Things are looking up in La Raya

On October 18^th we wrote about the village of La Raya and the plight of Luzmila Valdera and her daughters. It was our hope that we could raise $1500 to build a house for her. We didn’t come close to that amount but, as it usually seems to happen, things worked out in the end. A local church group agreed to shore up the mud/cane walls of the house and replaced the roof with new galvanized metal. There are still some walls waiting for repair but rain no longer enters the house. With the reinforced walls the house should serve for a few more years.

We visited La Raya today to give the money and clothing we’d received to Luzmila. When we arrived Luzmila was not in the house but a few minutes later she and other workers who had been harvesting rice in nearby rice paddies returned to the village for the noon meal. Luzmila and her 9 year old daughter Ruth work in the rice paddies while 7 year old Romelia stays home to take care of 2 year old Ariana.

With the basic requirement for shelter taken care of we were able to help with other needs, and here I’d like to say a bit about the help we receive from fellow Chiclayanos. The people who help us are not wealthy. They have little themselves but do what they can to assist the very poor. For example Herlinda, who accompanied us today (on the right) was able to contribute a bag of rice and a blouse and skirt for Luzmila. And Herlinda knew of several other women who had an item or two of serviceable clothing. Maribel’s sister Magali contributed a few clothing items for the girls and shoes for Luzmila. One item from this person; another from someone else and before long these modest donations added up to three large bags of much needed clothing…a literal bonanza for this family. We very much appreciate the time, effort and items given from the heart by these people.

The furniture in the house consists of two tables and two bed frames. Thanks to Marco, Jim and others we were able to present Luzmila with $210. She indicated that she will purchase mattresses for the beds and stools so they finally have something to sit on. And there will be some money remaining for other needs. Another example where several modest donations added up to improved quality of life for a family with next to nothing.

And thanks to Lander, Victor, Carmen and several others we were able to present a substantial amount of needed medicines to Doctor Corrales at the medical clinic. We didn’t have the vitamins she indicated were needed during our first visit, but all in all we didn’t do badly.

We would like to give Doctor Corrales the vitamins she asked for, and we would like to help Luzmila with school uniforms and supplies for her daughters Ruth and Romelia. If you’d like to help us do that please visit the Promesa Peru web page to donate.

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Readers may remember that last March we wrote of Edith Fuentes and her difficulties. We’re still occasionally in touch with her. Her circumstances remain pretty much the same. Last December there was another hearing regarding possible work release for her husband. Two members of a three-judge panel voted no so he remains in prison. Edith’s attitude is good and she continues to keep her chin up while hoping and believing that tomorrow will be better. There’s always hope.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague has ruled….

…and Peru has triumphed….sort of. The dispute between Peru and Chile involves territorial Pacific Ocean fishing rights. What the court did was issue a surprising compromise verdict. Peru has more water than it had, but less than was expected. Chile has less water than it had but more than expected. This Reuters article presents a good background on the issues involved.  Most observers had expected a ruling totally in Peru’s favor. The Chilean government had announced that it was prepared to offer its fishing industry compensation for lost fishing grounds.

Peruvian news media are at the moment attempting to put a positive spin on the verdict, but early reactions from Chiclayanos are not so positive. They wanted nothing less than total victory over their old enemy. Intellectually Chiclayanos know that Chile’s and Peru’s economies are tightly linked, and that Chilean investment in Peru amounts to many billions of dollars, but emotionally the resentment against Chile dating to the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) still exists among the old and young.

Last year in Chiclayo’s city hall there was a photo exhibition of Chiclayo’s history. One of the photos showed Chilean solders in the city…a fact most Chiclayanos are not aware of (Chilean forces were also in Paita, Chimbote and Lambayeque). Facial and vocal expressions of attendees in reaction to that photo were deeply and strongly emotional. Maribel’s comment…”The _ _ _ _ _ were in Chiclayo!!” was representative.

Ask a Chiclayano why they still resent Chile over a war fought 130 years ago and the answers generally are that “they took our land” and “they took our boat.” Peru did lose a large chunk of territory as a result of that war, but perhaps the most visible reminder of defeat is the ship Huàscar located in the port of Talcahuano and open to the public as a museum. Chiclayanos regard the ship with reverence as the place where their most beloved war hero, Admiral Miguel Grau was killed in battle. Peruvians view the refusal to return the ship and using it as a Chilean museum as a deliberate insult.

It will take some time (if ever) to implement The Hague’s ruling. It will be interesting to see reactions over the next few weeks, and what if any problems result from the implementation.

