Simple Pleasures of the 3rd World

As I've been walking around Lima and doing everyday tasks like grocery shopping, taking money out of the ATM, etc. I cannot help but make constant comparisons to living in Accra.  I am now really realizing that living in Ghana, even as expats, has given me a new perspective on day to day experiences and I truly value the ease and availability of things now.  We used to joke that Ghana was really 10th world instead of 3rd world and now that we are living in another 3rd world country, it is even more blaringly true that 3rd world countries are not all alike.  When I tell Peruvians about our experience living in Ghana it doesn't take long before I've made myself very clear about how these two countries really cannot compare.  I'll provide some examples.

1) The pleasure of taking a stroll...In Ghana, Alan and I occasionally dared to take a stroll with Eli in his stroller and usually only early on a Sunday morning. I wrote blogs about it, that's how remarkable the experience of simply taking a walk in Ghana was.  First of all, there are no sidewalks to speak of in Accra so you are forced to walk in the road. Secondly, the gutter system is open so you must hop, skip, and jump to avoid falling into trash and other unspeakable debris.  Thirdly, you really put your life at the mercy of Ghanaian drivers who would prefer you not get in their way. Oh, and I almost forgot the dusty heat and humidity that really topped off the experience.  Without a mode of transportation in Lima, I am on foot most days and not only are their sidewalks but each sidewalk has a lovely little ramp that allows ease of movement to cross the street with a stroller. Almost never do I need to lift the stroller up a curb! Pedestrian friendly is an understatement! Gutters...what are they? And I've already mentioned the timed walk signals so you know exactly how long you have to cross the street. Granted, Lima's drivers could also do without us pesty pedestrians but lately many waved me to pass in front of them...something unheard of in Accra!  Granted we do live in one of the most affluent neighborhood in Lima, but then again, we also lived in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in Accra.

2) The pleasure of buying exotic ingredients, namely celery and strawberries.  Ok, so maybe for Americans these do not constitute exotic ingredients but for us living in Accra they were. And on the rare occasion a supermarket decided to import them, the price was as much as a nice new pair of shoes.  But here in Lima, the supermarkets are loaded down with fresh produce mostly all grown locally. So I buy celery and strawberries every time I go grocery shopping just because I can! Ok, I still can't find tahini and that was all over Accra with their big lebanese population but I know it's in this city somewhere.

3) Starbucks...I know, I should be embarrassed to admit that this is a simple pleasure but it is!! I never indulge in Starbucks in the US but I think mostly because we didn't have anything close to a Starbucks in Ghana, somehow the novelty of it attracts me. And there is even a Starbucks with valet parking near our apartment! I was joking with someone the other day that when Accra acquired a Deli France, which most Americans won't know about, but which is a chain of  little french bakery/sandwich/coffee shops mostly in Europe I think, we thought Accra was really stepping up in the world. There is a Deli France near our apartment in Lima and it looks like a little nothing of a shop because it is surrounded by TGI Fridays, Pinkberry, and a multiplex movie theater. Meanwhile, anyone who is anyone in Accra goes to Deli France in Accra for their espresso and baguette.

So these are the things I've been taking note of as I can't help but compare 3rd world country to 3rd world country. This is not to say Lima and Peru are all peaches and cream.  I am sure it is only a matter of time before I get the full picture but from a quick look, they really can't compare to the 10th world.

