Last week I went to have lunch at my cleaning lady's house in Caraballyo, a peri-urban town on the outskirts of Lima. Ten years ago hardly anyone lived in these arid hills but now they are lined with colorful mud and brick houses built by migrants from the mountains. Many people who live in this area live in poverty and make less than $100 per month or just over $3/day. I pay her $3/hour which I think it a bargain and after I visited her house and realized how long it took her to get to my house by bus - over a hour and half - I raised her wage to nearly $5/hour! My apartment has an empleada's room with a bathroom and shower and I learned that it's because they don't have showers in the slums.
I'm not sure I can adequately describe their living conditions but basically they live in the Lima slums and they are very poor. They laid some bricks between two other one-story brick houses and left room for a door and moved in. Their walls are the outside of their neighbors' houses. Wall-to-wall is about 8 feet wide. Their front door is a piece of plywood without a handle or lock. They use a piece of bamboo to "lock" it. For the past three years, they did not have a roof over their house but last week they had saved enough money and her husband build a tin roof.
When I arrived, her husband was watching a DVD of a Peruvian band playing traditional music from Cayamarca where they are from. He invited me into the living room/bedroom/kitchen where I sat on one of two twin straw-filled beds with alpaca blankets and watched the music video on a small color TV. Behind the TV was a plywood wall that separated this bedroom, where Lucha's brother and mother sleep, from her "master bedroom" with a full size bed and an armoir with a large mirror. They do not have a bathroom - only a hole out back with a piece of wood covering the hole that you squat over.
Their kitchen table was used to prepare all the food and then wiped off and set right before we ate. There are basically no appliances - no refrigerator, no microwave, no blender, no coffee pot, no dishwasher, no counter space, no cupboards; only appliance is an old gas countertop stove. There are only two electrical outlets in the house and a single light fixture (a single bulb hanging from a wooden beam above the kitchen). They have one large utility sink with a cold water tap. They have two small chickens that peck at the crumbs on the dirt floor and since it is very uneven we used an old newspaper to level the table and chairs before eating.
In total, their house is about 8ft by 40ft mas o menos. It is very simple compared to where I come from or where I live in Lima.
It happened to arrive the day that they were having a "road paving" party for the 1.5 mile of newly paved raod that the government just finished. After a delicious ham served with potatoes and rice (carbs are a very common source of calories for poorer Peruvians and is contributing to obesity, especially among women) we moved the chairs outside to socialize with the neighbors. I was asked if I was Catholic and if I could be the godmother of Lucha's next door neighbor. I didn't know what to say (or if I had understood him correctly).
Luckily, the fiesta was starting in the park so we headed over to join the crowd. We all walked the full 1.5 mile of road, smashing champagne bottles every 200 ft and chanting and singing along with the guy who had the megaphone.
I was very impressed how proud this community was of their new road and despite living in rather poor conditions, everyone looked very clean and well-kept wearing big smiles wherever they went. I also found it rather ironic that they paved a new road yet hardly anyone owns a car. They get around by mototaxis or walking so I guess for now it's just a nice new sidewalk.
Breaking bottles on the new pavement
Lucha on the right with the family from next door.
My 12th visitor
My medical student friend, Bryan Sundin, visited me for a few days before going to Cusco for a 6-week rotation. He came to the hospital with me for a few meetings and we walked around El Centro and had a Cathedral Pisco Sour at the famous Hotel Bolivar. It was grea
Making ceviche at my apartment
Lucha and her husband came to clean my apartment last weekend and offered to make lunch. I had a few friends come over and bought all the ingredients for ceviche - raw fish cooked with the acid from lime juice - mmmmm sooooo good!! It cost 40 soles to feed 10 people delicious ceviche where it's usually 40 soles per plate when you go to a fancy restaurant (and they did all the dishes!) I'd have to invite them over more often!
I could eat it all! NOT!
Choclo (corn), papas (potatoes), and ceviche!
Other activities
We found a bar that actually has real beer and not watered down crappy Peruvian beer. Here is a group of my friends enjoying some good (and expensive) European beer and pizza.
Santiago's birthday
My Spanish teacher, Pierina, has a 5 year old son who specifically requested that I come to his birthday party at Bembos (like Burger King). The kids played in the indoor playground and danced to music. Even the adults were entertained by the magician pulling the rabbit out of a box. The cake was delicious and poor Santiago was very very sad when the party was over.
In addition to my Christmas in Peru, the trip to Caraballyo and Santiago's birthday party were cultural experiences that I'll never forget.
OK, back to work since I have to go to Guayaquil and Puerto Lopez, Ecuador, next week to renew my visa. Chau!
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