Finding my way back to Lima

Flying over the Andes

I can still hardly believe it, but I'm back in Peru, thanks to an undergraduate research grant from UVa to study the effects of cultural tourism on local identities. While I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity, undertaking an independent research project has been much more difficult than I had previously imagined. It takes discipline, perseverance, creativity, and, of course, an a mastery of BS. Thus, I was initially anxious to leave the comfort of my home, the company of my friends and family, and the familiarity of my summer job to embark upon my own abstract adventure. I was disappointed that I couldn't be a part of the rallies against the Board of Visitors at UVa. Yet as my plane flew over the Andes on its way south to Lima, I began to smile in memory and anticipation of the wonders of this beautiful country.

I'm staying close to where I was last year in a casa de extranjeros. Maria, the empleada/ maid of the house, runs everything with smiling grace. She is a fantastic cook, and already I've been able to enjoy some of my favorite dishes. Every morning she prepares fresh juices from local fruits like mandarinas (oranges), maracuya (passion fruit), chirimoya, and the like. As wonderful as the house is, I was angered to discover that Maria and her sons share the smallest room of the house even though it is her effort which makes this house run. As much as I love Peru, the inequality here frustrating. Yet unlike in the US, which seeks to mask and deny its poverty, here it confronts you at every turn.

The patio of the Bibloteca Nacional

As for my reason for being here, I'm still in the process of organizing interviews with professors and tourists experts here, so I unfortunately haven't been able to do too much yet (besides practice my begrudgingly rusty Spanish). I went to the Biblioteca Nacional de Perú (National Library), however, last week and found some helpful books. It's fascinating to see how a library operates in a different country. For example, the library here maintains separate reading rooms for each general subject, and you can only take out one book at a time. The librarians give you a separator to put on the shelf when you take the book out so you can return it to its proper place. Good idea, imho. However, I wasn't allowed to bring my notebook into the library to take notes to my chagrin. Apparently they've had a problem with lazy students tearing out the pages from the books and hiding them in their notes, so visitors can only take notes on loose leaf paper.

It's somewhat strange to so immediately jump back into everyday life here. In my first day back I had already taken a handful of combis (the chaotic local buses), bought some trinkets from a street vendor, and made some new friends. I went out with Melissa Sue, a wonderful friend, and company to Help, a bar named after the Beatles song that happened to be having Funk Night last week. It's always surprising to see which aspects of North American culture Peruvians decide to embrace.

Overall, I'm grateful and elated to be back in Peru. It's like a second home. Coming back I've encountered and hence remembered so many things that I had once forgotten. Street names, the rhythm of the combis, the city's smells, everyone's kind demeanor... I can't call it culture shock, as I've been here before and am familiar with Peruvian customs, but it's crazy to think how this world exists simultaneously with my Virginian world in the US and how I have the privilege to jump between them.

Yet some things have changed, of course. Old construction projects have finished and new ones are in progress. New graffiti and murals line the streets. Ollanta, once the popular progressive president, has moved to the right, much like Obama. Yet many of the same people still work at La Ruiz (and even remember me). Gatos still curiously occupy Parque Kennedy. The UVa summer students that are here complain about everything. The world spins on, and I am but a spectator granted my short life to observe all that I can.