Gringo In Peru

The Minnesota Vikings are on Monday Night Football tonight. I’m not quite sure if I’m going to watch.

Here in Peru proper football (what we call soccer) is king and the NFL isn’t even on the South American sports radar. However, the ESPN family of networks televises Monday and Sunday Night Football here. It must be because the European premier soccer league games are in the afternoons because of the time differences. That’s the only logical explanation I can think of.

Since I work every Monday evening, I can only get my football fix on Sunday nights. If you are a casual Vikings fan you know the last two times the Vikings have (dis)graced Sunday Night Football they’ve stunk the place up. Yes, I’ve watched. You would think after decades of disappointment that comes with being a Vikings fan I would learn to stay away. Like a drug addict, I keep hopping back on the wagon.

My addiction isn’t as raging as it once was. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the NFL would wake me up on a Sunday and put me to bed. Every Sunday was a non-stop orgy of football and related programming. Then I moved for a job that forced me to work Sundays. Two years later I moved again, for an overnight job that forced me to attempt sleeping on Sunday afternoons. Now I live in Peru where American Football doesn’t matter.

It’s been a good, gradual withdrawal from the NFL. I’m still a fan, but it doesn’t come close to running my life. I’ve realized there are better things to do, like spend time with my wife.  Maybe we’ll go to a movie, sit outside and enjoy the weather or I’ll watch the game.

Ok, Christmas has come and gone. I realize that, but its never too late to talk about the big holiday.

Ours was pretty relaxed. It wasn’t the circus atmosphere of last year. Just me, V, Mita, BonBon, Andrea, V’s former colleague Christine and the our new American friends from across the street.

Somehow Vanessa had somehow become neighborly acquaintances with the mom/wife Joy shortly after they moved in. The husband/father, Kirby, works for the U.S. embassy. They have a 13-year-old daughter Lilly and they all joined us for dinner. Because of Kirby’s work they have literally lived around the world. Besides Peru they’ve had two to three year stops in Belarus, Indonesia, Thailand and Canada. They also have to report back to Washington D.C. for a few months at a time between locales.

They told us the Embassy here has an employee only store that sells many American products. Joy brought us brown sugar, molasses and shortening from this store so we could make gingersnap cookies. Brown sugar and molasses are not sold in Peruvian grocery stores. Shortening is available, but you really have to look for it.

With the idea of access to this “American Store” dancing like sugar plums in my head, I had to ask what else it sells. Honestly, I can’t think of any American food stuff that I really miss, but I might suddenly miss it if I knew I could get it. Turns out its mostly boxed mixes, laundry detergent and some stateside junk food. Nothing too crave inducing. As I’ve said before, there is a lot of American junk food for sale here and Peruvian companies make enough junk to satisfy any craving the need for sweet or salty snacks.

So that was Christmas. Vanessa got me some t-shirts and underwear (yes, I’m old) and I offered her a romantic night out.

Actually, I had asked for a handful of what I’ll call “maintence items” for the holiday. It included such fabulous items as: comfortable black shoes for work, a trip to the dentist, renewing my Peruvian residency card and new glasses. Glasses and shoes check. My residency will be renewed this week. A trip to the dentist is pending for early 2010, I think. Great list, I know. I’m old.

The holiday hits just keep on coming here below the equator. Next week we’re heading to the beach for some R&R. then it’s back to work for me. My wife has some tutoring gigs lined up to keep her busy, but not too busy.

Happy new year!

As loyal followers of this blog know I ride the bus a lot. It’s the only way a gringo like me can get around the developing world.

It’s reasonably safe, sometimes clean, always crowded herky-jerky road-based roller coaster ride that is the preferred method of transportation for most Peruvians. Besides the surroundings, grime and the Spanish soundtrack one big difference is how you pay for the ride.

There are no machines to take your money. Instead, there’s a man or woman who works the door and charges you depending on how far you go. It’s a cash only business that’s 90% in coins.

