The Cure for Heartache

It is impossible to feel sad in Lima.

My recommendation: Next time you’re feeling blue, pack an alpaca and head to Peru.

St. (ex)Pat's Day

I spent Wednesday night at Lima’s only Irish pub, predictably called O’Murphy’s. There were at least 100 of people rammed into a space intended for twenty-two. Here’s a few of the 78 extra people I encountered:

A Peruvian nicknamed “El Chino” (every Asian is Peru has this nickname) who claimed he had an Irish grandma. “Okay, Chino everyone can be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.”

The Lead singer of a Cranberries cover band, headlining O’Murphy’s that night. A true Peruvian Punk Rock Girl.

Every I’m-really a-quarter-Irish expat in Lima. These characters are easily identified by the green shirts on their backs, the green beads around their necks, and the green beer in their hands.

A Peruvian anglophile with a Native American tattooed on his arm. He was really disappointed I was from Minnesota. “I have always wanted to meet someone from Tennessee.”

The nice American boy who walked three blocks to buy my sick friend water she could drink

A friendly Ecuadorian tourist, I asked him if it was his first time celebrating St. Patrick’s Day and he asked me, “What’s St. Patrick’s Day?”

In Over My Head?

In Over My Head?

Every Tuesday this semester from the hours of two till four, I believe you will find me sitting attentively in the front of my Economic Development professor.

You may at this point be thinking to yourself, “E(l)mily is not very good at brown-nosing, she’s actually a lot better at sleeping in class.” And you would be right, and that is how the whole mess started.

After arriving late to my first Economic Development of the semester I took a seat on the other side of the room from the professor. The lights in the classroom were out and the overhead projector was on.

Medically, narcolepsy can be triggered by many things, non-medially, I’m pretty sure it can be triggered by overhead projectors. I never had a chance I was nodding off in minutes, despite my best efforts to stay awake.

It was during one such nod, that the professor decided to ask me what country I was from. Well, no surprises here, I didn’t answer his question. So he repeated it. A nice girl sitting in front of me gave me a gentle tap, I jerked awake. The professor changed his question, this time to, “Do you understand Spanish?” “Yes, of course,” I answered. “You just don’t know how to say what country you’re from?” This was embarrassing. Which is worse, admitting I was sleeping on the first day or not understanding Spanish?

Not being able to stomach either alternative, I lied and said I had been very focused on taking notes. The professor asked me to stay after lass to discuss my placement in the class. This was not the positive impression I planned to make. Now, I am stuck playing catch-up. And with the help of my old friend, espresso, I will be the best exchange student PUCP (and Prof. Tello) has ever seen.

Problem of Economic Development Solved

I came to Peru to study economic development in a developing country. The plan was to augment my resume, learn the issues, return to US, and continue studying for years until eventually I knew enough to start fixing third-world economies. That was the plan.

So, just imagine how I felt when I realized I had the solution for all of Peru's economic woes my first week in the capitol.

Here's Peru's fundamental problem (in a nut-shell): Yesterday, I was walking down the street and saw a churro stand.

Mmmm...I love churros, they remind me of elementary school lunches. Hmmm...Why is that the only food PSI could get right? Oooh, you know what would go really well with a churro? An Inca Kola, of course! (This bit here, of course is the profound inner-workings of mind)

So, I went up to the proprietor and offered him a s/.20 bill in exhange for a churro and Peru's gift to the world, Inca Kola. Then he gave me a look that with attitude said, "¿Esperes que te dé cambio por un veinte?" The look was definitely in Spanish. "You want me to give you change for a twenty?"

And gave him a look right back, "Would you rather not have my money?" That was it, he didn't have change and I didn't have a churro.

So now we get to my thesis. How can an economy function when people have too much money to spend? Every day, Peruvians with money to burn are burned by their country's flat-out refusal to mint more 50 centimo-coins. Okay, this is a bit of a conjecture, I don't know that the government won't mint more change. but how else do you explain why everyone wants change and no one has any?

This is a fundamental problem for a developing country, just think of the welfare loss. Think of all the good trades not made, it's an economist's nightmare.

So why has no one seen this before? I don't know, but I can't wait to tell my Development Theory Professor that he should start looking for a new job, because, problem solved: make more coins.

Phantom Llama

I hope you´re all still mulling over the moral complexities discussed in my last blog post. If it gave you something to think about, here is a post that should give you nothing to think about.

Let´s play a game. I say a word and you tell me the first thing that comes to your head.

Ready? Okay, Peru.

Did you say llama? Was the first thing you thought of either a lovable llama or an affable alpaca. For me Peru is synonymous with these furry camelids. I thought I would see at least one everyday.

This, however, is not the case. Llamas are not the least bit ubiquitous in downtown Arequipa. I have yet to see one llama, alpac, or a wild cousin, the ever-elusive vicuña.

But there is hope. This weekend I have been promised llamas- llama hats, llama wool, llama meat, and llamas themselves (I probably won´t eat the llama meat). Colca Canyon, where I will be trekking, is home to these wooly devils, and I can´t wait.

Trust that there will be many photos of me and these magnicifent creatures to come.