Life in Lima

Working in the Scripture Union office in Lima, I've finally had the opportunity to do something within my comfort zone. Although shoveling concrete is tons of fun, I'm a little more useful with a keyboard in my hand than a shovel.

Lima is not too different than other cities that I've visited. It's a bit intimidating at first because every home has some kind of wall or fence around it for security, and you'll find security guards outside most expensive homes. The homes and apartments are also interesting because they never really stop building them. You'll notice that most of the buildings have rebar sticking out the roof because some day when the owner has more money or needs more living space, he'll build another floor.

There aren't really any traffic laws, so you have to be careful as a pedestrian. The buses and cars choke the main drags with smog, which is tough during the morning and afternoon commute, but I'm beginning to get used to it. My second day going to the office the main road was closed, and I didn't know quite where to go when I got off the bus. I wandered around for a couple hours, and with the help of some traffic cops, I eventually made my way to my destination. I guess I have to realize that getting lost really is the best way to get to know my way around the city.

SU hooked me up with a room in the apartment of a nice Christian lady named Isabel. Isabel speaks about as much English as I do Spanish, so we can communicate, but it's tough to really have a conversation. Hopefully this will change as my Spanish improves. Here's Isabel and Chiquita on the roof of her apartment.

Getting to the office is an easy 15 or 20 minute bus ride down the main drag, Avenida Arequipa. The bus costs about $0.30 each way. The internet cafes, which serve as my only real entertainment besides my books, are $0.30 per hour. Food is pretty cheap here too. You can grab lunch for $2 or $3 or get a really nice meal for $5. I'm hoping I'll be able to live well under my budget so I'll be able to make a nice contribution to SU every month.

As far as work in the office goes, they haven't had a ton for me to work on so far, but I have been able to make a few helpful Excel tools for managing the various income generating businesses. Much like when coming on to a new consulting project, I have a bit of down time as they figure out how to fit me in. Hopefully now that they know a bit of what I can do, they'll be able to give me some more work this week.

Last night I had the opportunity to do something I had wanted to do since I arrived - go out into the streets at night to see where the boys in the homes come from. Every Tuesday and Thursday a few people from SU go out around 11 pm and give away bread and milk to the street kids. They try to engage the kids - get to know them, gain their trust (which is extremely difficult), and get them to come to the SU home in Lima instead of living on the street. Last night the group consisted of Juan, who works with the boys as sort of a house father, 3 young men who grew up in the home in Lima, intern Billy, and myself. It was really encouraging to see that the 3 guys who once lived in the street go back out to try to help the kids there. It must be incredibly difficult for them to go back to a place that holds such terrible memories.

It was good to see that the SU guys knew a lot of the kids who came out, that they legitimately cared about them, and that the kids really needed the food. It was tough to see the infants out on the street with their mothers, and I don't know if anyone could ever get used to the site of a 12 year old boy, drunk and high, stumbling around with the food we gave him.

Even though I won't have Billy with me to translate on Thursday, I think I'm going to go with them again.

And mom, it's very safe. The kids are young and they know the SU folks.