Thursday, May 28, 2009

I'm just a big dumb tourist

My second day in Lima I had a brief orientation with one of my volunteer supervisors. She told me to beware of pickpocketers and swindlers looking to take advantage of confused/goofy looking tourists. 

Well, apparently I wasn't paying close enough attention. Yesterday I went out to explore Chiclayo, the city where I will be working. There were hundreds of vendors and little stores, markets, etc. A young boy approached me and insisted that he clean my shoes on his little shoe-shining box. I went ahead and let him clean my shoes, and after cleaning the first one he handed me his "price list," which conveniently showed that the service I was receiving was the most expensive: 22 soles, or about $7.30. I rolled my eyes and told him it was too much, but in the end didn't put up much of a fight. When he was done I told him I needed change, and when he brought me his change he told me that it was 22 soles for EACH SHOE. I protested but he just handed me my changed and quickly walked away. $15 dollars for a 3 minute shoe wash is not a good deal. I was angry at myself the rest of the day for being taken for a big dumb tourist, and not putting my foot down (literally) when this kid tried to charge me too much. 

Monday, May 25, 2009

El viaje a PerĂº

I'm sitting in the Bogota Colombia airport, waiting for my flight to Lima. The flight from Houston to Bogota was long, and we got in at 4:25 in the morning. Since arriving I've been patted down twice, been pulled aside twice to have my bag searched, been sniffed by a pair of drug dogs, and practically robbed by a guy who asked for a tip after "helping" me find my terminal. ("Even though you could have done this yourself, since I brought you here you should give me money now.") A few other observations:

-In the States when you buy a mystery pastry, you expect that it will be filled by delicious sugary cream, compote, jam, etc. In Colombia when you buy a mystery pastry, it might be filled with mystery meat and vegetables. 

-I bought a Spanish basketball magazine in the airport bookstore here, only to find that it's from last November. The fold out poster is of Allen Iverson in his Nuggets jersey. How times have changed.