Living in Peru : your everyday companion

We had a very special visitor last February from Guatemala. She was a keen and enthusiastic observer of life in Lima.  One very warm day as we were going by the beach, she noticed that it was very crowded. After thinking about this for awhile, she commented that it must be wonderful to live in Lima where people don’t have to work and can spend their days at the beach. We were stunned by this observation which was so off course.

What I observed with Carlos and his men has been my general observation here in Lima.  Poverty and lack of employment are definite factors in the case of hard working Peruvians. However, more than that,  I have found that most Peruvians , at various level of society, are hard workers. 

Right now I have plenty of opportunity to observe people working. Currently our neighborhood is going through a period of intense activity. Workers are everywhere.  So I see them working just as Carlos and his crew did, from early in the morning until late in the evening. They are in motion all the time.

Much of the work is being done to remodel some of the beautiful old homes in the neighborhood — some for commercial use and others as residences. They are painting, sanding, repairing floors and woodworking. 

Of course, it is not just the people in construction who work hard. Taxi drivers tell me that they work 15-16 hours a day. Also you see the people working in their little businesses long hours every day of the week.

It all goes to show that we can observe something like a crowded beach on a hot day and draw a conclusion that is completely opposite of reality. And yet how often as expatriates do we do the same thing? How often do we make an observation about the country we are living in and draw the wrong conclusion?