Flickr set is here.

Going to Buenos Aires

I hear the sky is falling back home and around the world (see the Dow that closed at 9,258, right). Things seem fine here. Obama is up in the polls. Word. I do miss actually having a decent idea of what’s going on in the news. At least NPR has a website, eh Grandpa Britt? That way we can listen to what “the enemy is up to.”

At this time tomorrow, I’ll be in the air. My flight leaves Lima at 9:30 at night, connecting through Chile with a 5 hour layover, and I don’t arrive in Buenos Aires until 10:30 the next morning. So, you know, that should pretty awesome. Beats a bus, though.

I also realized last night that I know absolutely nothing about Buenos Aires other than what randoms have told me. No guide book, no knowledge, no nothing. I’m just gonna show up and see what it’s like. Cool, eh?

The Audacity of Hope? (Everybody seems to hate Argentina.)

So, Argentina. On the surface, it actually doesn’t sound particularly promising for a gentleman who enjoys the off-color such as myself. Other travelers have told me Buenos Aires is very European-seeming. Not exactly unbiased Gaby says Argentinians are snobs. She says her ex said the same thing. She told me her friends planned to spend a week there and came back after four days. The Road Junky online travel guide to Argentina says this:

Argentines have a reputation for being the biggest snobs on the continent, but maybe that’s only those from Buenos Aires. … Many Argentines hold a condescending view towards Chileans, Brazilians, Bolivians and Colombians – in short everyone else. They consider themselves different than the ‘indios’ even though most Argentines are of mestizo descent.

The people of Buenos Aires, the porteños, have the highest per capita rate of visits to psychiatrists in the world. There is a major inferiority complex hidden underneath their assertion that Argentina is superior to the rest of the world (and equal to Europe). There is also a strong anti-American sentiment, although people can generally let things lie.

Hm. So there’s that. However, as always, I’ve got faith. I’m sure it’ll be good. Let the naysayers say nay, I say. Besides, people say Americans are brash and loud and arrogant. I’m able to find Americans I like. Hell, I even like Indiana - the first state to turn red come election time. Who can argue with the awesomeness of the Naptown Roller Girls?

Peru Anew, at least for a week.

I’ve had a week back here in Peru and have spent time with Gaby. My vision of being in a sweet apartment obviously did not materialize, but the Home Peru hostel came through just like last time. Like this place a lot. They make me breakfast every morning and clean my room for me.

What’d I do? Bunch of stuff. Here’s some pictures:

We went to a submarine:

We saw the World’s Gayest Star Wars Ride at the grocery store:

We went on a couple walks around central Lima. They included a trip to the meat market where we got a 5 minute explainer from the butcher on how pigs are slaughtered. The guy said they are killed initially by stabbing them in the heart with a hand-held knife. Where you at, PETA?

… And a walk through “El Hueco,” which means “The Hole.” It’s a market built in to the would-be foundation of a high rise building that was started and never finished in Central Lima. They’ve turned it in to a mall of sorts. My favorite part where the endless tiny Chinese radios proudly boasting “1200 Watts” in stickers stuck on the speakers.

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… We went to a typical pet store in central Lima. The animals were packed in to cages and piles up on top of each other. Birds, roosters, hamsters, cats, mice, etc. Here’s video:

Peruvian Pet Store in Central Lima from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.

… We also went to the Peruvian national congress building for a tour:

And, finally, look close at this picture. Do you see that?

Know what that is? That’s the guitar coffin on it’s way up the ramp to the luggage compartment. Best part? It didn’t break. Thanks to the Colombian grocery store that gave me 6 crappy cardboard boxes to use to make a guitar case. Great success!

Here’s the Flickr set for more detail.

See you in Argentina, people.

Now featuring exciting speed chess video! See below.

One of the old guys told me that this alley helped turn out the World Chess Federation Grandmaster, five-time Peruvian national titleholder, reigning Pan-American chess champion Julio Granda. Of course, he added, that’s in addition to other recent Junior World Chess Champions. A couple other guys within earshot quickly piped in to either claim credit for playing against Julio or jokingly claiming to have been his teacher.

Nestled in a pedestrian-only side street off of Parque Kennedy in Lima lies the nightly gathering of about twenty men and the odd woman who come together to play chess for 10 cents a game. It gets started around 9:30 every night and goes till around 1:00 in the morning.

