Apparently the pretty picture of Peru is not entertaining enough in its own right. So here´s my evaluation of the country so far...
CHIMBOTE
I´m in Chimbote until about 15 September for Spanish lessons.
See if you can find it on the map.
LA COMIDA (The Food)
This is a very important topic of conversation in Peru. Everyone wants to know what I like and don´t like and what we eat in New Zealand and how it´s cooked. I don´t have the heart to tell them that my personal cultural cuisine consists mostly of peanut butter sandwiches so I´ve just been making stuff up. I do, however, speak the language of dessert and this is very big in Peru - the sweeter the better, so I´m optimistic that my pavlova will go down well. (Although apparently my host family had a girl from Belgium stay last year and she made a cake that made them all sick the next day - dodgy foreign food, eh!)
I´ve really enjoyed pretty much everything I´ve eaten but it hasn´t been kind to me - I got quite sick over the weekend. Almost half of our group has had stomach trouble. I managed to get a fever too and a visit from the doctor.
EL AMBIENTE (The Environment)
The houses here are constantly under construction. They´re made of brick and people seem to just add another floor when they have the money and the inclination. There are piles of rubble and half-built abandoned houses all over the place, even around the fancier houses. It´s the kind of thing that would cause all sorts of complaints about depreciating house prices if it were New Zealand. The rubbish and half dead dogs also do little to increase the general desireability of the area.
I´m staying in Nuevo Chimbote. It´s an area that was created in the 1970s when they discovered that the ground that Chimbote was built on was not actually terribly safe in earthquakes.
The houses are designed to be cool in the Summer. My house is three stories high and only has external windows at one end of the house. There are two atrium type holes that go through the middle of the house to provide a bit more light, but the house is still dark and you need the lights on during the day.
CHIMBOTE
I´m in Chimbote until about 15 September for Spanish lessons.
See if you can find it on the map.
LA COMIDA (The Food)
This is a very important topic of conversation in Peru. Everyone wants to know what I like and don´t like and what we eat in New Zealand and how it´s cooked. I don´t have the heart to tell them that my personal cultural cuisine consists mostly of peanut butter sandwiches so I´ve just been making stuff up. I do, however, speak the language of dessert and this is very big in Peru - the sweeter the better, so I´m optimistic that my pavlova will go down well. (Although apparently my host family had a girl from Belgium stay last year and she made a cake that made them all sick the next day - dodgy foreign food, eh!)
I´ve really enjoyed pretty much everything I´ve eaten but it hasn´t been kind to me - I got quite sick over the weekend. Almost half of our group has had stomach trouble. I managed to get a fever too and a visit from the doctor.
EL AMBIENTE (The Environment)
The houses here are constantly under construction. They´re made of brick and people seem to just add another floor when they have the money and the inclination. There are piles of rubble and half-built abandoned houses all over the place, even around the fancier houses. It´s the kind of thing that would cause all sorts of complaints about depreciating house prices if it were New Zealand. The rubbish and half dead dogs also do little to increase the general desireability of the area.
I´m staying in Nuevo Chimbote. It´s an area that was created in the 1970s when they discovered that the ground that Chimbote was built on was not actually terribly safe in earthquakes.
The houses are designed to be cool in the Summer. My house is three stories high and only has external windows at one end of the house. There are two atrium type holes that go through the middle of the house to provide a bit more light, but the house is still dark and you need the lights on during the day.
Photo: The houses here are constantly under construction. People just add another floor when they have the money and the inclination. So far the weather´s always been overcast in the morning and it clears up and is sunny at midday, almost dead-on everyday.
LA GENTE (The People)
Everyone I´ve met has been so friendly and genuinely interested in learning about other cultures. It´s customary to kiss once on the cheek when you greet or farewell someone. This can be time-consuming. I quite like it though. It´s a nice kind of connection. I´m thinking of instigating when I return to NZ. So maybe you guys should start practising now. Guys just shake hands with each other but get to kiss the girls.
There are 12 people from AFS studying Spanish in Chimbote. Most of them are European. Peru seems to be particularly popular with the Belgians. Apart from our Spanish teacher, who is Ukrainian, we seem to be the only gringos (white people) in a city of 600,000 people. There were a bunch of Italian priests and some important cardinal type guy who´s a good mate of the Pope, but they´ve gone now. People constantly stare at us in the streets. So far I´ve just been staring right back cos I reckon they look kinda weird and different too but it´s starting to get a bit tedious.
