Lima, Peru

May 25, 2013
Today I paid $6 for a thing of peanut butter. Off-brand peanut butter! Not even a big container of it, just the standard container size (whatever that is) of crunchy peanut butter. I’m not someone to skimp on peanut butter (I have been known to eat it with a spoon), but $6 was definitely a new low (or high).

As you may have guessed, I am no longer in Africa. I am also no longer in America...

¡Saludos de Lima, Peru! This summer, a couple classmates and I will be in Junín, Peru, for ten weeks for the field work that is required as part of my degree. There are several mining operations near the lake that have been polluting it for years, so our plan is to conduct an assessment of how the water contamination is affecting the peoples' lives and livelihoods. As of right now, it's still fairly fluid, so I'll keep you posted as things become clearer.

In the meantime, I can give an update of the past few days! I made my way down to Lima (via Chicago and Atlanta) on Tuesday, and managed to score a first-row seat in Business Elite from Atlanta to Lima (thank you, Delta!) - talk about luxury. I watched the stand-by list for quite a while, texting Brian to see if the numbers he saw were any different from what I could see, and with a few minutes to take-off, I approached the counter. They called my name not even 3 minutes before departure so I hustled onto the plane. I apparently missed the champagne they serve at the very beginning of flights since I was the last one to board, but I was still treated like a princess. A nice flight attendant brought me a menu as I was texting family and friends back home (and crying, as is my tradition before international flights) and asked me what I wanted for dinner. Apparently in Business Class, there's a menu. Not one or two choices with a soda, but an entire menu! And the meal comes in courses! I got a bowl of mixed nuts with a glass of wine, then a salad, a (warm) dinner roll (that the flight attendant told me he had baked that morning, ha), and finally some sort of squash risotto. Oh, and dessert. Did I mention wine? I tried several kinds of wine with my meal and by the time we'd been in the air an hour, I was absolutely stuffed.

After arriving in Lima at almost 11pm, I made my way to baggage and through customs, mustering up as much energy as I could manage in order to understand everything (my Spanish was a bit rusty and I was exhausted – sitting first class is hard work!). 

I found my way out into the main receiving area of the Lima airport and somehow managed to locate a small Peruano who did not look particularly enthused to be holding a sign that said “Kaytee Shepare, Delta.” He (my taxi driver) brought me to a small hotel and shortly after midnight, I crawled into my (incredibly firm) bed and fell asleep.

Janelle (teammate) was to arrive on the same flight the next evening, so my Wednesday was a day alone in Lima. I woke up to a phone call (telling me that I had a phone call) from one of our contacts here, Jose. He was absolutely instrumental in arranging arrivals, hotel rooms and transportation. He wanted to make sure I had arrived and that all was well. After breakfast, I received another similar call from a different contact, Dilma (equally helpful), who also wanted to hear “todo bien.”

I’ll spare you all the details of my days in Lima, but suffice it to say, they’ve been good. Zoila (teammate) also made it to Lima safely. Temperatures have been around 70, mostly cloudy skies and incredibly humid. Our hotel was located right on a sort of park in the (very wide) median of the road, so I managed to run every day – one of my favorite ways to get to know a new place. My Spanish still has a ways to go, but listening and understanding has gotten easier; it’s returning slowly but surely, and I will, without a doubt, continue to learn over the next 9-10 weeks.

Jose and Dilma both were wonderful too; Jose took me/us to lunch three of my four days in Lima and acted as our own private chauffeur as we ran errands and bought everything from water bottles to cell phone SIM cards to peanut butter – turns out he knows a guy who knows a guy (actually he just knows the right store in Chinatown). He’s originally from the region of Junín, though not necessarily where we’ll be, and has connections there, as well as plans to visit and show us around more. Dilma helped in arranging a tour of Lima atop one of those obnoxiously touristy double-decker buses. I had never been on one of those tours before, but it was pretty entertaining. The tour guide must have had too much caffeine pre-tour because she was overly theatrical in both English and Spanish (sort of dizzying listening to her flip flop between the two languages). It was a fantastic excuse to bring out the big guns: my nice camera and new lens. I looked like a serious tourist carrying that thing around, but it was totally worth it.

Today (Saturday) was one last day of shopping and lunch with Jose, and then a good chunk of time to relax and repack our bags. The three of us are currently sitting “bus-cama” (sort of like first class, but on a bus I guess?), en route to Junín; we’re scheduled to arrive somewhere between 4 and 5am (5+ hours from now). I have no problem with overnight buses (especially when I have a seat that reclines as much as mine does, even if the bus does smell a bit like urine). The real kicker is that Lima is at sea level and Junín is at upwards of 13,000 feet above sea level. The only other time I’ve been at serious altitude was when climbing Kilimajaro, and yes, that was 19,000+ feet, but only for a short while, and I had been living at probably 5,000 feet for over a year at that point. Plus we had several days to reach and adjust to those altitudes instead of several hours. I guess I’m anticipating feeling sort of sick for a day or so?

Even though I feel like I have plenty more to write, there will be time for that. I’d better wrap this up and try to sleep a bit.

Abrazos de Lima,

-k