Un Sol

I always get excited when it´s my turn to update the blog, then freeze up trying to decide what to write. So here goes...

Maybe it´s because we´ve been in the same city for about a week, or maybe it´s because we have been in Peru for a bit, but I´m starting to notice the social INjustice here more every day. There have been people begging for money everywhere we´ve been in Peru and it´s hard to keep walking when there is a kid chasing you with a cup as his mother sits on the sidewalk nursing her baby. Tonight at dinner, two separate children came up to our table trying to sell us gum. People are everywhere trying to earn money- taxi drivers, shoe shiners, people trying to sell us tours of the area, everywhere. There´s too much supply and not enough demand. Most of the taxis we see drive around empty, honking at pedestrians and hoping someone wants a ride. Even when we do take a taxi for a 10-15 minute ride to our house it is only 6 soles, which is about $2. So no one is earning much money, either. We paid 5 soles each for a lunch of soup, rice, a piece of chicken, french fries, and a drink. It is so cheap to visit, but I feel like we´re not really helping the economy, either. Just observations.

Yesterday Matthew and I ate lunch at a restaurant that seats you with strangers because it is so crowded. You just walk up and join a table! We sat with an older man who was so talkative. I was glad because I got to listen a lot (about his career as an engineer, his prostate problems, his eating habits, and more!)and he didn´t ask me many questions. I asked him about hunger in Peru. I was thinking that although many of the people here don´t seem to have a lot of money, at least no one can go hungry because there is SO MUCH FOOD everywhere- it´s impossible to walk down the street without passing some kind of food. There are either people selling something homemade or a woman with a basket of tuna (a delicious fruit, not fish)... or something! But the man said that on the edges of town there are lots of people who don´t eat much because they can´t afford food. This is still hard to comprehend because it seems like everyone has access to something, it seems like many people have farms or gardens where all this food comes from. Like when I worked at Corpus Christi in Boise, it´s the kids that are the worst- the first girl who tried to sell stuff at dinner gave us this huge pleading smile after we said no the first time. Almost won me over.

School is going well, although I feel like there´s so much I can still learn. I´m glad we decided on two weeks of school instead of just one because we can stay settled for a bit and I can practice my conversation with our host family (right now, just the Doctor) and with my teachers at school. My grammar is horrendous and I can not figure how to switch smoothly between the tenses, I am gliding right along. Today I tried to carry on conversation the whole second half of class so my professor wouldn´t make me suffer through any more subjunctive practice. I did it! We talked about movies, the fact that Matthew and I are not married and aren´t going to marry anytime soon (so surprising to some people...such a strange assumption to us both), the motorcycle my professor wants to buy, poetry, and anything else I could think of.

Did you know you can buy pirated movies here for 2 soles? Wow. My professor said he´s going to get Motorcycle Diaries because I was the second person to recommend it today. 2 soles. Incredible! I said how strange I thought it was that there are huge stores full of pirated music and movies, right out in public. He said something like, "That´s my country, I love it." Ha. The only thing he really doesn´t like about life here is the pollution.

Life is pretty good right now. Matthew´s camera is still broken, but we have met a friend who is helping us. Maybe it will be better tomorrow? The attitude right now is that it can´t get any worse. We haven´t taken a dip in the pool yet, but we are going to la playa this weekend. To our host family´s second home. oye. Such a contrast to the children on the streets.