It’s an oasis of awesome and it’s only two blocks from the epicenter of gringo tourists and the unsavory people that try to sell them things in Miraflores. Though you can smell how close they are, the hookers and drug-dealers don’t even bother trolling this street.

There are a few Coke bottle bespectacled odd-balls with weird laughs, fashion-disaster attire, and skittish demeanors. However, the majority of the players are only slightly quirky regular guys who are over 40, just got off work, smoke like chimneys, and, as far as a less-than-casual player can tell, really, really good at chess.

I wish I’d found this weeks ago. It feels like an entirely different world; a random island of strategy and geekery amidst a sea of sin. I’ve been back every night since I randomly happened across it four nights ago during a late night walk.

An interesting mix of different regulars are there every night. I’ve spoken with a forty-something banker who hates his job, a guy that makes his money by drawing caricatures of tourists on the streets, an old German expat who plays “too slow” for most people, and the guy I call “El Jefe de Chess.” (The overweight, balding, Fu Manchu mustached “El Jefe” is the best, as reported by other players.) I’ve only seen two women actually playing; one is a snaggle-toothed Asian chick that everyone seems to like who laughs after every play she makes.

I’m the only American I’ve seen hanging out and I’ve been quite delighted to watch the games pass by. Everyone has also been very welcoming to me, surprised at my Spanish, and I’ve gotten multiple offers to take part in games. Thanks for asking, fellas, but there’s no way I’m gonna try to pretend to roll with you.

Some guys play with the timer and others don’t. The timer games are the most fun to watch. 3 minutes for each player. It’s absurd how quickly they play. The players that are really good have casual conversations with other people while they play timer games. I’ve even seen someone talking on a cell phone while he plays at break-neck speed. Here’s a quick example of one of the timer games.

Check it out:

So thanks, Peruvian chess culture. I’m glad I found you and it was fun to hang out for a few nights. I’m even inspired to brush up on my chess. For now, though, I’ve got an apartment to pack up and a flight to Bogotá to get ready for.

Barring any unexpected kidnappings, my next post should be coming to you from Colombia! Woot.

When I wake up in the mornings and think about leaving Peru in four days, I already miss Lima, my apartment, being a doctor, buying crappy sixty-cent pirate reggaeton mixes at Polvos Azules (see right) and most of all, my friends here. I get the anxious pang in my stomach that comes with unsettling a comfortable situation. Will I ever come back to Peru? Will I see these people again? After living in this apartment for the last month and becoming familiar with my area of Lima, I almost feel like I’m starting my trip all over again by heading to Colombia.

Then I read something on the internet about Colombia and the anxious feelings change to excited anticipation. This recent daily shift in emotions serves as a reminder to me about why I started this trip in the first place, all the people and things I left behind in the States, and the importance of travel and exploration to me at this juncture in my life.

Take today, for example. I felt slightly uneasy as I walked around my apartment this morning and looked at my empty bags, all my things spread out, and the plastic bags of sugar and rice on the shelves in the kitchen. When I’m moving around and staying in hostels, my bags are chocked full, all my worldly belongings are in one disheveled pile on the floor by my bed, and I never buy food in bulk to actually cook with. These simple, soon-to-change observations are marks of more sedentary life.

Then I got an email. I had asked a fellow traveler I met in Arequipa (Simon from Canada) where he was when he changed his Facebook status to say “Simon is a god damn celebrity here.” Incidentally, Simon has one of the better Facebook profile pictures I’ve seen (included on right). He wrote back and said he was in Medellin, Colombia, which I am planning on traveling to. He specifically wrote this:

“haha, that was medellin. And you will be too: tall, blonde hair, general gringoness. You get so much attention, it’s absurd. People will ask to take pictures with you randomly, come up and chat in the street, it’s perfect. Plus girls in bars will give you free salsa lessons. score.”

Naturally, this sounds awesome. It makes me think, “Yeah! That’s right! Colombia! I’m gonna go there. In just four days! I am traveling around the world. What am I worried about? I thrive on upsetting comfortable situations. God-willing and the Creek don’t rise, I can go wherever I want. That is really exciting.”

There are plenty of very good reasons to be comfortable and not move around. Wonderful friends and a killer apartment in a fun city are just a few of them. I would guess they will continue to present themselves as I move on around the world. Giving up the comforts and securities that come with a more stationary life is what I’ve chosen by starting this trip in the first place. I doubt I’ll feel satisfied in the long term, much less ready to be “settled,” until the trip is over.

