Perusing

After nearly two weeks in Peru I think I have been able to gather enough information to form some sort of report on the place. Peru is a very intriguing place bubbling with life and action.

One of the factors that contributes to the intrigue are the Peruvians themselves. The reality is they don’t know if they are Arthur or Martha. They are kind of Quechua, kind of Inca and they kind of hate the Spanish but yet at the same time most of them technically are at least half Spanish. They have more of a racial identity crisis than Michael Jackson’s face.

Daylight hours also mess with people here. No thought or consideration has been given to adopting daylight savings. The result is broad daylight at 5.30am and darkness at 5:30 pm every night. Sleeping in is certainly out of the question, especially in a tent. If I lived here I would invest in some black out curtains. Having said that even if you managed to keep the light out the racquet of the hundreds of wild dogs would get you anyway.

The Spanish blood is very evident in Peruvians when it comes to their work ethic. This is generalising of course as some Peruvians actually work and even Spaniards like Fernando Torres achieve a lot for noble causes. But for the most part on any given day Peruvians are having some kind of festival, of which I am told there are over 270 per year throughout the country, or they are on strike.

The 1980’s ski jacket is a very popular fashion item here. I had not seen one in real life. Only in really old ski posters, which seem to exist in every travel shop in NZ. Did somebody ban making ski posters after 1988? It is also rather strange to see the local women in the highlands dressed traditionally in their little 16th century Spanish layered dresses which they have not bothered update or in anyway modify to make them slightly more suited to the alpine environment in which they live. They look very quaint though I have say and should someone throw a spare of the moment fancy dress party they would be well prepared.

The food here is reasonable priced and pretty good but we don’t dare eat from the roadside vender/gutter restaurants that the locals seem to have no problem having a crack at. For some reason tonight being out last night we didn’t even opt for local delicacy. We had Chinese for some reason …… we must be getting home sick I guess.