LA LENGUA (The Language)
Well, it seems my English is getting worse but I don´t think this is a sign that my Spanish is getting better. All the Europeans speak English and I´ve started speaking like they do so I´m starting to sound a little bit ESOL.
I feel like my Spanish is improving but my host mum keeps pointing out to everyone that I really speak very little Spanish.
EL TIEMPO (The Weather)
Probably pretty much the same as New Zealand is right about now, maybe a bit warmer. Everyone keeps saying that Tumbes (the place I´m going to next) is very hot. My Spanish teacher keeps using the word ´insoportable´ (yes, Iain, it is only supposed to have one ´p´ - it´s Spanish).
LA TRANSPORTACION (Transportation)
This is something else we could instigate in New Zealand. The taxis here are like buses. They have colectivos that have little stickers in the windscreen that says where they´re going and you can wave them down anywhere along the street. If a driver has a spare space he drives along honking, with his arm out the window indicating with his fingers how many spare spaces he has. They´re really cheap - about 75c for a 10min trip to the centre of town. There are also motos which are kinda like motorised tuktuks. You can get a taxi (I think they have another name that I can´t remember) too, which will take you right to your door and are safer at night, they´re a bit more expensive but not much.
LA GENTE (The People)
Everyone I´ve met has been so friendly and genuinely interested in learning about other cultures. It´s customary to kiss once on the cheek when you greet or farewell someone. This can be time-consuming. I quite like it though. It´s a nice kind of connection. I´m thinking of instigating when I return to NZ. So maybe you guys should start practising now. Guys just shake hands with each other but get to kiss the girls.
There are 12 people from AFS studying Spanish in Chimbote. Most of them are European. Peru seems to be particularly popular with the Belgians. Apart from our Spanish teacher, who is Ukrainian, we seem to be the only gringos (white people) in a city of 600,000 people. There were a bunch of Italian priests and some important cardinal type guy who´s a good mate of the Pope, but they´ve gone now. People constantly stare at us in the streets. So far I´ve just been staring right back cos I reckon they look kinda weird and different too but it´s starting to get a bit tedious.
LA LENGUA (The Language)
Well, it seems my English is getting worse but I don´t think this is a sign that my Spanish is getting better. All the Europeans speak English and I´ve started speaking like they do so I´m starting to sound a little bit ESOL.
I feel like my Spanish is improving but my host mum keeps pointing out to everyone that I really speak very little Spanish.
EL TIEMPO (The Weather)
Probably pretty much the same as New Zealand is right about now, maybe a bit warmer. Everyone keeps saying that Tumbes (the place I´m going to next) is very hot. My Spanish teacher keeps using the word ´insoportable´ (yes, Iain, it is only supposed to have one ´p´ - it´s Spanish).
LA TRANSPORTACION (Transportation)
This is something else we could instigate in New Zealand. The taxis here are like buses. They have colectivos that have little stickers in the windscreen that says where they´re going and you can wave them down anywhere along the street. If a driver has a spare space he drives along honking, with his arm out the window indicating with his fingers how many spare spaces he has. They´re really cheap - about 75c for a 10min trip to the centre of town. There are also motos which are kinda like motorised tuktuks. You can get a taxi (I think they have another name that I can´t remember) too, which will take you right to your door and are safer at night, they´re a bit more expensive but not much.
Photo: The moto is the little blue thing and the white car is a taxi - sure it´s only the size of a hatchback but you can 7 people in one of these things.
They don´t seem to have many traffic lights. They have pedestrian crossings but I think they´re just for decoration, just like most of the other road markings. Everyone drives crazily, no indicating, just randomly pulling out in front of others. They are, however, actually quite courteous drivers and there doesn´t seem to be any road rage. Everyone just kinda drives around each other.
They don´t seem to have many traffic lights. They have pedestrian crossings but I think they´re just for decoration, just like most of the other road markings. Everyone drives crazily, no indicating, just randomly pulling out in front of others. They are, however, actually quite courteous drivers and there doesn´t seem to be any road rage. Everyone just kinda drives around each other.
4 comments:
Yay! what an amazing first post, you were doing the Iain meal technique, weren't you? Keeping us waiting so we'd be absolutely ravishing???
It all sounds crazy and great and weird... excellent!
Frank
oops I meant ravenous not ravishing. Maybe I was thinking of you...
¡Hola!
I am so glad you are having a good time; sounds ultra-cool. Bring on the photos! Are you checking email too?
(You cannot BEGIN to imagine how excited I was to use an upside-down question mark.)
Take care
im
Photos of you, where are they? Otherwise we might forget what you look like. Looks great, do we get to see photos of the people you live with etc.
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