 
Of course, that begs the question: When will I feel like the trip is actually over? …To be examined.

For now, I’m not gonna lose too much sleep over it.

(Editor’s Note: After writing this, I realized how much I like the phrase “God-willing and the Creek don’t rise.” Naturally, I registered www.godwillingandthecreekdontrise.com. I have no idea what I will do with it. Ideas? Anyone? … Anyone? Beuler? Stiles?)

Really. With a whole mess of drunks, prostitutes, and drug dealers mere minutes from my apartment building, good potential for all manner of interesting observation abounds.

As usual, there’s a set of the latest pictures on Filckr here.

Teeth cleaning? For you? Special price!

The benefits of befriending a dentist whilst traveling continue. I got my teeth cleaned yesterday by none other than Senorita Gaby. She used an ultrasonic cleaner that was new to me. While it seems to have done a good job, it made a sound like slowly murdering puppies or mice in my ear, depending on which tooth she was cleaning.

She also did a cleaning and a couple fillings on her aunt. While I waited for her aunt’s visit to be finished, I sat in the office and thumbed through a library of books in Spanish on orthodontics and dentistry from the late 1960’s. There were some good pictures (see left).

A Case Study in Unnecessary Horn-Honking

I have previously written that, here in Peru, car horns are for using. I’m at a point now where I hardly notice the aural onslaught that emanates from the streets here.

However, here is some video evidence from one combi ride to prove the point. This guy honks at nothing and everything. He honks before pushing the accelerator. He honks when the traffic is stopped. He honks when he passes people on the sidewalk. This is quite normal. Throw a few thousand vehicles on the road all doing the same thing and the chorus of car horns gets loud and constant. As a bonus, this combi even has one of the extra obnoxious horns that plays multiple, rapid tones instead of just one constant sound. The video does not do justice to how loud this horn actually is. Enjoy:

Lima Combi: Unnecessary Horn Honking Case Study from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.

Punk Kids the Same World ‘Round!

While on my morning run, I discovered an impressive public skate park next to the cliff by the ocean. It’s fun to go watch the skaters.

I also enjoyed watching some kids get busted for drawing a giant ejaculating penis with Sharpie on the concrete. Both their attention to detail in drawing and brazenness to the cop was impressive. The penis-drawer actually tried for at least a minute to defend his graffiti by pointing out all the other graffiti. In the end, the Sharpie was put away and the penis remained unfinished.

More Peruvian Gastronomical Glory

Peru is worth visiting just for the food alone. Really. And I say this as someone who generally eats just to not be hungry and usually doesn’t get very excited about food. Almost everything I’ve tried is consistently good. I’ve already written about some of my favorites, but at the behest of a couple loyal readers, here are some new additions to the delicious and cheap smorgasbord that is Peruvian Cuisine.

Ceviche (pictured above and to the right)

This is a citrus-marinated raw fish salad. I like it better than sushi, and I love good sushi. Served with thinly sliced onions and tiny bits of hot rocoto peppers, it’s an absolutely delicious mix of hot and sour and now qualifies as my favorite food in Peru.

Empanadas con Carne

My second-favorite food in Peru. This particular variant is a pastry stuffed with meat. We eat them with some lime juice squeezed in. Delicious. There are all sorts of other kinds as well.

“Lima? What the hell do you want to stay in Lima for so long?”

I commonly heard this (or a more subtle variant of it) in hostels. Lima seems to be little more than the place most people fly in to in Peru before they catch a bus to something else. Most people stay for two or three nights before moving on to something “better.” In hostels, travelers’ initial reaction when I told them I was planning on staying in Lima for a month was, “Why? Why Lima? It’s a giant, cloudy, chilly, and polluted city of 12 million people. Why not go somewhere else and do something cooler?”

I even got an email from an online acquaintance I was potentially going to meet up with in Peru who arrived in Lima before me that said, “Actually, Lima is pretty boring. There’s nothing to do here.” …Really? Boring? I decided then and there that I had no interest in spending time with someone who says that there is “nothing to do” in a city of 12 million people. I haven’t had any contact with the person after reading this email.

