And in response to Aubrey...

...Peruvians poop in the street, too.

http://aubreywestfall.blogspot.com/2008/10/do-you-have-three-euro-or-toilet.html

Lima Architecture

First off, I realize that this is getting ridiculous. I must have
posted three blog entries today. And it looks even worse because all of
my posts from the past week went up yesterday. I have work to do, but
I'm evidently finding an effective way of putting it off. But I've been
thinking this for three days and I wanted to put it up before I forgot.

Moving on...

Lima is a mecca for mid-century architecture and on back to the colonial
period. Including at least three styles of early 19th century
architecture (Moorish, French, and Spanish-style construction), early
20th-century Victorians, Art Deco style... the works.

Most of the buildings are grimy and decaying. But they're still
beautiful. I wish I could have gotten some pictures, but I didn't feel
like walking down a busy street in the run-down central part of Lima was
a good time to advertise my status as a wealthy gringo. "Hey! Mug me!"

It's like a slightly seedier, dirtier version of Manhattan.

Which gets me to my next point. I am totally convinced that the
Peruvians are going to be one of the shining stars of Latin America's
21st century. In thirty years, this country will be like another
world. If only they could get their wacky electoral laws squared away.

Tipping

In his blog, Chris Blattman argues that we should end the process of
tipping:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/chrisblattman/~3/418456361/end-tip.html

I agree with the argument that it's a shame that the tip has become an
obligation. However, I like tipping. I try to tip everyone, including
my barista, because it helps to ensure good service the next time I use
the services provided at a particular establishment.

I try to tip with coins at the coffee shop when I can, incidentally,
because they clink when they go into the tip jar, and they can hear me
tipping, even if their back is turned.

In Cusco

And by the way, I'm in Cusco. And folks, for those of you who've never
been here, you really should come.

Some of you all had heard that I was going to take a 30-hour bus ride to
Cusco. As it turns out, the road has gotten a lot better since the
Lonely Planet book was put together, so the ride is scheduled to take
only about 20 hours now. From 5:30 in the afternoon until about 1PM the
following day. But it was closer to 24 hours for me, since it was about
4:30 when we pulled into the Cruz del Sur station in town.

For any of you who haven't ridden these South American luxury buses,
it's a hoot. They show movies pretty much constantly, serve meals, and
play bingo. And the seats recline to almost horizontal so you can
almost sleep well.

They also run a metal detector over you and video you as you're getting
on to prevent (or deter) you from hijacking the bus and stealing
everybody's baggage and passports, etc. That has been known to happen,
though I definitely felt secure on this one.

Oh. And they offer wireless internet. Seriously. But I didn't want to
haul the old computer and make myself a target for entrepreneurial
Peruvians in search of some cash. And as any Bolivian will tell you,
all Peruvians are thieves and crooks. Just kidding, of course, although
the Bolivians actually do say that. And they refer to them as "rats."
Pretty hilarious. For the record, my experiences with Peruvians have
been almost universally aboveboard. Only gotten ripped off by the
occasional taxista.

All in all, it's a pretty good deal. About $50 for that trip, which is
a hell of a lot less than flying. Especially at the moment, as several
local carriers have gone out of business and the level of competition is
low.

And it's totally worth the literal pain-in-the-ass to see the incredible
views. Peruvian mountain scenery is, if anything, more beautiful than
Guatemalan mountain scenery.

Plus, I saw the following movies in Spanish: Superbad, What Happens in
Las Vegas, that movie about Sept. 11 with Nicholas Cage, and some action
flick about snipers. I'm probably forgetting one, as well. Not that I
would have ever paid to see any of those movies, but still. And not to
mention that it's one less night that I have to find a place to stay!

New Pictures

I have a (very) few pictures from Lima up on my picasa site now. You
can click on the link below, or I'll also put a link up in the sidebar.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gdanielwright

Emily Passed the Bar!

Now, you can all refer to her as Emily L. Wright, Esquire (but avoid
using your Keanu Reeves accents, por favor.)

Religion

I visited two places today that tend to give you really disparate
impressions of the Catholic Church in Peru (and Latin America in general).

After getting some breakfast and a bus ticket, I stopped into the Lima
Cathedral to take a look at Pizarro's tomb. I had been into the
cathedral before, when I came here with my high school kids, but I
didn't really have a chance to look around.

