One-Monthaversary

Yesterday marked my one month mark here in Lima, Peru! I can hardly believe it! I've barely settled in and in just 11 months I'll be back in Canada... well I guess I shouldn't count on that if things go well there is always the opportunity to stay on in Peru or to move to another Latin American Country where CUSO-VSO works... Honduras or Jamaica sound nice!

Since it's my one-monthaversary I thought it's about time I get around to giving my first impressions of the city.

First it's massive. I have never lived in a city larger than 1-1.5 million people and Lima has 8 million. I am having the hardest time understanding how that works. I live and work in Miraflores and it is the most western section of Lima with big shopping malls, nice restaurants and North American housing prices. Miraflores is like a little city in itself. That much I understand... but then Miraflores is surrounded by other little cities that each have their own shopping centres, restaurants and economies. What I don't understand is how everything can be so separate yet so interconnected. I also have this sneaking suspicion that there must be some secret for finding the best spot for everything.

Second living in Miraflores you don't really get the sense of what Peru is all about. I don't mean that to sound dismissive because sometimes when travelling people do dismiss this place or that place as being "too western" or "too touristy" but those places are as much a part of the place as the so-called authentic places. What I mean is that Miraflores is only a small part of a much more diverse country. Peru has one of the most diverse collections of flora and fauna in the world with the Amazon, the Andes and the Pacific Coast. Each region has developed their individual cultures around the environment thus there is a great diversity of cultures as well. So what I have seen so far is only the tip of the iceburg. Good news is there may be some visits to CAPLAB's local offices in my future!

Finally, the people here have been warm, welcoming and very willing to help me with my problems. For example, yesterday I had to find Adobe Photoshop in order to view some files. My colleagues were more than willing to drop what they were doing to point me in the "right" direction or to offer possible solutions to my problem. Finally after a few hours of checking on various computers and consulting with people I was able to view it a the local internet cafe. Apparently there is one computer that has Photoshop here but it is nowhere to be found! ... well now there's two since I got it installed yesterday afternoon.

Today is our Christmas party at work! So more pictures will be coming soon!