This morning, I woke up once again at the ungodly hour of 8.30 and decided to get up and wash my hair to get it out of the way - a task I was dreading after my last experience. As before, the water was barely warm, and after waiting a few minutes for it to heat up, to no avail, I dived in, telling myself out loud that it was all character-building. I get the impression I am going to have a very well-formed character after this Year Abroad.
It was ten o’clock before breakfast was ready today, by which time I was starving. I hope they don’t think I’m crazy for the obscene amounts of cereal I’m capable of consuming in the morning. Anyway, this morning, as a nice surprise, Pily had made fresh strawberry smoothies, which were delicious. I could get used to this (my English mum has never made me smoothies. However, my English mum does provide me with hot water and central heating; you win some, you lose some).
I’m gradually getting used to the cultural differences here: not flushing the toilet roll, the fact that lemons actually look like tiny little limes, the absence of Coca Cola in favour of the local Inca Cola, popping to the bodega instead of the chino or corner shop. I’m even adjusting to calling juice jugo instead of zumo (which got me some strange looks), saying acá and allá instead of aquí and allí, calling a coche a carro and using the ustedes instead of the vosotros form to address people in plural.
I stayed in this morning, since the fear of death has been instilled in me of leaving the house alone. Aside from the fact that I’m in danger of getting robbed at any given moment spent outside the house, the public transport system seems like a challenge in itself. The website LimaEasy describes it as a ‘chaotic system’ of privately owned and operated buses, micros (small buses) and combis (small vans) and warns tourists not to expect new, well-maintained vehicles, nice bus stops or even a bus terminal, not to mention ‘the luxury of a printed itinerary, timetable or a ticket booth’. By all accounts, taking public transport is just another way of taking your life into your hands. Even taking a taxi seems a bit risky; LimaEasy’s advice is as follows:
- ‘While it's easy to hail a taxi literally everywhere in town, you should be cautious which cab you choose.
- Only use official and registered taxis.
- Negotiate a fare before getting in and only pay the agreed amount once you reach your destination.
- Use your common sense and don't get into the taxi if you somehow feel uncomfortable.
- Don't accept drinks or food offered to you by the driver and make sure he doesn't use his cell phone informing others where you are heading to.
- Bags should be placed on the ground, not next to you on the seat (that does not only apply in taxis, but all vehicles!). Unfortunately it's not uncommon that thieves wander around vehicles stuck in traffic jams or waiting at a red light and look out for passengers having their handbag, backpack, camera or other valuables in sight. They then smash the window and crab your bag before you can even react. A common place for this kind of robbery is the main route to the airport. So please always have your stuff either looked in the trunk or smaller things next to your feet!’
Consequently, in the interests of self-preservation, I’ve decided not to venture out the apartment alone until at least after tomorrow, when I have my tour of downtown Lima and Miraflores with VolunTeach Peru. In the meantime, at least I have time to do some research on the less life-threatening leisure activities available in the area, and do some work on my Year Abroad Project.
I also helped prepare the lunch, which today consisted of rice and a Peruvian salad called solterito, one of the speciality dishes of Arequipa, a city in the south of the country. We followed the traditional recipe of giant lima beans, large kernel choclo corn, diced tomatoes, red onion and queso fresco, a fresh, creamy, soft and mild cheese commonly used in the Iberian Peninsula. I’m beginning to understand why Peru is so renowned for its cuisine, having received the World’s Leading Culinary Destination in the 2012 World Travel Awards. Two of Peru’s restaurants were named amongst the World’s 50 Best Restaurants this year, and the Mistura food festival in September, which has existed since 2008, has become so popular that it’s had to move locations down to the beach, where there is more space. People come from all over the world to sample Peruvian cuisine here, and you can queue for an hour just to buy one dish.
This afternoon, whilst Natsumi was seeing her boyfriend, Pily, Nicole, Rosi and I drove to the open-air shopping complex in San Miguel. Since Pily had to return something, she suggested we go downstairs whilst we were waiting so I could look for some warmer clothes. This was all very well in theory - had Nicole not misinterpreted the instruction and assumed her mother meant us to go anywhere downstairs in the mall, and not just in this one shop.
Thinking it was probably a misunderstanding on my part, I went along with it and we searched all the shops we could find. Unfortunately, most of them were expensive brands like Levi’s and Esprit, which for what I needed seemed a bit extravagant. Eventually we decided to go back to the first shop, where ironically, there was the best selection. The girls did their best to be helpful, bless them, as though I were some kind of alien who had no idea what to do. Nicole even went up to some poor guy, who looked more like a security guard than a shopping assistant, to ask what size I would be. She began to explain “She’s from...” and then trailed off, at which I had to fill in sheepishly, “England.” Beginning to look amused now, the man looked me up and down and said, “small” (no surprises there), which sent Nicole running excitedly away from the scene for anything warm in that size.
Thankfully, after all that hassle, we did actually manage to find something - a really warm and soft jacket from Aéropostale, the last one in my size. We were queuing at the slowest till of all time when it suddenly dawned on Nicole what her mother had meant by ‘go downstairs’, at which point it was time to form a serious plan of action to find her again, since none of us was carrying a phone.
I could just imagine the announcement: “If anyone has lost two children and an English girl, please report to the sales desk”. I suggested we go back upstairs to where we’d last seen Pily, as this seemed the most obvious meeting place. However, when we got there, there was no sign of her and the security guard and duty said he’d already seen her leave. The girls suggested we go on a search of the mall, but this screamed ‘terrible idea’ so I suggested we stay there and wait for her to come to us.
Sure enough, ten minutes later she appeared - and to my surprise, she was completely calm. She wasn’t angry, upset; she didn’t seem worried at all. After hearing our story, she marched up to the security guard and demanded to know why he had told us she had left, but all she said to me was that this was how the children would learn. She told me about a time when Natsumi was little and had got lost in the streets of Argentina - every mother’s worst nightmare - but how, after that, Natsumi had always made sure to have a clear idea of the address of the hotel.
All reunited and in one piece, we walked to the small fairground just outside the mall, which had small rides and arcade games. It’s open all year round, and as such Pily had a little electronic card, which she went to top up. Nicole asked me which ride I wanted to go on; I looked doubtfully up at Pily and said, somewhat bemused, that I didn’t think the rides were meant for me - but Nicole was having none of it. Before I knew what was happening, I was being strapped into a giant caterpillar, about twice the age of all the other passengers. I have to say, even though it was a little bizarre at first, it was quite fun going back to my childhood, playing arcade games and fooling around on the bumper cars. I don’t know how long we stayed there, but we had to top the card up several times.
Eventually, we decided it was time to go for food, so, since we were having a kids’ day out, we all went for pizza. By this time, Nicole and I had done a fair bit of sister bonding; at times it had been a little like the Chinese Inquisition, but it was nice she was interested. After insisting that I name only one best friend, she was left completely perplexed by the name Louise, which in Spanish, sounds like a guy’s name. Other than that, she’d asked me if I had a boyfriend (we decided that boys were stupid) and what my favourite of practically every possible category is - animal, colour, food...
When we got back to the apartment, I continued doing my ‘big sister’ bit and snuggled up with Nicole and Rosi on the sofa bed in the upstairs annex to watch Juego de Gemelos (The Parent Trap), which happens to be one of my favourite films from my childhood. Since our chat over dinner we had also discovered our mutual love for Despicable Me (Mi Villano Favorito in the South American version), and as such I had been bestowed with the honour of the custody of her cuddly minion, Chisito, who sat with us to watch the film.
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