Here in Peru coins rule. The 1, 2 and 5 Peruvian Nuevo Sol are coins. This dependence on heavy, metal money created a bit of a culture shock for this American. As a rule, Americans don’t like coins. We have paper money for a reason. It’s easy to carry. Your hands (usually) don’t smell or get dirty after using it.

Peruvian Money the coins on the bottom (from L-R) 5, 2, 1 sols 50, 20, 10, 1 centimos

If we have coins we don’t keep them. If they’re pennies, we leave them in the “take a penny, leave a penny” tray at the check-out. Things don’t work that way here for many reasons. First, the coin tray would likely get stolen. Second, you never get 1 centimos as change.

One and five centimos coins are hard to come by. The 1 cent is this little nub of a coin that looks and feels like the toy money you give little kids. It’s super light and I’m sure with a big enough chomp anyone could bite it in half. The only place that gives you 1 centimos is the grocery store. Even there, they are tough to get. Most of the supermarkets ask you to round up your cash purchases up and donate the cents to charity.

Five centimos pieces may be even harder to find. There isn’t one in the picture I found.

As you can see, there are bills. They start at 10 and go up to 200 soles. You never see the 200 soles bill and chances are most stores won’t accept them anyways for fear that they are fake. In Lima 100 soles bills are common. Once you get outside of the city, trying to pass a 50 can sometimes prove difficult.

If you buy something on the street almost all the prices are in straight soles. Usually one or two soles. Maybe something might cost you 2.50, but the 50 cent piece is a handy coin to have.

Using coins for so many things was an adjustment. At first, it was difficult fishing haphazardly through pockets looking for the right coin. Then I discovered one vital accessory: the coin purse. I don’t think I ever carried a coin purse before. Now its essential. Most people have one or if they don’t their wallets have a coin pouch.

Who knows if I’ll become a coin fan when we return. What can you really buy with American coins anyway? A gumball, a newspaper, a candy bar?

It’s been a while since a new blog post has come your way. I would apologize, but there’s no real reason to say sorry.

My average day consists of getting up, going to work, coming home, going back to work, going to bed and waking up the next day to do it all again.

Not to exciting.

One bright spot this month is I do have four classes. This means extra $$$. Last month I only had three.  Most of my colleagues have three this month. Nobody can really explain the rhyme or reason behind this. The scheduling seems to defy any logic.

I don’t have to work tomorrow because it is a national holiday celebrating the immaculate conception. Jesus was conceived on December 8th and born on December 25th. Humm…

Now, I know both celebrations are approximations. Some biblical historians believe Christ was born sometime in the summer, but nobody really knows. Although, you would think somewhere in Catholic Church history a cadre of cardinals and bishops would have gotten together to pick a better date for either the conception or the birth of the Savior. The math doesn’t make sense. Either Jesus spent almost a year in the womb or two weeks. Humm….

Last night I was super excited to finally watch the Minnesota Vikings on TV. Since they were on Sunday Night Football, ESPN would carry the game. Needless to say the Vikings lost. That doesn’t really disappoint me though. While I still love the Vikings, I consciously decided a few years ago they would no longer be the center of my world. That said, it would have been real nice to see a win. Proving to this fan that this team is as good as all the hype I’ve been reading about. Oh well, another let down. It’s not the first, nor will it be the last.

Contrary to popular opinion, people in South America don’t care about the NFL. I also find the NFL’s “one billion people watch the Super Bowl” factoid dusted off every year to be a bit dubious. Outside of American ex-pats who want to see the big game, there aren’t a lot of casual American Football outside the borders. Proper football, or as we would say soccer, is huge. ESPN shows games from all the premier leagues, all around the world. Tennis is also big. The NBA has a following. Hockey fans, don’t even ask.

Soccer is so big that tomorrow is the biggest game of the soccer season here in Peru. Actually, many of my students think they have the day off for the big game. Alianza takes on Universitario. Alianza and “The U” are the two most successful teams in the Peruvian Soccer League. Both have won over 20 championships. Blood will likely be spilled both on and off the field.

We won’t be anywhere near the game. Mainly because we don’t care. There are people in this house who care and will watch, but V and I will be relaxing wondering why the day has to end.