Escaping the Heat in Chiclayo

Looking for relief on a hot Chiclayo summer day usually means water in the form of a pool or beach. Chiclayo has some public and private pools, but typically families leave the city for a short ride to one of the beaches in Pimentel, San Jose, Santa Rosa or Puerto Eten. Another option is the water parks near Chiclayo. El Mirador is popular as is AquaPark which we recently visited for the first time.

The park is located a short distance off the Pan American highway and unless you know where it is it would be easy miss it. Once at the park the entrance is plain and unimposing, giving no hint of the spacious and impressive facility inside.

There are two well-maintained pools with just about every type of slide imaginable including the towering toboggan. The kids and some adults enjoyed standing under three huge bucket that dumped their contents at about three minute intervals. The pools are not deep and we saw lifeguards constantly patrolling the perimeters. The clothing/swimsuit changing areas and restrooms are spacious and clean. Beside the pools there is a children’s playground, several soccer fields with artificial turf, and plenty of room to stroll around in.

Sometimes all this activity can wear a person out and there comes a time when young and old alike need to take a break.

For those not inclined to enter the pools there is seating for literally hundreds of people in poolside lounge chairs and at benches and tables under thatched umbrellas (even with the large seating capacity I suspect that on Saturday and Sunday it could be a problem to find a vacant table). Relaxing on one of those chairs or benches with a favorite beverage while people watching or perhaps reading a book strikes me as a great way to spend a hot lazy afternoon. There was a constant breeze which made the temperature bearable even in the afternoon heat.

Surprisingly, carry-in food and beverages is not prohibited. In fact the majority of families we saw (ours included) brought their food with them including plates, glasses, utensils and large pot and pans filled with still warm meals. Food and snacks are available at the park and are ordered at and delivered to your table. Typical dishes on the menu are chicharron, lomo saltado and ceviche. Prices are reasonable…my chicharron de pollo including fries and salad cost $4.30. Beer (Cristal) and pop are available.

AquaPark has no lighting and closes at 6:00pm; something that puzzles me. It seems to me that the facility with lighting and music would be a huge draw for the younger crowd at night, but Peruvians seldom miss a business opportunity so I assume there is a good reason for not going that route. The park opens at 10:00am 365 days. The entrance fee for ages 6 to 65 is $3.60 and is free for those outside those ages.

Cusco and the Sacred Valley

If I had written this post immediately upon returning to Chiclayo I would have been tempted to begin by saying that what I liked best about Cusco was leaving it. Four days of cold temperatures, wind and intermittent rain ranging from drizzle to downpour is not the ideal setting in which to appreciate the fabled Inca city and surrounding attractions. A hotel room without heat and a 50-50 chance of a hot water shower didn’t help. And there’s the altitude to deal with. The altitude issue made its presence known shortly after we checked into the hotel and noticed that our lips had turned purple, and the wrappers of vacuum packed cereal bars we had brought with us had expanded like balloons. The altitude is not debilitating and didn’t restrict us in any way, but heavy breathing became a way of life during our four-day visit. Chewing coca leaves didn’t relieve the problem but perhaps they prevented it from getting worse. At least that’s what the natives claim. I was surprised that I had an easier time prowling Machu Picchu than walking the streets of Cusco until I learned that I’d had a misconception…Cusco at 11,000 feet is actually 3,000 feet higher than Machu Picchu. I thought the opposite was true. But those things aside, and now that the three of us have recovered from the severe head colds we’d contracted in Cusco, in reflection it was a good trip. Maribel had done some quick but thorough planning and we saw and were impressed by everything we intended to see.

What follows is a synopsis of what we did, and in some cases what we’d do differently if we returned, but first let’s talk about when to visit Cusco. Don’t go in December. We went in December as a spare-of-the-moment thing to take advantage of Brian’s university vacation. Though temperatures are pretty much constant year round, November through April is the rainy season. Listening to a guide talk about the Temple of the Sun in the ruins of Machu Picchu during a downpour with your shoes soaked and the wind blowing yours or someone else’s poncho over your face is not fun. Enough about that.

We had contracted an agent in advance to arrange tours; one recommended to us by friends who had been to Cusco recently. There are essentially three standard tours – the City tour, the Sacred Valley tour, and Machu Picchu tour, and there are dozens of tour services who offer them. We paid $310 for the three of us for all three tours which was pretty much all inclusive and delivered the services that had been promised. Still, this is something I would do differently. I would not contract in advance, but instead would negotiate with the dozens of tours operators who are constantly approaching tourists in the principal park. I would do this for more flexibility in dates and for a better price. The tourist police station will furnish a list of who they consider to be reputable tour operators, and will also provide a good map of the city with attractions. 

