Lima

Hello everyone!

My time in Lima is starting to run out, and here are some of my impressions and experiences tha last 3 weeks! I even put on some photos if the computer lets me...

Food:
I really love the food here, it’s delicious, hot, and always different. My hostmum hasn’t served the same dish twice, and she is really good at cooking! We eat a lot of rise, rise, rise and chicken! But my favourite till now is “Creme a la Huancaina con papas”. It’s potatoes with a delicious sauce made out of, among others, cookies and bread. (??) I like eating hot meales twice a day (the first at 3 o’clock, the second at 8 o’clock), the great thing is, you never get really hungry! This also explains why breakfast isn’t a big deal in this country. It’s just tea or coffee, maybe some juice (till now we’ve got papaya juice, strawberry-, pineapple-, banana-.), and some really light weight bread (“loff” in norwegian). I think I’m going to adopt the twice-a-meal-a-day idea. Unfortunately, my stomack is not so happy about the food here, and so I’m still using some time on the toilet...

Transport and robberies.
I have already said a lot about the busses here in Lima, but this is still the thing that amazes me the most; How people get off and on while the bus is still driving, or when the bus drove away without the cobrador (the man getting people of and on the bus) because I had to pay when I got of, and he didn’t have change (oops..). How the busdrivers are really, really good at driving, I mean, I haven’t seen any bus bump into another bus on purpose, and still most of the time it’s just 2 cm away from a really bad crash.

I really learn a lot on the bus. That’s good, because I spend 3-4 hours every day on it. (yes, that’s right, 3-4 hours). If an old woman or man comes on the bus, you are supposed to stand up for that person. Not everyone does, and sometimes the cobrador has to be angry on that young person who does not show respect. Boys often stand up for pretty girls, and girls often offer to hold others bags so that the person standing can hold himself better. Always when a mum and a child get on the bus, they are to sit, so someone else has to stand up. The zone of intimity is very different here than in Norway. When standing in the bus, it’s normal to feel others bodies next to your own, it’s not necessary with the “norwegian space”. One day I was really tramped in between three men, one on each side, really spreading out their arms so I almost could not hold myself and one man with his back to my back. This would never have happened in Norway, I’m sure. I actally didn’t need to hold on, because when the bus was making an odd movement, I was stuck in between the men anyway. I’ve learned that sleeping on the bus also can be done while standing, and I’ve learned to hold my purse in a really good grip...

To get from my place to the place where the language course is, we have to pass some places which are not of the very best kind. So last saturday, I was sitting by the window, and Therese sat next to me. It was as usual... people getting on and of, there were a lot of people on the bus, lots of people on the streets, and the bus was waiting for green light I guess, when suddenly a guy opened the window and grapped my purse! It was on reflex that I also grabbed it, and so I and the guy really where fighting about the purse. He had to give up when the man sittting behind me opened his window to slap the guy. It was all over in a minute, but the whole bus was talking about it. Puh, I really got a little shock there. The worst thing was actually that the guy had been on the bus first...then went of, walked around and opened the window from behind... Just before this happened I was actually thinking that I hadn’t seen anything of that what people here always warn me about (holding purses, being home till 6...and so on). Now I know it’s no joke, and I’ve found out I don’t really want to be out alone after 6 o’clock after all.

The bus drives through many different areas, some are very poor and some are moro rich. The contrasts in this country are very, very big. I think about it all the time, and sometimes I find it really hard to understand why thing are like this, and why the rich people in this country don´t see this at all. Sometimes when I tell people on the languagecourse that I live in San Martin they get a shock, "really??? but that´s so dangerous! Don´t you get robbed?" (yes, I do), but it is in these parts that the culture is really strong, and it is in these parts I learn the most.

Raising children and family
... is very different here than in Norway, at least in the family where I live now. I live with a mum, dad and five grown up-children aged 24 to 31 years. The eldest daughter has a son, and he is now one year and 8 months. They all live together. Mum and dad are still the boss (make sure you come home til eight!), and mum cookes for everyone...always. Alvarro (the grandchild) is with his grandparents most of the day, cause all the children are working. And when they are at home, everyone looks after him. He kind of has got 4 mums and 3 dads. And so he is allowed to do a lot (if one doesn’t let him, someone else will let him). He is a very social boy, so I can see that he is raised in a big family, he always wants to be with people and someone to play with. He never plays alone.

The women are to do everythning in the house, so the sisters wash their brothers cloth, cook for the whole family in the weekends, clean the house... Sometimes the guys even get their food in their room when they are “tired”! (they are 24 and 27 years old), and mum of course always look after that their cloth are clean and ironed. There is no such thing as “my room” and “your room”. Last sunday there was a counting of the people and everyone had to stay at home that day. The two brothers spend the whole day lying in their parents (!!) bed watching TV. I’ve often found one of the brothers lying next to mama or papa in bed... I’m used to it now, but the first time I saw it, I couldn’t understand at all why they were lying in their parents bed...

The weather
Back in Norway i pictured Lima a lot more hot than it actually is right now. It’s still winter, and the winter this year has been cold I’ve heard because of the climate changes (only 10 degrees for a whole month...brrrr) This month it has been about 15 degrees. Of course that is not cold when coming from Norway...but there is no such thing as heatening inside the houses. My families house acually doesn’t have any roof at all on the upper floor. 15 degrees inside is not really much, so I have been freezing quite a lot! I’m looking forward to Iquitos!

The sun is mysterious here...it has only been shining maybe five times all together during my stay. There are always clouds. I still haven’t found out if it really are clouds, or if it just is pollution from all the cars...

A regular day in Lima:
I get up at 6.30, and wake up Therese at 6.45. Then there is breakfast at 7.00, and we go to the bus at 7.30. After one and a half hour on the bus we are ready for four hours spanish lessons. The spanish lessons are mostly like that the voice on the tape says something and we all repeat it like a bunch of stupid sheep....(for four hours!!). When school is finished, we hang around in Miraflores or go to see some tourist atractions. At 16.00 we have to go home again, so that we can be home till 18.00. Then there is tea and some bread, and later dinner. In the evening we often watch a movie with our hostbrother. He’s crazy about movies, especially horror movies...so sometimes I sleep really bad... I have my dictionary with me absolutely all the time...so sometimes I actually have a real conversation as well...it just takes a bit longer time than usual! And then we go to bed.

And...
On sunday i’m leaving for Iquitos. It is going to be really sad to leave my family and Lima. I like Lima. But I’m also looking forward to finally start the work I came here to do! Up to Iquitos! Time to really something :)