It all depends on your outlook. I am traveling because I want to experience and learn more about other cultures. I could sit here and complain that Lima is foggy, polluted, and noisy, but those thoughts rarely even cross my mind, much less actually bother me. Life in Lima is about as “Peruvian” as you can get and I’m glad to soak it up.

I have consistently said that I’d rather spend more time in less places than a bunch of short periods of time in many places. I am able to experience more depth in a culture, actually have time to develop real friendships with people, and I save money on the most expensive part of traveling: getting from Point A to Point B. There’s a quote from 1955 by Claude Levi-Strauss that says “Exploration is not so much a covering of surface distance as a study in depth.” Word. Thanks for the jeans, too, buddy.

Bogota in a Week: “As Innocent as a Nun Farming Cucumbers”

After spending almost two months in Peru, I will fly from Lima to Bogota on Friday, August 8th. That’s one more week here in Lima before moving on to Colombia. I am already looking in to a house I might stay in in Bogota for a month or so.

I’m really excited about Colombia. The general consensus from anyone I’ve spoken with that’s spent time there has been, “Stop what you’re doing right now and go to Colombia.”

My two favorite things I’ve read online about Colombia have been Christopher K’s blog and an article about a guy who fell in love with a female assassin for the FARC (pictured on right).

Christopher’s hilarious blog, which is the source of the nun quote above, caught my attention with the first entry titles I read: “Hunting Cuntbuckets” and “Two-fisted Tales of Douchebaggery.” It’s worth your time to read. I actually read everything he’s written in one sitting. A randomly-chosen quote from one entry:

“But really, fuck’s sake, I need to drink a lot more in a big hurry if I’m going to shut down the proper judgment centers to continue with this. I’m trying to weigh how sexy she is versus how crazy, and how likely she is to stab me in my sleep, and if you want to have an interesting life, you don’t want to make this sort of calculation sober.”

The female assassin love story bit (full article here):

They met on a train and fell in love. Then Jason P Howe discovered that his girlfriend Marylin was leading a secret double life – as an assassin for right-wing death squads in Colombia’s brutal civil war. With their story set to become a major Hollywood film, he recalls an extraordinary, doomed romance…

Sitting naked on the edge of the bed in a cheap, sweltering hotel room in the heart of a war-torn, drug-producing region of Colombia, I lit a cigarette and listened as the girl I had just made love with told me a secret dark enough to shake anyone from their postcoital bliss.

Bring it, Colombia.

Life continues in Lima, Peru. It’s good. The latest Flickr photo gallery is here. Plenty more pictures in the gallery than are included here.

So what have I been up to?

My work as a dentist continues in the schools. I even received my first free anti-inflammatory and analgesic mouthwash sample from a visiting drug company rep!

I have found a path down to the beach from my apartment. It’s only a 10-minute walk and is perfect on a sunny day.

I will be heading to Bogota, Colombia in the second week of August. It think it’s going to feel strange to move away from what has definitely started to feel like home here in Lima.

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg Teach English

When Gaby and I converse, she usually speaks in English and I usually speak in Spanish. We try to correct each other and ask language questions as they arise. It works pretty well. Gaby says one of the best ways she learns is by reading and translating the lyrics to memorable songs.

With this in mind, I have introduced her to a new song to help her learn some more colloquial and informal English, West Coast style:

Ain’t Nothin’ But an English Lesson, Baby from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.

Parades You Wouldn’t See in the States

As July is Peru’s independence month, there are a ton of parades, fireworks, concerts, shows, and other special events all over Lima. My apartment in Miraflores is conveniently located right next to some of the biggest ones. I have been enjoying them. The biggest was an all-day and night event put on by the two largest grocery store chains in Lima: Metro and Wong.

The most surprising-to-an-American part of the parade was the “Negritas”: African caricatures lead by a few white caricatures. See below:

I also enjoyed what was probably one of the best fireworks shows I’ve seen in my life. Here’s some video — I was standing about 5 minutes down the street from the door to my apartment for this:

Fireworks in Parque Kennedy from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.

Breaking News: Peruvian National Health Center Actually Peruvian National Rumor Mill!