In the afternoon on the day of our arrival we checked out the principal park and surrounding area. Central Cusco is impressive. It’s so easy with just a little imagination to step back into the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and envision the historical events I’d read about. We had dinner at Papillon restaurant overlooking the square and then attended a presentation of native dance and clothing at the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo.

Our first full day found us taking the Sacred Valley tour. The tour began at 8.30 a.m. when we were picked up at our hotel and finished at 7.30 p.m. at San Francisco plaza. What better way to celebrate my 73^rd birthday than by exploring the ruins of Ollantaytambo; an Inca site ranked second in grandeur only to Machu Picchu. In some ways I was more impressed by these ruins than with Machu Picchu, though that may be because the sun was shining and they were the first Inca ruins I’d seen. In addition to Ollantaytambo the Sacred Valley tour included Pisac, a delicious buffet lunch at Urubamba, and finished at the village of Chinchero. We had planned on going to the Uchu restaurant that evening for alpaca steak, but the altitude and exertion had taken its toll on us so we reluctantly settled for carry-out chicken eaten in our room.

Day two was the City tour, beginning at 2:00pm and finishing at 7:00pm. I don’t know why it’s called the city tour…it’s all about Inca ruins and includes only one site actually in the city (Coricancha) with the others: Qenko, Puca Pucara, Tambomachay and Sacsayhuaman located a short distance outside of Cusco. We used the morning hours prior to the tour to explore the city. That was not enough time…we should have allowed another day for our visit. The churches and museums have limited morning and afternoon hours, and it’s difficult to coordinate their open hours with limited time. The Inka Museum is impressive and should not be missed. The San Blass square and souvenir shops are worth checking out, though I can do without the lamb-carrying women in native costumes constantly badgering me to have my photo taken with them. Street vendors in Cusco, the surrounding towns and archeological sites are very aggressive, some of them obnoxiously so. I don’t like having my arms touched or grabbed.

The final tour on our final day was of Machu Picchu. Even now I’m not sure how to begin describing that day because it still remains somewhat blurry in my mind, perhaps because the day began at 1:00am. Let’s begin with getting to Machu Picchu. I don’t know what all of the possible travel options are to Machu Picchu. I believe that most if not all travel arrangements involve a train/bus combination. What I can say with authority is that trains do not leave from Cusco. They stopped doing that in 2010. If your guide book says differently, you have an old guide book. There are train stations in Cusco. You can buy train tickets at those stations, but trains do not leave from those stations. It is my understanding that tourist trains leave from Poroy; about ten miles outside of Cusco and from other Sacred Valley locations, including among others Ollantaytambo. They depart at various times during the day. Depending on amenities the cost ranges from about $70 to $300 round trip. All trains arrive at Aquas Calientes – also known as Machu Picchu Village, which can lead to confusion. The tourist train is definitely the preferred way to travel. We did not do that.

PERURAIL, who has the tourist trains, also runs a train strictly for Peruvian citizens. The cost is $7.30 round trip; certainly an attractive price. The downside is that it is barebones service and leaves only from Ollantaytambo at 4:27am. Maribel, bless her penny-pinching Peruvian soul had booked us on this train. Which is why we had to get up at 1:00am in order to be ready for pick-up at our hotel at 2:00am for the two-hour mini bus ride from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. More than once while waiting in the station I wondered if Machu Picchu would be worth the effort. But at last the train departed and we arrived at Aquas Calientes. 

Here, whether you arrived by plush tourist train or Peruvian peasant train the gods treat everyone equally. Upon leaving the train what you do; assuming you have booked a group tour is mill about in the considerable crowd, looking for someone with a banner (indicating they are a tour guide) and carrying a sign with your name among others on it. Somehow everyone ultimately finds their tour group and then marches off to wait for the next available bus making the twenty minute trip to the Machu Picchu archeological site. A ticket must be shown or bought to enter the site. Once inside, the guide assembles the group, making sure everyone is present and then the tour begins.

What happens is that the guide marches the group from point A to point B, stopping at each point to describe something significant. There are generally considered to be fourteen points of interest at Machu Picchu. Often several groups have stopped at the same location, making it difficult to concentrate on what the guide is saying, and when the groups are moving competition for space on the narrow paths slows things down, as does the rain by making the steps slippery. I can’t help but look at this photo and think that these people look more like ship wreck survivors than carefree tourists. Granted, we and they hit a bad day.

