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Photo of the Day: Lavanderia San Antonio
I took this photo a few days ago when I was walking Lola. It was 8:30 a.m., and I figured that the dry cleaners would be open at that hour but it wasn’t. One of the women who works at the front counter was sitting outside the locked metal doors, waiting for the manager to open. Come back at 9, she said. I use the Lavanderia San Antonio because they do a good job and they’re cheap and the workers are nice. Sometimes dry cleaning people can be unhelpful or sullen, even ornery. I noticed this in the United States, and it’s true in Peru too. Maybe it’s all those toxic chemicals…
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French Fries vs. Choclo and Boiled Potatoes: Why Peruvians Aren’t Fat
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this week about obesity in the United States vs. weight and nutrition in Peru. We’re currently exploring these topics in the conversation class I teach at UPC (see class blog, here), but really, they’ve been on my mind since I moved to Peru from Florida in July 2007. Why is it now normal to be fat in the United States? And why do you rarely see an obese person in Peru? After living here for two years, I know why: We Americans regularly eat fried, processed foods, many of them in huge qualities. In contrast, Peruvians’ regular diet tends to consist of fresh food and dishes made…
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Pres. Obama, Where Is Your Commitment to Climate Change Adaptation?
“There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, if we act now and act internationally” –Lord Stern Spent a few hours this morning at a group meeting with Mr. Robin Gwynn, the U.K’s newly appointed special envoy on climate change for vulnerable countries. He came to Lima with spokesperson Kirsty Lewis of the Hadley Center to talk about Peru, climate change and the U.K.’s commitment to helping threatened countries adapt to the environmental crisis. (The image above shows children in Puno being treated for respiratory illnesses in 2008 when record colds induced by climate change led to a rash of mortalities.) FYI: Peru is one of three…
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California to Die of Thirst Like Coastal Peru?
image courtesy L.A. Times blog Word has been out for a while that dwindling meltwater from Peru’s tropical glaciers will lead to dire water shortages in 40 years unless radical measures are taken to find and conserve new sources. Most of the water used along Peru’s coastal region, including Lima, originates in the glaciers of the Andes, which are receding due to rapid climate change. Climate patterns in the southern hemisphere, however, don’t worry most U.S. citizens, who mistakenly believe that their own lives will be minimally impacted by climate change. Changes are coming sooner than they think. In his first interview, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu is predicting the end of California agriculture and…
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Hard Times for Americans and Peruvians in the U.S.
Some interesting recent posts by bloggers who write about Peru and Peruvians abroad. Hard times in the United States are devastating families there and ratcheting up anti-immigrant sentiment. Rachel in Peru looks at the longstanding Peruvian legal tradition that permits renters to stay in a home or property for up to three years without paying rent before evicting them. Peru’s pro-tenant policy contrasts sharply with eviction laws in the United States, which generally grant a 30-day reprieve, at most, before kicking out tenants on the street. Drawing contrasts between the two legal approaches is timely given the thousands of homeowners in the United States who are being booted out of their homes…
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Hah! An Old Friend Laughes in My Face about Rising Sea Levels
The napkin is my witness: Notes from my Dec. 20 conversation about climate change with reporter Jim DeFede Reporter Jim DeFede and I were office buddies at Miami New Times back in the mid-90s. He sat in his tiny cubicle, digging up dirt on crooked politicians and fending off threats from the angry subjects of his no-holds-barred exposés. I sat a few seats behind DeFede at the copy editing desk, tidying up commas and occasionally contributing a feature story on something offbeat, like full-moon drumming circles on South Beach. We were two very different writers; he was a hard facts, investigative guy who’d risk anything to expose corruption in high places. I was a…
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Quit Spewing Out Greenhouse Gases, America!
That, in short, is my message to the United States. I’m inspired to scream in my headline after watching Al Gore warn the U.S. Senate on Wednesday that the U.S. needs to join the rest of the world in signing a treaty to cut greenhouse emissions. The planet will soon reach a “tipping point” of damage to the climate, Gore told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. (Click here for CNN news brief, Gore Warns of Damage to Climate Change). If the United States — the world’s biggest per-capita producer of greenhouse gases — doesn’t get on board with cutting emissions drastically, the world’s climate will heat up to levels that may not be able…
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10 Facts about Anderson Cooper’s Hair (Plus a Super-Extra Bonus Grooming Link for Guys)
I learn some surprising things managing this blog. Like: Many people spend time online researching men’s haircuts. I think these people are mainly guys looking for a new look, although they could be search-engine-savvy hairstylists hoping to replicate certain cuts in their salon. This blog strayed into Men’s Hairstyles SEO when I posted on El Fotografo’s search for the Anderson Cooper haircut in a Lima salon, a quest that resulted in his getting scalped last month. As my post describes, EF secretly decided to go for The Silver Fox look after misinterpreting a remark I made while watching the CNN “Planet in Peril: Battle Lines” segment on La Oroya. As EF later…
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Overstressed Americans Binge on Junk Food, Drive up Sales, Cheers Snack Food Industry!
