Living in Lima, Week 1

There’s a lot that could be said about my first week living in Lima, but I think I’ll just sum it up with three small examples.

On Monday, we walked around the corner from our apartment to a small Peruvian bar called The Shack run by an expat Englishman. Literally right around the block. If I end up complaining in a later post (and I’m sure I will) about raucous bars right outside my window keeping me up at night, this would be one of the culprits. There we met up with several of Sandra’s friends, a mix of Americans, Peruvians, and even a Swede, from her work. We watched the BCS championship football game while eating and drinking typically cheap Peruvian food. For example, two 1L bottles of beer for 15 soles (aka about $5.25) or a platter of french fries (really delicious!) for 3.5 soles (about $1.25).

Thursday we took a short bus ride to visit Sandra’s friend Molly at her apartment. It was a busy time of the evening, essentially rush hour, and the buses were packed. If you haven’t already, you can read more about the public bus system here in this *cough*lengthy*cough* post on Sandra’s blog (somewhat toward the bottom). The salient point here is that we got on with barely any standing room left. And then, we picked up more passengers. And then, when there were literally two passengers already standing on the lowest step right next to the (open) swinging door along with the cobrador for lack of space, the cobrador was still trying to get new passengers at each bus stop.

And he did.

Today, we took the same bus a short way to a sports bar called The Corner. As it was Saturday, we actually got to sit down comfortably for the whole ride. The Corner caters to expats with plenty of flatscreens (most of them atrociously calibrated) showing all manner of American sports, with prices to match. We watched the Steelers brilliantly come from behind to beat the Ravens (Go Stillers!), paid our 27 soles for two cokes and a tequeño appetizer (also delicious), and then walked back home. It’s only about a 15 minute walk, and we’ll head back to The Corner tomorrow for Pats-Jets if The Shack that’s actually around the corner is too busy or not showing the game.

That’s pretty much life in Lima right now. Like any big city in the U.S., there’s the same advantage of having everything you need within walking distance or just a short public transit trip away. The food is great, and super cheap if you eat like a Peruvian and not like an American. There are a lot of cultural differences, and it’d be great if I really spoke Spanish, but the creature comforts and reminders of home are there if you need them. It’s a wonderful and sometimes eclectic mix of first- and third-world, and I love it.