I discovered this week while at my work as a visiting dentist that mad rumors are flying around the hallowed halls of the health center. The quick summary of what people think is as follows:

• I am Gaby’s foreigner boyfriend and/or fiancee
• Cesar is Gaby’s lover on the side
• She is playing both of us
• I am coming to work at the health center so often because I want to “check up” on Gaby and Cesar because I suspect a relationship between them
• Gaby is pregnant - possibly with my baby

It’s all like a poorly executed and really funny game of telephone for soap opera lovers. Someone tells a joke, it is accepted as truth, it gets repeated and everyone embellishes a little bit on what they heard. Let’s break it down:

A month ago, before I was here, Gaby refused breakfast one morning. Cesar jokingly said, “Oh, it’s morning sickness.” This was taken as fact and has percolated for the last month.

Several days ago, the doorman asked Cesar to confirm the rumor that I was Gaby’s boyfriend. Rather than helping settle things down, Cesar said, “Of course!” Also taken as fact.

The dental assistant nurse who works in our office was asked if Cesar is Gaby’s lover on the side. She said, “Yes.” Delight ensues as the story gets juicier.

Various people that work at the health center see the three of us having lunch, laughing and smiling together and are both impressed and shocked at Gaby’s brazenness as she spends time with both of her men at the same table.

Of course, no one bothers to ask Gaby if any of this is true. Cesar likes the anarchy of it all and perpetuates the rumors. I find the whole thing to be quite delightful. The three of us have found much amusement in our Soap Opera. I wonder what they’ll all say when I travel on to Colombia? Our conjecture at this point is that everyone will think I’ve left the country because I’ve either found out about about Gaby and Cesar or I’ve discovered she is preggers.

Adventures in Home Cyst Lancing

I have what is either a cyst or a boil on my back. I think it’s a cyst. (That would be my professional medical opinion.) It hurts.

Why should I bother with going to a doctor’s office to lance that pesky intrusion when I can enjoy the experience from the comfort and privacy of my own home!

Short version of a gross story: Last week, Gaby performed the cyst-lancing surgery. It hurt. A lot. Her family apparently has a surgical instrument sterilizing oven at their house (really, who doesn’t in this post 9-11 world?), so she readied various tools of pain and brought them to my apartment to do her work. She even brought some amoxicillin to set the mood!

There was about a half-hour or so of prodding, poking, and pushing with a needle to make various channels for the juice to come out of. I got to the point where my right hand wouldn’t stop shaking from pain when she applied pressure. I actually took it pretty well.

Unfortunately, after all that, the cyst persists. We’re going to have to do the surgery again. Round two will be with the scalpel instead of just the needle. Ay.

How To Ensure a Good Haircut with a Language Barrier:

I needed a haircut, but I wasn’t quite confident in my ability to explain what I wanted in case the barber needed more detail than, “Just a little bit shorter all over.” Solution? Take pictures of pictures on my computer screen and bring the camera to the salon. Worked like a charm.

That’s all for now, folks! I’m off to Polvos Azules (the black market buidling which is home to the Pirate DVD Mother Ship) again to have another look around.

Again, here’s the Flickr set for this post. Stay tuned!

Editor’s Note: Welcome to a new feature on Nathan Shipley Travels The World: The World Citizen Spotlight. Look for more posts in the future with the familiar WCS header for more of the in-depth perspective and analysis you have come to expect from NSTTW about the lives and dreams behind the notable names and faces of our ever-shrinking global village.

Name: Cesar

Age: 39

Nationality: Peruvian

Occupation: Dental Surgeon

Cesar is a gambler and a scoundrel.

He is a fountain of dick jokes. An exhaustive repository of sarcasm and sex slang. A veritable library of the lewd, lascivious, and lustful.

He has little regard for who is around him and might overhear the unsavory things he says. In fact, he likes a good audience.

He rhythmically knocks his chair up against the inside wall of the dentists office when the door is closed to make people passing in the hallway think someone is having sex inside.

Apparently he won $1,200 the last time he went to the casino. He always buys lottery tickets.

He has a gaggle of nurses that follow him around at the Health Center that he refers to as his Fan Club. I think he has a girlfriend in Cuba.

This is a (not exactly family-friendly) video of Cesar explaining the proper way to make love to a woman. He had seriously already been talking for 4 or 5 minutes when it struck me that I should start recording him.

Cesar Explains the Intracies of Love-Making from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.

Who knows where else this could have gone next had someone not knocked on the door.

Never serious, he is a source of both ample amusement and frustration for his co-workers.

Cesar is loyal and a good friend. You have to be quick when the bill comes at lunch if you want to pay and he’s sitting at the same table.

Conclusion: Cesar is awesome.