I am sure the vast majority of visitors have a pleasant experience. And we did enjoy it, and Brian and Maribel are still talking about the ancestral pride they felt walking on that hallowed ground. Machu Picchu is all that has been written about it and more. But there is something I would do differently which for me would enhance the experience. I would hire a personal guide at the entrance rather than taking a group tour. There are many registered guides available at reasonable rates and bilingual as well. I would tell the guide I don’t want to march from point to point, but instead want to leisurely walk through the entire site and have the guide comment on points of interest and answer questions. In other words, I want the guide to accompany me, not vice versa.

Everyone who visits Machu Picchu wants to take the ‘classic’ photo…the shot that is so recognizable worldwide. We along with about thirty other people crowded into a reconstructed Inca house on a high peak hoping that the weather would clear, at least long enough to take the photo. People from England, Scotland and Iran were standing next to us, patiently waiting. Finally after nearly two hours there was a break and all of us hurriedly stepped out and started taking photos. This is mine. Shortly afterwards the sky clouded over again and we boarded the bus in a downpour. The train and bus ride back to Cusco was uneventful.

The next day we were at the airport at 6:00am for our flight to Lima, where we had ten hours to kill before the flight to Chiclayo. We spent the day touring a museum and walking around the Larcomar Mall and Love Park. It felt good to see the sun and be warm again.

Happy New Year everyone!

If at First You Don’t Succeed…..

This post is a continuation of our last post concerning a neighborhood mystery, but more than that it presents a segment of life dealing with the judicial system, attitudes and behaviors in Peru that the passing tourist would be oblivious to. If you’re going to continue reading this post you really need to go back to the previous post first to make sense of this one. Go ahead…we’ll wait.

It’s Wednesday morning; the day after the walls came down for the second time and once again neighborhood opinion is divided as to what will happen next. Will there be a third attempt to erect walls? We still don’t know which of the litigants is paying for the work. It could be the old man, the new buyer or the ‘real’ owner. The answer regarding what’s next was not long in coming.

At 8:00am this morning a dump truck pulled up and a different work crew began clean-up of the crumbled walls. Shortly after the truck arrived a second vehicle dropped off rebar and wood planks used to construct forms. There will indeed be a third attempt to build another wall; only this time no bricks…they’re going to pour concrete! Ya gotta admire the tenaciousness of whoever is doing this. He/she is spending a lot of money to erect walls around vacant lots. But maybe this is no longer about property. Maybe it’s about two opposing wills – one who says THERE WILL BE  WALLS!, and one who says THERE WILL NOT!

Would this drama be happening if the judge had rendered his verdict? Probably not but who knows? A more interesting question is what are the people who destroyed the brick walls thinking right now? There is no doubt they already know what is taking place on these lots. Will they attempt to demolish steel-reinforced concrete walls? Or perhaps they have already devised a completely differently strategy that will shock and amaze us with its creativity. Stay tuned!

And the Walls Came Tumbling Down…Again!

This isn’t Jericho and there are no indications that Joshua or ram’s horns were involved but one thing is certain – last night between 12:30am and 7:00am this morning the walls did indeed come tumbling down. And not for the first time. But let me start at the beginning.

I’ve written several posts recently about new housing construction in Chiclayo. In conjunction with that activity is the buying, selling and leasing of existing housing. ‘For sale’ and ‘for rent’ signs in windows are a common sight these days. This is a fairly recent phenomenon. It used to be that if you were looking for a home or apartment, word of mouth is how you found it. Realtors do exist in Chiclayo but they are not nearly as visible as those in the USA, nor do Chiclayanos utilize their services, viewing a middle-man as money spent for nothing.

Occasionally a ‘for sale’ sign will include this verbiage – ‘this property is in litigation.’ That could mean that there are back taxes owed or there is some other problem with the city, but more likely it means that the property ownership is in dispute.  Such is the case with a property in our neighborhood.

The most common version of the story circulating is that an old man who does not own the property but through some shenanigan managed to get his name registered as the owner sold the property to an unsuspecting buyer. When the new owner attempted to physically secure the property the real owner found out and filed suit. A judge arrived at a decision and appointed a specific day to announce his verdict.  In situations like this it is customary for the judge to announce his decision at the site of the dispute with all interested parties present, including a number of police to protect the judge in the event that the loser takes violent exception to the verdict.

