Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Having arrived to Peru at an early age, I found it most difficult to get used to the music. Either you like Latin tunes and you swim in the sheer amount of it offered by any disco, restaurant or bar in the city, or you don’t like them, and you sink. Having listened to it passively for many years, cumbia, vallenato, and salsa never particularly warmed up to me. Then came Cajumba and I could not understand: how did I not enjoy this before?

Marco Romero, singer and author of most songs on Cajumba, mixes traditional Peruvian music with modern tunes and beats. Promising an "Afro-Peruvian fiesta" through and through, Marco Romero makes sure that nobody listening is left without the itch to move his or her hips, shoulders and legs to the music.

By Larry J. Pitman

It does matter and let me tell you why.

Recently I went to a well-known clothing store in Lima because they had a sale on pants. I hate to go to these places because normally the clothes don’t fit me, but my wife strongly urged me to go because of the excellent prices.

In the past few years, my waste size has dropped from a beefy 44 to a size 38. It has remained there for some time. However, a recent trip to California was a definite threat to my circumference.  So I was expecting my size to stay the same or, even, increase.

Therefore, I was very surprised when I tried on the pants in the store, and the 38 didn’t fit. It was much too large, so, without knowing it, I had somehow descended to a size 36. That size now fits me perfectly.

Opening the 37th Edition of the Japan's Cultural Week, the Japanese-Peruvian Cultural Center hosted a jazz concert by "Ritsuco Endo with Funky Ritsuco's Version!" band (aka FRV), which is currently on a Latin American tour.

The band, whose tour is sponsored by the Japanese Foundation, presented a nice repertoire that included Endo's own compositions.

The concert also  included their rendition of popular songs such as McCartney's "The Long and Winding road" and the widely known Blanco/Manzo's "Moliendo Café."

By
Larry J. Pitman

How much do we know about the people around us, even those who may work closely with us?

Let us consider the case of two people I know in Peru.

The first is named Luis.

Here are some facts about him:

He grew up in a fishing village north of Lima in one of the poorest families in the town. 

He claims to have forty-five brothers and sisters. Rarely seeing his father, he was raised by his mother.

He was a street-wise kid who sometimes got into trouble.

He was educated only to the fourth grade.

In this my third set of pictures comparing the past to the present, we move closer to the heart of the historical center of Lima.

Changes in this set of photos can range from dramatic to subtle and the stories and history of the places are better known in this series, compared to the others.

All of these photos are taken from the historical center of Lima.

On October 18, 2009 the Shipibo-Konibo nation elected their first tribal council consisting of an Apo (Chief) and four officers. The election of the Council of the Shipibo-Konibo was the culmination of the 2nd Congress of the Shipibo-Konibo held from October 16-18 at the Institute of Bilingual Education of Yarinacocha outside of Pucallpa, Peru.

The goal of this historic and highly anticipated event was to establish an autonomous tribal government for the betterment of the Shipibo-Konibo peoples.  There were 42 villages represented at the congress and nearly 300 Shipibo-Konibo in attendance.

Noche de Arte.  Four days. Eight hundred works of art.  Nearly 400 artists.  The largest exhibition and sale of artwork in the country.  Benefiting those who need it most.

This year’s results?

Ninety works of art sold on the first night alone, $200,000 in total sales up to this point, over 5,000 attendees, and at least nine charities to receive donations.

Walter Raffo, LivinginPeru’s independent security consultant, brings us all a reminder in his monthly safety column: what to do and what not to do while driving, especially while traveling long distances throughout Peru.

Photos and Essay by
Rodney L. Dodig

As a person makes more friends once they are living in Peru it is only natural that eventually you become an extended member of that friend’s family. This is the manner in which I met Tio Panchito or Uncle Panchito as we would say in English. We were out for a late dinner one evening and in casual conversation with the family, I am still struggling with my Spanish; I discovered that he was a retired shoe maker. Jokingly I asked if he knew anyone that would be willing to make a pair of sports shoes for me. Tio Panchito lit up and stated that he would be quite willing to make the shoes for me himself. They told me that he was trained in Italy or by an Italian shoe maker; this is where my Spanish lets me down.

It is quiet ---as it always is on a Saturday morning. The little street where we live is deserted. No cars and no people. The welcome silence is a tremendous contrast to the busy work days with so much activity and bustle. Now I can walk slowly down the middle of the street, and no one will honk at me. But more than that, I can easily enjoy the good part of walking --- the looking, listening and observing.