"Life in the Fast Lane Is Just How It Seems, Hard and It's Heavy, It's Dirty and Mean"

Though many of you can probably piece together a typical Andrew day in Lima, I thought it might be interesting to chronicle one in detail. This way, you too can live the Peruvian dream! Or is it a nightmare? Stay tuned...

7:30 - Similar to my routine in the States I wake up, brush my teeth, wash my face, and send my brinchera on her way. Just kidding!!! I usually brush my teeth only once a day. Just kidding again, I'm a bi-daily brusher but not a brinchera enthusiast.

7:42 - I walk into the kitchen and assemble my breakfast. The Casona serves a breakfast of fresh-baked rolls, jam, butter, milk, coffee, and tea, and I usually like to have an apple and a cheese sandwich (using said roll). I assemble my meal, brew a fresh cup of instant coffee, and settle in for a leisurely breakfast. I bring my fantasy novel (yes, yes, I know. I'm 25 years old and reading fantasy novels. But I think "Wheel of Time" truly deserves an exception from the typical stigmas around fantasy literature. Think "Lord of the Rings," only about 14 times as long.) though usually Juan or Kike comes by to chat until I have to leave for work. We have some good-natured male bonding (Juan: So Andrew, what did YOU do last night [with a wink and a suggestive gesture]. Andrew: Well, I did a whole lot [with a reply wink and further suggestive gestures]. Juan: What was her name?? [with a big grin and a fist pump]. Andrew: Her name was...wait...what are you talking about? I just watched "The Ex" and ate two liters of D'anafria chocolate ice cream.) and then I depart for my walk to the GEA office.

8:42 - I hear a dog barking at me, so I look around for the offending canine. I don't see him until I look up and realize this dog is guarding a three story house. From the roof. After seeing him on several subsequent days I realized he's not stuck up there, he just likes roofs. And roofs (pun alert!).

8:52 - 20m past the GEA is a small store run by a woman and her mother. They sell basic food items, some fruits and veggies, cookies, soap, etc., and I like to purchase my 2.5l bottle of sparkling water from them. It's pretty much a standing order so I only have to walk in and tap my nose twice. They know the score. S./ 2 later I'm hydration-ready for the work day. By the way, isn't the currency symbol for Nuevos Soles interesting? Definitely not what I expected.

10:03 - Karina, a coworker on the Ecoescuela program, spies my jumbo bottle of water and, duly impressed, asks me how much water I put away every day. I tell her that I try to drink 4l (for reference, she says she barely drinks 1l, and that includes juice, tea, soda, etc. She must feel incredibly dessicated! I don't think Peru encourages good hydration practices, though. For instance, on the bottles of Inca Kola there is a small graphic with an interesting fact about the product. The design of this graphic is similar to the "Smart Choice" thing we see on products in the US which meet certain dietary standards. Yet the fact on the Inca Kola is that drinking the soda will help you get the liquids you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Dropped the ball on that one, Peruvian ministry of health) of water a day but I usually only get to 3 or 3.5 We then return to our respective tasks.

1:04 - I'm starving by this point in the day but I have to accept that lunch is eaten later here. Usually, Susana (my supervisor) will round up some folks from the office and we'll head over to the lady's house, the French hospital, or some other nearby restaurant. Lunches are quite enjoyable because it gives me a good chance to work on my Spanish not in the context of work vocabulary. While I appreciate knowing the Spanish versions of "file," "Excel spreadsheet," and "ethernet cable," I think I'll be able to get more use out of "cheating on her husband," "resisting arrest," and "gastric bypass surgery." Also, the whole "menu" concept is terrific. You pay somewhere between $2-5 and get an appetizer, main course, dessert, drink, and sometimes bread. Menus change every day so you're guaranteed variety, and even the same plates will have differences between days. Namely, on Monday your chicken soup might come with a liver and two feet, and on Thursday it comes with a neck and some skin. I'm a neck guy. We eat for about an hour and then head back to the office.

6:01 - Time to head home for the day. The walk back home is interesting because Barranco only really comes alive after dark. Lots of the restaurants, bars, and stores in the area are closed in the morning, so it's fun to see a different side to the district. I'll stop at the Metro (really more of an Albertson's than a Vons/Safeway) and pick up some snacks, breakfast foods, and stuff for dinner. The Metro is unique because you have to get your produce weighed in the produce section before proceeding to the cashier. Also, they have no peanut butter. I'll forgive that omission because they DO have a giant plastic bin shaped like a corn cob. If that weren't exciting enough, the bin contains steamed corn cobs (soaked in a mixture of water, sugar, lime, and anise. It's a very diluted mixture so the flavor of the corn is not overly masked, but rather complimented.) which you can purchase as a fun and portable snack. And I love the corn here. Great texture, huge kernels, and the kernel skin doesn't stick in your teeth. No wonder the country has such an inconsistent flossing record. They don't need to floss!

6:35 - Hit the gym! I am becoming better known at the gym, and people will often offer me a spot, ask to share equipment, or guess my height and weight. One time, the owner Oscar guessed my height based on how I appeared relative to an Argentinian soccer player. He guessed 1.86m. Nice try Oscar, but I don't appreciate being shorted 5 hard earned cm. After finishing my routine I wash my hands because some (read: all) of the equipment has a healthy (read: toxic and dirty) coating of rust (read: asbestos and used hypodermic needles). Just kidding, sort of. There is a lot of rust, though.

8:00 - Fix me up some dinner. I like to keep it simple, so I just make some sandwiches with ham, spinach, Edam cheese, aji sauce, and avocado. After finishing that I will typically go chat with some of the other guests in the Casona or maybe Juan/Kike. If I'm "in the mood," I might crack open a cold one (Cusquena, Pilsner, Cristal, in order of preference, though they all taste really really similar) and see where the night takes me.

11:11 - First I make a wish (not sure if everything is familiar with that practice, but I'll throw it out there anyways), and then take a shower and hit the hay. A healthy dose of "The Wheel of Time" calms and soothes after a busy day, and I'm out by 11:45.

I left out a lot of the content of my day, both because it would take a really long time to write and because each day has a lot of variance. If some of you think it sounds like what my days were like in the US, you're right. I am often a man of habit, but being in foreign city with a different culture definitely adds some much needed flair to the routine. And as many of you know, I am one who loves his flair.