As of today, I have officially been in Peru for 17 days. Thanks to the wonderful family I stayed with in Arequipa and an extremely efficient first week in Lima, those days have absolutely flown by. I have enjoyed some beautiful sunny beaches in Mejia and some overcast, cloud filled days in Arequipa and Lima. The food, customs and atmosphere in Peru are a whole new experience when compared to Argentina, just as I had hoped, but let’s start from the beginning…
After a grueling 12 day journey across the continent of South America, there was only one thing my heart desired: the beach. I think my heart yearns more for the beach than the average individual, I thank my parents for raising me in San Diego for this, and nothing could have been a more welcome site than a beach, an umbrella, a towel and a good book (in Spanish, of course!). Well alright, in reality, I didn’t IMMEDIATELY go to the beach, so let’s start in Arequipa…sorry, I got excited thinking about the warm sand. I first arrived in Arequipa late in the evening on Tuesday, January 25th. Prior to my arrival, I had asked my dad if he had any former business partners in Lima or Peru (though I never knew what he was doing down here, I did remember him flying to Peru quite often when I was younger!) and to my luck, he was able to put me in contact with Enrique Mendoza, a wonderful man whose family lives in Arequipa. So upon my arrival I had planned to stay at Enrique’s house, well, Enrique was out of town on a business trip that evening and his wife was 2 hours away at the beach, so instead, I stayed at his parents’ house: WOW! This house was unbelievable. Clearly an extremely wealthy family. I was greeted at the door by Enrique's parents and stepped into a picture perfect home. To the left, a grand piano perched in a small inlet. To the right, a beautiful office filled with many leather bound books, directly ahead, a gorgeous living room and in the back drop, a 12-seat, solid wood, dining room table, with, of course, a beautiful crystal chandelier hanging above. They prepared a bit of food, though I insisted I wasn’t hungry, and I proceeded to tell them a bit about my trip. They were VERY impressed with my Spanish, though the father, Kiko, insisted on trying to speak in English. I proceeded to ask Kiko how many rooms were in the house, how long they had owned the place etc…the answers blew me away. 10 bedrooms, so many he had forgotten when I asked the question in the first place, and 55 years. I did the math and figured out that Kiko had purchased this mansion when he was just TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD!!!! I couldn’t believe it, I need to get my act together, I’ve only got two years ‘til I need to buy my first mansion!
After sleeping in a massive, king size bed (another welcome site after sleeping in hostels and buses the previous two weeks), I was greeted in the morning by their house maid who prepared breakfast for me. I also met their gardener/general help and later was taken on a
tour of the town by their personal driver. I was living in the lap of luxury. I’m not sure I thoroughly enjoyed being waited on hand and foot, but clearly Kiko and his wife were very accustomed to this life style and I simply followed their lead, though I went out of my way to be a bit more polite. ***Side note: Now that I've been in Peru for just over two weeks, I realize that if your family has any kind of money, you have a housemaid and you have a beach house for the summer. Though not everyone has the luxury of three personal helpers, it is clearly customary to have a housemaid who prepares lunch everyday and does the cleaning. This includes the apartment/family I am living in, though I am yet to let her do anything EXCEPT for iron a few shirts for me, as I am afraid to ruin them if I try myself.***
I stayed two nights in their lovely house, and at long last on Thursday morning, I was greeted by their son, Enrique. While staying in this mansion was an absolute pleasure, I knew with the arrival of Enrique, I would soon be headed to the beach. On cue, Enrique informed me we would be leaving that afternoon after lunch for Mejia, a beach town just two hours away. Enrique’s parents have owned a house in Mejia for as long as their house in Arequipa, 55 years, and Enrique also owns his own apartment. During our drive, Enrique’s mother mentioned that their house in Mejia was just a small spot for vacationing; I should have known this was a severe exaggeration. After the two hour drive, we first arrived at the parents’ house to drop them off; the small vacation house was beautiful. From the outside, it appeared like the rest of the houses in the street, but upon entering, guests are greeted with a large balcony over- looking the small town and a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean. The grandmother then proceeded to tell me how the three levels of rooms below us were all a part of their “small” vacation house. Like I said, I should have known. Enrique and I then proceeded to his apartment, a bit closer to the beach. Though there was no balcony, the view was still beautiful, overlooking the ocean. I was lucky enough to have my own room to stay in for those four nights which turned out to be the perfect way to relax following the long 12-day trek and prior to the hustle and bustle that would greet me in Lima.
No crazy interesting stories from Mejia, but a bit about the town; it is nearly uninhabited for the other three seasons of the year, and then comes to life during the summer (remember I'm on the other side of the hemisphere). There is one beautiful country club which most of the visitors are members of with a small 9 hole golf course (I’m pretty sure no one plays), two swimming pools, tennis courts, racket ball courts, ping pong tables, soccer (football) pitches, massage parlors, beauty salons, and anything else you would imagine at a 5-star resort. Oh, and with just about every available activity, lessons are offered by professionals, yes, including ping-pong. You can walk through the entire town in probably 15-20 minutes and everyone knows everyone, as they have ALL been going their every summer since the now adults, were children. We even ran into one of Enrique’s best friends whom he attended both Kindergarten and University with! Other than lying on the beach everyday for a few hours, my highlight of the trip were the
gorgeous sunsets we were blessed with and the ceviche cook-off fiesta. The sunsets are self-explanatory. The ceviche cook-off was held on Saturday at the club and included 8 teams of amateur chefs competing in a one hour competition. Enrique’s brother had entered with some buddies, so of course, we were pulling for his team. My favorite part of this day was the free beer and t-shirts I received throughout the day. For those of you saying, “That would be Ryan’s favorite part,” gimme a break, I’m traveling on a shoestring down here, what do you expect my favorite part would be?! Unfortunately, one of the ceviches rubbed my stomach in the wrong way, so I was unable to attend the concert that evening at the club. All in all, it was an unbelievable trip. I couldn’t have gotten luckier, thanks Dad, to stay with such a welcoming, open family. They’d never met me before and invited me to join them for every meal and refused that I pay for anything. I truly cannot imagine a better, more relaxing way to spend a week in the middle of this journey I have embarked on here in South America.
