A Night in La Victoria 
December 18,2006

Where do I begin describing the scenery of La Victoria? As any large city, whether in Peru, the States, or any other country, there are nice areas of Lima and there are a few not so nice areas of Lima. La Victoria is considered to be one of those areas of the city that is not so nice; in fact it has been described to us by other Peruvians as a dangerous area of town.

So why were we there? Well, another characteristic of some of the not so nice areas of town are the amazing discounts and great deals on anything you can imagine. As Paul and I prepare to move to Pucallpa, there are some things we need to purchase for our home such as furniture, kitchen supplies, sheets, towels and other such items. It just so happens that La Victoria is a great place to pick up towels, sheets, and other decorative items for the home. Just to give you an idea of the great prices one might receive, in this area of town, a set of sheets where you can pick out the color, the type of fabric, the size, and then come back the next day where they will be ready for pickup, for only $17!! This is a set of queen sheets, keep in mind! Wow! That is a great deal and the quality of fabric is nice (100% Peruvian cotton). Side Note: Peru has a great cotton industry, in which we have found several popular brands in the States are made here (i.e. American Eagle, Hollister, Lacoste, etc.)

For this reason, Paul and I chose to go (with our host mother, Mardely) to this area of town. It was a fascinating place. There were thousands of people out shopping in the streets for Christmas. La Victoria consists of thousands of small shops (tiendas) located along the street and in the surrounding buildings. Besides towels and other such home items there are tiendas that sell popular brands of clothing, CD’s, and DVD’s new and old. This is referred to as pirated or “bomba” in Peru. For instance you can buy the new James Bond movie and other new movie releases for $1 and any brand of clothing from Polo to Billabong for $5 per shirt to other amazing prices for other items. On top of all this, we are able to practice our negotiating skills. Every price given by the venders is negotiable. Of course, Paul is better at this than I am and he certainly enjoys it more!

Overall, this was a great experience and we are planning to go back with our host sister, Joany, on Friday.

Peruvian Thanksgiving 
November 23,2006

We had a nice Thanksgiving here in Peru, even though we were not at home with our families this year. The weather was beautiful...70's and sunny, not your typical Thanksgiving in Indiana.

Yesterday morning, our host mom decided, since I was a little sad in the morning, that she wanted to do something nice for us on our Thanksgiving holiday. So she went out and bought this awesome ice cream (only found in Peru...but they should export it!) and gave us two heaping spoonfuls for desert. Then she asked a friend of hers to drive us around the city to some places we had not visited yet. I was a little leary about it at first, but we ended up having a great time and we were able to see a beautiful part of the city on the coast. Then later in the evening, we met up with another couple (the Cantralls from Oregon) who we get along with well, and had dinner to celebrate the day....Terriaki sandwhiches and chicken fingers with tartar sauce...not the traditional meal, but we had a good time.

We are going to celebrate our actual Thanksgiving on Sunday with the other Americans who are here in Peru, and then we will have the traditional meal. I am in charge of making the mashed potatoes...imagine that! We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Taxi Experience 
Thursday, November 16, 2006

For 2-3 weeks now, Paul and I have been hailing our own taxi. This really has been an answer to prayer not only in the Spanish we have learned since arriving here in Peru, but also in the confidence and independence we are gaining in using what we have learned. On Thursday morning we made our way to the road outside of our house to catch a cab and head to Spanish class. Paul walked up and negotiated 8 soles (equivalent of $2.50) with the taxi driver and we got into the car to begin our journey to class. Along the way, our taxi driver continuously jerked the wheel...at first I thought maybe he was attempting to avoid potholes in the road. Later, I realized that he was falling asleep while driving, and was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. We stopped at a traffic light and when all the other cars had taken off when the light turned green, we remained sitting still. Paul and I both looked at our driver, and Paul asks me if he was dead, but he was "out cold" fast asleep! I tapped him and he woke up and continued driving as if it were no big deal. We got to the next stop light and he again fell asleep, this time with his foot on the accelerator. So the engine was running at 4,000 RPMs as we sat still at the light. We again woke him up and continued on our way to class. We finally arrived at the house of our professor, we paid the taxi driver, and he proceeded to fall asleep outside her house. We weren't sure if he had worked all night and was just exhausted or possibly narcoleptic. What can we say, just another crazy adventure in Lima.