One morning several months ago the litigants assembled outside the property. These things tend to take on a festive atmosphere and a crowd of neighbors, mototaxi drivers and others had assembled, along with street vendors hoping to take advantage of the situation. Several hours later the crowd dispersed after word was received that the judge had postponed his decision indefinitely because of a missing document.

Last week one of the parties – we don’t know who, had two brick walls constructed to close off the property which consists of three lots. The middle lot has a small unoccupied house on it so the walls were constructed on the two outside lots to match the height of the house. A two-man crew accomplished the work in one day. That night a person or persons unknown demolished the walls, providing a topic of much conversation the next day. Neighbors could not agree on who might have done it, with opinions ranging from one of the litigants to a random act of vandalism to the work crew itself hoping for another payday. The crew did return the next day and rebuilt the walls. Two days later the walls were painted yellow to match the house. We assumed that was the end of that issue.

This is the sight that greeted our neighborhood this morning. The house is standing; the walls are not. No one saw or heard anything. Not even a ram’s horn. 

No Signs of an Economic Slowdown in Chiclayo

Recent financial figures indicate that the impressive growth Peru has experienced over the past six or more years is starting to decline. For the fifth consecutive month Peru’s growth has been under 5%. The numbers are still respectable but are not the heady 8 – 10% seen in the recent past. In fact this last Monday the Peruvian government sold $230 million US dollars in an effort to prop up the Nuevo sole which has gone from a ratio of 2.55 to the dollar some months ago to the present 2.8. Should this downward trend continue it would be expected that consumer spending and new construction would show signs of slowing but that hasn’t happened yet in Chiclayo. Casual observation indicates a flourishing economy.

Probably the most visible sign of continuing growth is the construction taking place at Chiclayo’s Real Plaza Mall, which opened its doors just eight years ago in 2005. Last year Promart; a home improvement center became Real Plaza’s latest tenant and above it was constructed a six-level parking ramp. At the time many people questioned the need for such a large parking facility, until recently when the outside parking area was cordoned off and construction began that will double the available retail space of the mall. And while that construction is going on the food court has seen the addition of Chili’s restaurant, with a Popeyes restaurant soon to follow. And Pardo’s Chicken, one of the original restaurants in the food court has temporarily closed to remodel and expand.

But it’s not just retail construction taking place. This recently completed condo is one of dozens that are in various stages of construction in a relatively small area of the city, and it seems that every day new signs are appearing on vacant lots indicating that another four to five floor condo will soon be ready for occupancy. And many owners of existing housing are remodeling and expanding upward.

This salon and spa complex is one of several to open recently in Chiclayo featuring 20+ chairs, uniformed staff and multiple rooms for various treatments. Obviously beauty shops have existed in Chiclayo for some time, but they are much smaller and ‘rustic’ in their furnishings and equipment.

The Garza Hotel, previously one of Chiclayo’s ‘big four’ hotels is no more. In its place is the completely remodeled and expanded Win Meier hotel and Casino. A delegation from Columbia is there now while taking part in the Bolivarian Games being held in Chiclayo and elsewhere in Peru. Meals in the Win Meier restaurant are not inexpensive but Chiclayanos are eating there, and shopping at the mall, and getting their hair done at the salons, and buying new cars at one of several newly opened car dealerships. One wonders if an upper-middle class is just emerging as a result of the booming economy the past few years, or have they always been here with no place to spend their money? Not that Peruvians are into conspicuous consumption or display of wealth. The opposite is true…they tend to be very unpretentious.  Well, that is unless you consider the designer dog breeds showing up as being pretentious, and the pet salons opening on every other corner to care for the dog’s needs including designer leashes and pet clothing.   

New construction is largely limited to retail and housing…there is no money being spent on new manufacturing facilities. In fact there is very little manufacturing remaining in Chiclayo.  There was a time when Chiclayo could boast of many factories producing everything from noodles to car parts. Several bottling companies produced beer, soft drinks and rum, and food processing plants packaged tons of rice, sugar and other food products. A huge Nestle plant that employed hundreds existed on the spot the Real Plaza Mall now occupies. All are gone now, most swallowed up by that behemoth Lima to the south. What remains are a few huge empty lots where the factories once stood, and it is likely that even these reminders of the past will soon be occupied by a new condo complex or retail outlet.

The face of Chiclayo is changing, probably more rapidly than many older residents would like to see. Whether that change persists if the national economy continues to slow remains to be seen.

One construction project that hasn’t begun is the new house in La Raya for Luzmila and her girls. We’ve got $210 toward our goal of $1500. We need your help. Please visit the Promesa Peru web page to donate.