Category Archives: Life in Peru

Our life in Cusco, Peru.

Sign said “funky foreign people need not apply”

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I’ve been trying to get a pilot job at a major airline in Peru, my dream-job really. Talked to the screening team today, and while they were exceedingly nice and said they would love to talk to me, they won’t…. Why? the company is only hiring Peruvian nationals at this time, and even though I am a resident of Peru, I can’t get any further in the process until I obtain my Peruvian citizenship, for which I am eligible later this year.

The worst part? The young lady I was speaking to also said they would consider a few applicants from close nationalities such as Spaniards, Colombians or Ecuadorians. Really!!!

Discrimination sucks…

Torrential rains in Cusco

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Lots of news about the flooding and mudslides caused by torrential rains in Cusco. Most of the damage is in or near the Sacred Valley of the Inca, about 20 miles outside of Cusco.

Unfortunately most of the English language media coverage and most of the Peruvian government’s efforts seem to be focused on helping the US and European tourists who were stranded in Machu Picchu, but you don’t see much about the ordinary Peruvians who are affected.

I’m actually in the US for a while. Patricia and the baby are safe in Cusco. Hopefully the rains will subside soon. The city of Cusco has rapidly expanded over the past 20 years or so and far too many houses are built on the sides of the mountains surrounding the city, any mudslides in the city would be a disaster.

More at En Peru and Diario del Cusco

Pais de coca cola

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This morning I paid the “tasa anual” or yearly tax on my carné de extranjería. All in all it took me several hours to accomplish this, getting a current official copy of our “acta de matrimonio”, a bunch of other copies, a “pago” at the Banco de la Nacion, etc.

While I was waiting in line at the Peruvian immigration office this morning, one of the other folks waiting in line said:

“Dicen Peru es el pais de la COCA COLA… Mitad de los Peruanos estan cultivando COCA, y la otra mitad haciendo COLA“

So true…

Meaning, loosely translated, “if Peruvians aren’t growing coca they are somewhere standing in line”. Or you could look at it as the Peruvians in rural areas (the ones chewing coca) work the land and the mines, doing productve stuff, while the folks in the city eat ice cream, write blogs like this one and spend countless hours on inane bureaucracy, doing not much of anything productive 🙂

Cola means “line”, it’s one of the first words you’ll ever learn in Spanish, right up there with mañana and un rato. Although it must be said Peruvians are horrible at making a cola, they are habitually trying to cut in line…

New Year’s resolutions

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First New Year’s Eve with baby… needless to say we’re at home laying low. Perfect time to jot down some New Year’s resolutions. Keep in mind I’ve been sipping hot cocoa with Pisco…

  • Think less and do more.
  • Drink more and worry less – it’s good for my health
  • Speaking of health, join the gym.
  • Visit Arequipa, Moquegua, the selva or Amazon jungle of Peru, and Piura.
  • Be a better teacher, if I teach again.
  • Get a real job… or at least think about it, since I got a “wawa” now.
  • LAST BUT NOT LEAST… be a good dad!!!!

HAPPY 2010 TO ALL!!!

In this great future – part 2

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A while ago I wrote about difficult times in the recent history of Peru, borrowing words from Bob Marley “in this great future, you can’t forget your past…”

The same is true for Belgium, where we are currently spending the holidays with my family. Life wasn’t always easy here either. Take a look at the main square in my town, nice and picturesque in the snow…

Main square in Oostakker, Belgium

Main square in Oostakker, Belgium

There’s a cute gazebo in the middle of the main square, where we were being all touristy…

The gazebo in the main square in Oostakker

The gazebo in the main square in Oostakker

Patricia on the gazebo

Patricia on the gazebo

But take a closer look… the gazebo is built on top of a World War 2 era bombshelter, the red door is the original entrance. When we were kids we’d go inside and play, although it often had standing water inside. It’s not the only bombshelter in town, there are several more scattered around.

Entrance to WW2 era bombshelter

Entrance to WW2 era bombshelter

In Peru there are so many young people that a middle-age white guy like myself is positively ancient, not many people are around with any recollection of World War 2, but in Europe there are still many people who remember WW2. My grandmother used to tell us about how they slept in a home-made shelter they dug in the backyard, my grandfather was in the the Belgian army at the beginning of the war. My other grandparents had a farm and would secretly help people with food when the rations weren’t sufficient.

“in this great future, you can’t forget your past…”

Flying with baby

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We had a very good flight with the baby from Lima, Peru, to Amsterdam yesterday, a 12.5 hour intercontinental flight with a 5-month old baby. So here are a few tips about how to fly with a baby.

First: Tank up before flying, make sure baby’s tummie is good and full. The same thing is true for adults BTW, flying on an empty stomach is a bad idea.

Get a good meal before flying

Get a good meal before flying

You also want to keep the baby awake before the flight (in our case the flight left at 8:35pm), and, stating the obvious, change diaper before you get on the plane.

Second: Pick a fun place to go.

Lima airport departures

Lima airport departures

Look at that screen, are there any of those destinations you wouldn’t want to go to? Iquitos, Arequipa, Tarapoto, all places I want to go. I mean, if you’re possibly going to annoy 200 perfect strangers with a fussy baby, it better be worth it 😉

Third: Get all the necessary supplies to fly with baby. Diapers, bibs, a change of clothes, some extra baby food, paper towels, toys, etc. Brianna was also checking out some new sunglasses at the mall before we left… but we ended up not getting them because they made her look too pituca.

Baby trying out new sunglasses

Baby trying out new sunglasses

Fourth: Pick good seats…

Baby on airplane

Baby on airplane

The best seats for flying with a baby are in the front of the airplane, because there’s less noise and vibration.

And the most important part about flying with a baby: Request a crib!!!

Baby in crib on airplane

Baby in crib on airplane

Baby crib aboard KLM airlines

Baby crib aboard KLM airlines

Before we left, Patricia read online that most airlines carry baby cribs on long flights, which KLM confirmed on its website. We called ahead of time to request a crib, and the baby slept for most of the flight.

How we got our good seats is a story in itself. KLM opened the flight for online checkin 30 hours before departure. We checked out the seating chart beforehand and decided we wanted the first row behind business class, where there is extra legroom and a nearby bathroom. Right when the online checkin opened up I tried to select our favorite seats, but to no avail… No matter how desperately I clicked away on my laptop, I was unable to change my seat from the dreaded 43B (second-to-last row, middle seat). So I called KLM (thank goodness for Skype) and was told that I couldn’t select my seats online because I was traveling with a baby, but that our seats could be changed at the airport. We decided to go early to the airport and when we asked if we could have better seats, the agent told us he had already given us the first 2 seats for baby, 10 H&J. First row behind business class, with extra legroom, space for a baby crib and a nearby bathroom. The exact same seats we tried to select online! Que buena suerte!!!

Other than that, the cabin crew aboard KLM was very nice, Brianna even got her very own KLM bib!!!

UPDATE 12/22: while flying with baby was easy, adjusting to the time difference (6 hours) has been H*LL. Nada de dormir at night, wake her up in the morning and half hour later she falls back asleep. It takes her until 2:00pm-ish to fully wake up, and until 4:00am-ish to finally sleep at night.

HELP: any experience with babies adjusting to a time difference, please let us know!!!