t home, but when I asked, he motioned that she was sleeping. I went inside and found what I guessed was my room – a nice sized room with a big bed and fresh towels. I wasn’t particularly tired, but figured I should try to get some sleep. I set my alarm for 6:30am, unsure what time I should be up, but knowing I wanted a shower. I called Gelly to tell him I had arrived safely, then crawled into bed and realized I was more tired than I thought.

City of Kings

It's official! I am going to Lima, Peru for approximately 3 months. It will be for approximately a month at at time, with approximately a week back in Canada between. The final dates for all my departures and arrivals are not quite confirmed, but it is confirmed that I will be there starting January 17th.

So far, I feel no nervousness or trepidation, just excitement. A few years ago, I lived in Japan for 8 months. The first three months I spent in Japan were difficult, but I feel like after that I managed to learn how to handle and understand myself in a foreign country with a foreign language. I'm sure there will be a bit of an adjustment required, but I feel confident it will be more excitement and less frustration and loneliness than my initial months in Japan.

I've read a bit of the history of Lima, and it has an extensive cultural history! The area was home to three known civilizations before being conquered by the Incans and subsequently the Spanish. Modern-day Lima was named 'La Ciudad de los Reyes' - the 'City of Kings' - by its founder Francisco Pizarro in 1535. What an eloquent name! I've read that there are still some temples and historical structures in the area, so I plan to explore both the modern day and history!