Day 1 in Peru

In October of 2014, I arrived in Peru’s capital city, Lima. I had now begun the first day in my 3 day trip into the South American nation. First once I was officially in the city, I met the father of the house I was staying in for lunch, Carlos Jose. Jose was a 28 year-old fisherman who got married just two months prior to me meeting him. Fishing, along with mining, are among the most popular jobs in the country and the largest sources of money for the country, altogether. At this restaurant, we ate food that was native to Peru, and this excited me, for I was already embracing true culture of Peru. We were soon served a delicious combination of chicken, fish, tomatoes, potatoes, and rice. After getting to know Carlos for quite some time, he drove me to his home that was also in urban Peru. He and his wife lived in a fairly nice apartment building in the city, as Carlos was a middle class citizen. In the car, Carlos discussed how much he enjoyed living in Lima, yet he expressed his disdain for the way the city is growing much too fast and becoming very overcrowded. Along with his fishing job, Carlos works as an editor for a popular newspaper in Lima called the Ojo to make extra money. Although, there is freedom of press in Peru, there is still a very large amount of government censorship on what the general public sees. At times, this aggravates employees, as they constantly have to watch what they write. When we arrived at Carlos’ apartment, I greeted his wife and had a few conversations about Peru’s culture. As she often earns money for creating clothing, she was able to give me an insight on the types of clothing citizens wear. She informed me that most clothing worn by people in Peru is of a western style, but also includes attire that is native to areas near the Andes, like hats, ponchos, skirts, belts, and other pieces. After a night of relaxing and speaking with Carlos and his wife, we had a dinner of fish and potatoes. Shortly after, I went to sleep in their small extra bedroom, ready for another great day in Peru.