Pizarro's tomb itself is (remarkably) beautiful, and ironic.
Breathtakingly decorated in colorful mosaics, there are religious scenes
and a mosaic of one of Pizarro's earlier encounters with Peruvians,
during which he spirited away two indigenous Peruvians to be displayed
in Spain as curiosities, and to demonstrate the potential of the new
land to the crown (hoping to get a loan). If my history is right, the
event took place during Pizarro's second trip to South America, before
he defeated the Inca Atahualpa.

The tomb is ironic because of the religious imagery (I don't associate
Pizarro with many of the values of any church), and because of the huge
"PAX" written on the floor. Pizarro was no peacemaker. He lived a life
of violence (from his early life fighting in Italy elsewhere to his
assassination at the hands of his rivals).

Even with Pizarro's unholy bones hanging around, there is no question
that the cathedral gives you (or at least gives me) a peaceful feeling
of awe, as much at the beauty of the religious artifacts on display
there as at the religious significance of the place. So many beautiful
paintings and incredibly intricate woodcarvings, among other things,
really speak to the inspiration that religious beliefs have brought to
many people here, religious functionaries and lay-people alike.

Although I suspect my family will be surprised, I have to say that, were
I to adopt some other religious creed (I consider myself an
episcopalian, though not a dogmatic one in any respect), I wouldn't feel
uncomfortable adopting the Catholic faith. Although the official
beliefs of the church are much more conservative than my own, the
religion, as it's practiced in everyday life, is often pretty loose, and
there is also a strong political tradition (Liberation Theology) that
comes out of the Catholic Church that I can associate with.

I tend to be a little more skeptical of the evangelical churches that
are in evidence here and, especially, in Guatemala. Those guys are a
lot more conservative than me. But at the same time, evangelical
churches are also known for being popular with women (especially poor
women), because the women believe that church membership makes their
partners more reliable. It is feasible. Those churches discourage
gambling and drinking (among other things) and create a dense social
network which probably places social sanctions on individuals that break
those norms.

Of course, the evangelical churches also energetically oppose birth
control, which can't be helpful, economically. It always scares me to
see so many small children running around. Latin American kids are
super-cute, but they eat as much as American kids and cost a lot of
money to clothe and educate as well.

On the other hand, I spent a good portion of the afternoon in the
"Museum of the Holy Inquisition," which is a really creepy place.
Torture equipment on display, an excavated dungeon where prisoners were
kept... Really scary.

The inquisition was, to put it mildly, a completely unjust and truly
frightening episode in American history (that is, the history of the
Americas). The lonely planet book refers to it as a "Kafka-esque
nightmare" and "utterly surreal." Which is about right. Although at
the risk of polemicizing, (is that a word?), some of the things they did
weren't all that different from some of the creepy things the CIA has
been involved in (waterboarding and whatnot). The inquisition developed
a range of methods that would cause great pain and fear while not
permanently damaging the body of the defendant (victim?). That sounds
pretty similar to the current administration's efforts to justify
interrogation techniques which have the information-extracting power (or
lack thereof) of torture, but technically, can be defined as "not
torture."

Kind of makes you wonder about the church all over again. On average,
good or bad?

For those of you who slogged through all of that, I'll shortly have some
pictures of some of my recent attempts at touristing up on my picasa
site--when I upload them, I'll put a link up, although you can also get
to my pictures from my CU web site (http://sobek.colorado.edu/~wrightgd).

Guys with Guns

One thing I don't get: Why do security guards in Guatemala use pump
shotguns, while all of the security guards I've seen here carry AK
rifles? Given the economic situation of each country, one might think
that these were economic decisions, but why would Peru have an abundance
of AKs and not Guatemala?

At least the guards are older than 14.

I also want to note that I saw possibly the coolest police vehicle I've
ever seen. Better than the mustang interceptors some police departments
are now using. I saw a Kaiser Jeep pickup truck with a riot setup that
consisted of a metal box-shaped frame welded to the chassis, with wire
grating (a little thicker than chicken wire) welded on. Presumably,
this is so that the truck can be used to bash back crowds of angry
protesters while being protected from flying rocks, airborne guinea
pigs, and the occasional high-velocity freeze-dried potato.

Really, though, the cool part is the fact that it was an old Kaiser
pickup. Those things rule.

Lima

I arrived in Lima last night with no real problems, and aside from
paying an inordinate amount of money for a (safe) registered taxi at the
airport to take me to my hotel, everything went just fine.

At first, I was a little worried about the hotel I'm in. It's in a
classic (read: old and dark) building, and is a little run down. But I
slept quite well last night, and the room is quite clean and
comfortable, even though it is a little worn around the edges.

