Some Preliminary Lessons

I slept in a bit later than I would have liked, but the television here is fascinating. First, there are about 5 American movies showing at any one time. They are subtitled (rather than dubbed) and they are all your favorites from the late 80's and early 90's. Hard to pass up 'Kindergarten Cop' followed by 'Batman & Robin.' Second, a lot of the channels have infomercials for products that are almost identical to products we see in the US. The differences are really interesting though. Remember those belts that send an electrical current through your abs, supposedly stimulating muscle growth? How about multiple belts for all over your body that can be worn simultaneously? Yeah, I was as intrigued as your are. Third, there is sports coverage of all your favorites, but they also cover fun outliers like junior rugby. Bottom line: it's hard to put the remote down.

Anyhow, I met up with Melissa from Grupo GEA (pronounced 'hay-uh') who showed me a nice little one bedroom in a hotel in Barranco (the nice bohemian district which has not been overrun with tourists like Miraflores). I liked the place a lot. It was a fun location, safe, and would provide many of the amenities of hotels. For me that's a big plus because I don't have furniture. We're going to check out a few places tomorrow after work, but I'm satisfied with the first place.

After apartment investigating, Melissa had planned to meet her friends at a cultural dance show. She asked if I was busy, and of course I am entirely not busy, so I tagged along. The show was in a cultural center's courtyard, and the best way to describe it would be a cross between Cirque du Soleil and interpretive dance. I didn't really get the message (nor have I ever been able to with interpretive dance), but the music was great and I felt very hip being there. Hipness is not really my strong suit, so score one for Andrew. Afterward she introduced me to one of her friends. Observing proper American etiquette I went in for the fist pound. Unfortunately, she leaned her head in for a side kiss thing. Painfully awkward. Now I know that the proper greeting for friends, unless it's two guys, is a single kiss on the side of the face with a light hug. That's not all I learned today. Lima air pollution standards are not the greatest. Most dogs here wear sweaters. You can buy water in 7 liter jugs, and sparkling water is much more prevalent. It's very foggy here. I think that covers today's learnings.

Thanks for reading!