Despite having lived in Peru for 3 months now, every day I still find myself intrigued by the way of life here and the differences between Peruvian culture and the culture back home in England.
Walking to catch the bus to the orphanage on a morning, I pass the local street vendors selling 'desayuno' (breakfast) which usually constitutes of meat such as the English folk would eat for their evening meal. However, this is not what Tom and I usually breakfast on, we usually partake in coffee and fresh bread from our local bakery, such as many of the locals do.
Upon embarking the bus, often I have not even taken a seat before the driver takes off and whizzes around the corner, jumping a red light or narrowly avoiding another vehicle pulling out in front. More people board the bus as the cobrador shouts out at great speed the place names the bus will be stopping at on its route. There is no limit here as to the number of people you can cram onto a bus. Often the cobrador will be stood on the bottom step, hanging out of the door, passengers squashed together like sardines in a tin.
Traffic signs and signals are more just for decoration here, as drivers make up their own rules of the road, blasting their horns with great frequency. This can mean a number of things, including 'get out of my way!', 'I'm coming through!' or 'watch where you're going!', amongst other things.
Tom and I often eat out for 'almuerzo', a traditional lunch of Peruvian soup, containing pasta or rice, potatoes, meat and chunky vegetables followed by a second course which usually consists of rice as an accompaniment to trucha frita or pollo broaster. This is all washed down with a glass of chicha morada. Many of the local people also eat out for lunch, often we are the only gringoes in the restaurant. These set menus usually cost around S/.5.00, equivalent to approximately £1.20.
After lunch, we sometimes take a walk around Plaza de Armas and the adjoining streets. The plaza is impressive, with a fountain in the middle and beautiful flowers, bordered by buildings made of sillar, the white volcanic stone. Many people sit here on an afternoon, particularly locals, enjoying the sunshine.
On our walk, we pass local people working, their ways of earning money sometimes very different to what we are accustomed to. There are men with old fashioned typewriters, charging people for the service of typing letters for them. Occasionally you see someone with an antiquated set of scales, where people can pay to weigh themselves. There are women selling seeds, so people can feed the many pigeons lurking around the plaza. Others are selling fruit on the pavements by the side of the road.
However there is also a different side to working life here, many people work in shops and banks and restaurants. The mining community is very prominent here, and some of the mine owners are very wealthy, a contrast to the folk making a poor living by selling their wares in the street.
After a large lunch, a walk and the heat of the midday sun, we often find ourselves tired and wander home for a rest. Mid afternoon is prime time for a shower, as the water in our apartment is solar heated, so once the sun goes down so does the water temperature. This is common for a large proportion of properties here.
Arequipa holds a lot of charm, and as we walk under the clear blue sky and feel the hot sun, I feel really glad that of all the places in the world, we chose to come to Arequipa.
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