A Birthday Party Extravaganza

I feel so fortunate to have family closeby in Lima because it has made meeting people and socializing so much easier.  Through Valerie Eli and I have already attended 2 birthday parties in Lima of  children whose parents are part of the Jewish community here.  The "community," as it is called, is pretty tight and families really make an effort to get together, celebrate events with each other, and part of this is inviting many from the community to birthday parties.  I quickly learned that in Peru, children's birthdays are a really big deal.  Of course in the US we're used to parties for kids' birthdays that include some balloons, a cake, maybe a clown or some other form of entertainment but here in Peru, they are on another level.  Usually it includes the rental of a play space, a full scale show for entertainment, and catered food as well a tiered fondant decorated birthday cake! This one had an amazing array of dulces (or sweets) for both children and adults.  I had to try to keep Eli's hands off the tables because as soon as he realized it was all up for grabs and at his height, he got pretty excited! It's been great for both Eli and I to attend these parties though because he's gotten great play time in with kids his age and I've gotten to meet a lot of parents from the Jewish community.  It's even to the point that I am seeing the same people multiple time at events so I already feel like my network is growing! Everyone has been so warm and does their best with their English or sometimes I try my Spanish.  I've gotten acquainted with some lovely Israelis, Costa Ricans, and other foreigners who also moved to Lima as expats so they've shared their tips on how to adjust to life here.

Here are some shots of the party and Eli's pure joy at being there!

Big Car

As we've been walking around the city getting used to our new surroundings, Eli has started to do more and more talking about his observations of Lima.  His favorite phrases are "big car," "mas bus," and "big dog."  And it is true that most of our walks around our neighborhood involve many a big car and bus and the occasional dog.  Traffic in Lima is something I really dread having encounters with on my own one day. For now, no driving for me! Alan and Valerie drive and I usually sit in the passenger seat with my fists clenched and my jaw tight with fear.  It seems the citizens of Lima could use a lesson or two.  Lanes might as well not exist, using a blinker is unheard of, but fortunately, people do respect the stoplights.  And funny enough, the stoplights have this modern feature of counting down the seconds that you have left on red, yellow or green and the same for pedestrians crossing the street too. It has just struck me as funny that you can find something so logical in the midst of total traffic chaos.  And of course walking a child in a stroller and being pregnant does not mean drivers have any sympathy for your attempt to cross the street.  

Despite the chaos on the streets, it has been great fun to watch Eli develop an interest in cars, buses and other modes of transport! This is his first real interest I would say.  He spends a good deal of time playing with his trucks and cars on loan from his cousin Yoav and he crashes them into each other, pushes them off the bed or couch, and wheels them around the apartment and loves to make car noises during this play.  He also has loved his transport vehicle puzzle which makes the noises of different kinds of vehicles...car, motorcycle, airplane, train.  He has even gotten pretty good at saying ambulance!  The other day we took his cars and trucks to the nearby park and found a ramp he could push them down and that made him squeal with joy drawing the attention of passersby.  

And so just like the juxtaposition of traffic chaos and orderly traffic lights, Lima also has one beautiful serene park after another right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of city life.  This is something we really missed in Ghana.  I assume that the number of parks found is our upper class neighborhood would not be the same in the majority of Lima's districts but we are certainly enjoying the green outdoor space! We try to go everyday and what's wonderful is that there are plenty of other kids his age playing there as well.  He's made "friends" over blowing bubbles and over chasing balls so I see potential for me to make friends with other parents as well.     

Our First Excursion

This past weekend, Alan, Eli and I joined Yves, Valerie and their two children at the their beach house which is in an area called Asia about a 1.5 hour drive from Lima. The beach is really the main attraction for residents of Lima during the summer. And that is probably because 9 of the 12 months out of the year, Lima is in a cloud and there is no sun to speak of. Because Lima is stuck between the Pacific Ocean and mountains, the moisture gets trapped in the atmosphere, clouds accumulate and have no where to go. However, because Lima is on a dessert, it never rains. It sounds crazy but is apparently true. Now we see plenty of sun and thank goodness this is the time of year when we moved here. Peruvians tell us that summer is the best time here, everyone is happy and in a good mood and it is no wonder. Imagine being surrounded by clouds for 3/4 of the year! So obviously, soaking up sun at the beach makes up for all the months with little Vitamin D.  The wealthier Peruvians own or rent beach houses. There are also community beaches, even right in Lima, where the less financially well-off also enjoy the water and sun.