I've only been in Lima one other time, and it was on a guided tour which
Emily and I went on with some high school students of ours when we were
teaching in Maine. The endshot is that, although we spent a day or so
here, I didn't get a very good feel for the place, because we spent most
of the time touring historic sites and museums. It was, certainly a
good trip, but we hardly went anywhere where we were amongst Peruvians,
rather than gringos.

So here I am. I wanted to get a little bit of a chance to walk around
the city and check it out. So today, I went to the Plaza de Armas to
get my bearings, then went off to the la Parque de la Muralla, which is
a park laid out around the ruins of a section of the city walls. Along
the way, I checked out some colonial churches, including the Convento de
San Francisco, where the crypts below the church are open, and you can
peer into chambers where femurs and skulls are laid out in symmetric
geographic patterns. But I only looked at the facade and dodged the
pigeons today, because I've been down there before.

Also walked through one of the city markets--a lot less crowded and
chaotic than I thought it would be, though it still has its share of
stiff, dead geese hanging upside down in butcher shops, pigs' heads on
hooks, and what appear to be cattle hooves...

Lima is also blessed with a large number of very skilled tailors. Lots
of sharp looking suits hanging in the windows.

I got a chip for my cell phone, so I should be able to use it to call
home now, though I'm not sure how expensive it will be (probably too
much). We'll see how it goes. I already had two of the three major
brands available in Guatemala, and now I have the third. I may, at some
point, also get a Telefonika chip here. I've got one, but I don't think
I'll be able to receive calls on it, since it's a Guatemala number.

And in case anyone wants to call me, my number here is: 98 046 8931. To
get me from the states, you probably have to dial 01 (the international
access code) and 51, the country code. So that makes it:

01 51 980 46 8931

I think.

I also walked through Chinatown. That's a bizarre feeling. Why do I
have the strange belief that Chinese individuals only emigrate to the
United States?

In general, I would say a couple things about Lima:
1. Although it has been held up as an example of poor air-quality
regulation, especially among automobiles, Lima seems a heck of a lot
cleaner to me than Guatemala city, though it was (admittedly) a holiday
today, and the city isn't getting a lot of the traffic it might get
otherwise.
2. Parts of the center here are a little dirty, but a hell of a lot
nicer than Guatemala city, and even La Paz. Although La Paz also has a
pretty good feel to it.
3. It's pretty clear that Peru hasn't had an election in a long time.
Not many painted election signs around. Although there is one huge APRA
up on a hillside North of the center.
4. They do seem to be doing a good job at developing the city, as
well. A lot of work seems to have gone on in the last ten years or so,
and the city is fairly well maintained. I'm hopeful for them.

Also, I'm so far very happy with my mountainsmith lumbar pack/shoulder
bag. Not as slash proof as the leather bag I got in Guatemala, and not
as crushable as the montbell bag that got slashed before I got the
leather bag, but very comfortable, even when I'm wearing it in front
with a backpack.

All right, I think it's time to head off and get some dinner and a
recharge for my phone.

Heading Out Again

I'm currently sitting in terminal C of Denver International Airport,
watching the beginning of what looks like a beautiful sunrise. I'm
heading out of Denver for Atlanta, Miami, and ultimately, Lima, Peru
this evening.

Although I've felt in limbo the last couple of weeks here, and didn't
get the one thing completed that I had planned for this month, I did
have a fantastic break with Emily, I got rested up, and I got a lot
closer to defending my dissertation prospectus (my one solid goal). I
also had a nice visit with my mom and dad, who came out earlier in
September, and some nice get-togethers with people in the department and
other friends.

If all goes well, I will spend a couple days in Lima, then I'll take a
bus to Cusco towards the end of the week and be there on Saturday (the
11th of October). I'll be in a guesthouse from the 11th until the 18th
or so, then I move in with a family (hopefully, a Quechua-speaking
family, so I can practice my language skills).

My lessons begin on the 13th (Monday), and continue on up until December.

The only other things I have scheduled for the time being are a meeting
with Miguel Jaramillo, a colleague of Krister's and the guy who
orchestrated the Peru surveys, during the first week of November, and my
flight back to Denver for Christmas, which is on Christmas Eve Day.

I started missing Emily before I even left, and I'm already looking
forward to getting back. Only 78 days to go until I see her again...

But, as she said, my job is to have a good time and get some good work
done in the process.

Even so, I'm looking forward to getting this language training and
fieldwork over with, so that we don't have to be apart again for a long
time.