The slow-motion collapse of the U.S. economy is harming consumers and businesses across the country — well, almost every business that is. One industry is enjoying big sales gains thanks to the stress experienced by ordinary working people. North American sales of “savory snacks” (potato chips, Cheetos, etc.) by Frito-Lay are up 9% for the third qurater, reports Potato Pro, “your source for all things potato.” Sales rose despite hikes in gas and ingredient prices and lowered earnings for Americans. (Some companies made up for the higher costs by switching to smaller bags.) Potato Pro jefe Paul van Eijck thinks the trend is only going to accelerate. As the U.S. economy worsens, stressed-out Americans will binge…
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A Peruvian Hairless Dog for Obama’s Family? Vote on It!
Here’s an offbeat story from today’s El Comercio that just begged to be translated into English for this blog: “Peruvian Hairless Dog Offered to Obama’s Family” A Peruvian Tenant in the White House? EFE: An offer of a Peruvian hairless dog has been made to the family of Barack Obama, whose daughter Malia suffers from pet allergies. A hairless Peruvian dog will be offered as a pet to the family of the president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama. Claudia Galvez, president of the Association of Friends of Hairless Peruvian Dogs, reported that tomorrow she will send a letter to the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, D.C., to inquire if the new president is…
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What U.S. Citizens Need to Do to Solve the Immigration Crisis
President-elect Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to grant amnesty to the 12 million undocumented aliens living in the United States. Now many wonder if he will live up to that promise. A recent news item from the Andina news agency, summarized by Living in Peru staffers, reports: Peruvians living in the United States hope that America’s next president Barack Obama will grant amnesty for undocumented immigrants, as part of a new immigration policy that would benefit millions of immigrants. ”This would help to legalize the immigration status of some 12 million undocumented aliens living in the United States”, said July Rojas, president of the Consultative Council of Peruvians in New York,…
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Peruvians Returning from Abroad to Live in Peru — the exodus begins
Crowds at LAX, photo by Philip Figures from Peru’s National Statistics Institute (INEI) show that increasing numbers of former expatriate Peruvians are returning to live again in Peru. The immigration numbers from August 2008 alone show a signficant rise in Peruvians choosing to repatriate. About 12.7% more Peruvians (180,000 people) left other countries to return to Peru in August 2008 than did expatriate Peruvians in August 2007. Israel Ruiz, writing for Living in Peru, summarizes the trend: A 12.7 percent increase was registered in the number of Peruvians that returned to the Andean country in August 2008 when compared to the same month in 2007. According to the country’s National Statistics…
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Should Americans Consider Moving to Peru? Part II
By Barbara R. Drake On Sunday I posted Part I of “Should Americans Consider Moving to Peru?” (click here for link). I floated the idea, proposed to me by a Scandinavian expat who’s lived in the United States as well, that because Peru and the United States are so dissimilar, it’s difficult to evaluate which country’s lifestyle is better. In her words, Peru and the United States are “different realities.” A Peruvian in New Jersey comments that he agrees with the Scandinavian expat: “For forty years I have been trying to explain the Peruvian culture to Americans.” He points out that the metaphysician Carlos Castaneda, who wrote the bestseller…
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Should Americans Consider Moving to Peru? Part I
Today my opinion piece “Escaping the U.S. Credit Nightmare” appears in the Sunday Miami Herald, Money section (10/12/08). The teaser reads: “An American who now lives in Peru finds that she no longer must fend off unwanted offers for credit cards and loans,” which highlights one of the unanticipated benefits I gained from our move to Lima last year. That benefit might entice some overwhelmed Americans to consider moving to Peru to experience a reprieve from credit offers or to weather out the economic crisis. I’ve heard from several friends, and a few strangers, that the idea has crossed their minds in the last month. Closing the door on a…