So we made our way there Saturday morning. Alan drove Eli and I in our company car which we will use while we here. We followed Yves and Valerie there which was no easy feat because Peruvians drive like maniacs!!! Well, I guess no different than Ghanaians drive but trying to follow another car is near impossible. After we made it out of the congested city, the road became a highway and traffic moved along at a nice clip.  The scenery was bizarre and very barren, like a dessert should be I suppose.  We did drive along the coast for some of it and so the scenery varied a little.  Billboards lined the highway though advertising everything from shampoo to soda.

The community where Yves and Valerie have their house is made up of a conglomerate of town homes clustered very close together with a shared pool, playground and sidewalks linking all the town homes together and leading to the beach of course.  The beach was nice, clean but unfortunately the dark almost black sand made it impossible to walk barefoot.  Eli loved playing in the sand as expected and this time he got really into the waves washing over his feet. The water was a bit cold so we didn't go more than knee deep but he loved waiting for the waves to come towards him.  Eli got taken for a ride in Yves' bike basket which he loved and we did a lot of relaxing!

We did go out Saturday night to The Boulevard which is the entertainment area for the region. It is a little like Atlantic City I would imagine...lots of restaurants, shops, bars, game plazas, etc. We ate fast food sushi which in Peru is just as good as the expensive kind apparently. Being right on the ocean means fresh fish and there is a huge Japanese population in Lima so Sushi is pretty popular.

All in all it was a fun weekend. Unfortunately, Alan's back is still bothering him quite a bit so that put a little damper on our fun but hopefully he's on the mend after seeing a doctor today back in Lima and getting some clarity on the diagnosis and treatment options.  Will update more on that later...but now it's off to apartment shopping! 

A Week In...

A week in, and I’m not sure if “getting my bearings” is really the right term since I haven’t gone far from home base much, but I am starting to feel a tad more comfortable in our new surroundings.  Moving to a new country is such a different experience than visiting a new country, I suppose because the priorities are so drastically different.  I think, especially now that we have a child to look after, creating routine, stocking the house with necessities, and getting logistics sorted completely overtake any temptation to sightsee and be a tourist.  So these last few days have in some ways been a world wind exercise in checking off tasks. But, despite checking off things on my list, I still feel I’m slowly learning a bit here and there about Peruvian culture and what I see so far, I really like. Something that strikes me is just how enamored by children Peruvians are.  Walking with Eli through the streets, grocery stores, and up and down elevators, has shown me that Peruvians really love children.  Everyone from the checkout lady at the store to the security guard at our building, to our neighbor down the hall, is so interactive with Eli and makes such an effort to engage him.  This puts me at ease until they start a full fledged conversation with me in Spanish…I have been trying my best to practice what I do know in Spanish but it is exhausting and frustrating and must provide some humor to those I’m talking with. But so far, the Peruvians have been very patient with me, speaking slowly, repeating themselves until I get a jist of what they are saying and then they help me through my jumbled sentences until I can make my point.  I’ll get the hang of it eventually and am working on hiring a private Spanish tutor to get some more practice in.

These days have also been fully of activity mostly centered around children which has really been a blessing since Eli would go a bit nuts cooped up in our apartment with only the handful of toys we brought on the plane with us (thank goodness the light switches are within reach for him so he spends most of his time running around turning them on and off!).  Valerie, Alan’s sister, has a full schedule for the children (Yoav are almost 4 and Zoe about 16 months).   It is summer here so the kids are out of school so camps, outdoor activities, and weekends at the beach fill their time. So Eli and I have gotten to tag along for all the outings.  We went to Yoav’s swim lesson at an elaborate club on Monday, and during the lesson Eli and Zoe got to play in the big playground.  Tuesday we joined Yoav for his first day at Jewish day camp at the Jewish club.  Eli had a ball and I got to meet a few mom’s.  Wednesday was a play date for young children at someone’s house.   This weekend we’ll go to Yves and Valerie’s beach house nearby so that should be really fun. 