We made it back to Arequipa on Monday and I stayed one more night there as my bus left Tuesday evening for Lima. I spent the day checking out the city centre and the famous convent, Santa Catalina, known as the city within a city. In the past, once a monk or a nun would check into this convent, unless they were to renounce their faith, they would never leave the premises again. Though I was not ready to leave, it was time for me to continue my journey, and Tuesday evening I was off on my final leg of my trek from Buenos Aires to Lima; a fifteen hour over-night ride. I had very ambitious plans for my arrival in Lima, and scheduled to arrive at around 10am (we got in at 11) and immediately hit the trail to find a hostel to work at and a teaching job. I had been in contact with multiple companies regarding both prior to my departure from Buenos Aires, so it was simply a matter of contacting them to set up interviews and meetings. Of course, as things go when traveling, I veered a bit off the path when I met some really lovely people at my hostel and chatted away the day with them. We proceeded to go out that evening with a friend of theirs from Lima and had a heck of a time. As you can guess, this also put a bit of a dent in my plans for the following day, Thursday, though by the end of the day I was able to secure a job with a bed and breakfast! The place, B&B Wasi Miraflores, as indicated is located in Miraflores. Miraflores along with Barranco and San Isidro are the three nicest districts of Lima, set on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and much safer than the center city of Lima. I like to think of them as more the suburbs of Lima, though they are still very much within the city.
The job – part I. Prior to my arrival in Lima, I had determined I wanted to work at a hostel, or something of the sort, to provide free room and board during my time here. I planned on teaching during the days, so I needed something at night, and I also wanted a quiet, laid back, tranquil atmosphere so I could get some rest during the week while teaching. The deal at this B&B is as follows; I work the night shift meaning I let guests in and out of the hotel during the evening and provide any amenities they may request. Though it sounds miserable, the hotel only has eight total rooms and can hold, at a maximum, 20 guests. What this makes for is a VERY slow paced environment with very limited guest traffic. Whenever I feel tired, I switch the lights off in the lobby, lock up the doors and go to sleep on a couch in the lobby. I generally wait for all guests to have arrived back for the evening, but if there is a straggler they simply ring the doorbell when they return and I let them in. Yes, by the end of the next 5 months, I imagine I will be in need of a couple solid nights of sleep, but I am saving a ton of money by doing this and also, I don't work every night. Along with a couch to crash on in the hotel, I have my own room half a block away at the owners apartment. They just moved in a month ago and I was given my own room with a full bed and lovely view looking into the private yard of the apartment building. As for the ‘board’ aspect, this mainly refers to the food that is included. Though breakfast is not generally a huge meal in Peru, luckily, I get to eat the same meals as the guests at the B&B. Typically a general breakfast will include eggs, toast, fresh fruit and some of the most delicious fresh squeezed orange juice I have ever tasted. You don’t hear me complaining, that’s for sure. In Peru, the main meal of the day (and really the only true meal) is lunch; when it is customary to have all family members who live in the area to meet for a meal. I am lucky enough to be living with a Peruvian family, so every lunch is a different Peruvian delicacy, enjoyed with the company of their family. Dinner, however, is not so much of a tradition in Peru and I am left to fend for myself. Often times there are leftovers from lunch, or I can prepare eggs and toast again, but I have also been cooking a bit for myself as well. To be honest, this aspect of the job search went seamlessly and I can’t imagine a better situation to be in.
The job – Part II. So I’m sure some of you are wondering when I am going to actually start teaching English, considering that WAS the premise of this trip down South, I guess that’s fair enough. I had three interviews this week, all of which, the interviewers were very pleased to see a native English speaker sitting in front of them and were quick to offer jobs. However, things work a bit different in the English teaching world, and in reality, I can technically say I am working for three different institutes. The institutes are approached by companies looking to teach their employees, generally managers and higher up executives, English. The institutes then email their teachers offering them the class and if you are available for the specific time and dates of the class you accept. For this reason, one can work for multiple companies and take work as it is offered. In fact, I am giving my first class tonight!
The transition from Buenos Aires to Lima has been very smooth and I didn’t waste any time getting mixed into the culture. I have been put in contact with multiple people my age down here through friends and family and am doing my best to get out and meet each and every one of them. The people in Peru are extremely friendly and will go out of their way to assist you whenever possible. Some good news, I have gotten in contact with some fellow ruggers down here and am finally hoping to pick up a ball and start playing again. I need the competition. I’m still adjusting to the culture, as I have only been here a week, but like any big city, there is traffic, dangerous areas, and plenty to do at night. I’ll be sure to update you as I further adjust to the customs and way of life here in Peru, and of course, keep you updated on my teaching endeavors!
One last note...I can’t believe I’m already in my second South American capitol, and am looking forward to the challenges that come with it. Oh, and for those who don’t know, my mom and sister are visiting at the end of the month and we are visiting Machu Picchu and doing the official 4 day/3night Inca Trail. Get ready for my best blog yet upon our return, of course including stunning pictures of the ruins themselves!!!