So all in all, we are settling in and finding things to stay busy.  Here are some pictures from our first week playing in Lima!

First Impressions of Lima

I suppose I was expecting something like Ghana when I stepped off the plane in Lima late Friday night.  You know… a bit of pushing to try to be the first ones off the plane, maybe some cutting in line, loading a cramped bus to make our way from the plane to the airport entrance across the tarmac, a mad dash to the immigration lines, chaos at baggage claim…you get the picture. But instead, the Lima airport was incredibly calm and orderly.  Our stroller came off the plane quickly, there was an elevator waiting for us to get us to the immigration lines, ok, there were some long lines but the best part was that they have reserved special lines for parents with young children! They don’t even have that in the US. So we sped through immigration and onto baggage claim where the bags were already on the belt. We quickly found our bags and went off to customs. Again, there was a special line for families with children, which we sped through and we got the green light, which means you are free to go with no questions asked! It was a really different experience than arriving to Ghana to say the least.

Valerie and Yves, Alan’s sister and brother-in-law awaited us in the greeting area and we got the bags loaded and were off to our apartment with no traffic…well it was almost 2 am so that explains the little traffic.  The neighborhoods changed as we drove from the airport to the upper class neighborhood of San Isidro where we will be staying both temporarily and probably permanently once we find an apartment. For now we are renting a 2-bedroom apartment several blocks from where Valerie and Yves live with their two children. Again, there were striking differences between where we lived in Ghana, one of the best neighborhoods in Accra, and this neighborhood. Even in the night, you could tell that well-maintained sidewalks lined each street, there were traffic lights and walk signals that tell you the amount of seconds you must wait before it is your turn to cross, manicured golf courses and parks were visible, and most impressive were the beautiful and modern high rise apartment buildings.  One of these turned out to be our temporary home on Camino Real, a busy commercial street in the heart of San Isidro.  Our new digs are on the 21^st floor of a 22-floor building.  We’ve got amazing views of Lima, the mountains in the background, and the ocean (when it is visible through the dense fog).  It is a perfectly comfortable furnished apartment and will serve us well for the next two months.

Our first weekend has really been a chance for us to get our bearings, catch up with Valerie and Yves, who have been fabulous hosts in their city so far, and start stocking up our apartment with the necessities.  We have explored the wonderful grocery stores all within a few blocks of our apartment, each one better than the next.  This is another huge difference from Accra, which I will really enjoy…being able to find a wide selection of meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, and imported goods, and most of them can all be found at one store which cuts down tremendously on the time spent shopping! Of course we’ve heard of great little markets and specialty stores that I’m sure I will get to know eventually but without a car at first, it will be wonderful to just walk to the store and get what we need for dinner.  We also explored the big mall here in Lima with Valerie and Yves on Saturday.  It rivaled Any Mall USA and maybe even surpassed it some ways…well at least in its selection of gourmet ice cream and frozen yogurt shops. The Peruvians apparently love their ice cream.  Another striking thing about Lima are the large amount of American or international chains visible.  You have Burger King, McDonalds, Pinkberry, KFC, Starbucks, TGI Fridays, Chili’s, and tons of major upscale and mid range clothing lines.  This is different from Accra and even Bogota, which is the only Latin America comparison for me.  We got to try one of these chains out today…TGI Fridays and I can’t even remember if I’ve ever been to one in the US! We went with Valerie, Yves and their kids.  All seemed pretty similar to what I would expect in the US, except my beverage, which was a local Peruvian drink called Chicha Morada. This is the non-alcoholic version of a purple corn-derived drink.

This week should hold a lot of exploration and new things for all of us, as Alan starts work on Monday, I will start working on a long list of “to-do’s” to help us get settled, and Eli, well he will be busy taking it all in and getting used to Teletubbies in Spanish.