So here I am back and traveling on a budget. A lot has
happened that has put me currently where I’m at (literally and figuratively)
but that’s a whole different discussion so let me sum it um briefly. NFL,
carless, intentionally homeless and jobless, cheap flights, chips stacked and
random friends.
Yeah, this past Sunday makes 2 weeks since I’ve been in Lima,
Peru and naturally with my completely random life, I’ve been getting a lot of
questions. Although to be honest, most of these questions end in a sort of exasperation
that I take to mean that people have given up trying to understand my life.
Smart move because I barely understand it. Anyway, to try to keep everyone
updated with my life here, I’ll answer the 3 questions that people have asked.
1.
Do you know people there?
a.
Yes! I know two people here! How do you know
them you ask? Well, when I was in Mexico City taking Spanish classes, I met the
homie Sean. Sean came down to Lima to make movies with a friend and although he
wasn’t here when I came to visit in 2018 he connected me “Carito.” (big deal
movie producer in Peru) Carito then introduced me to Diana and we ended up
kickin it pretty tough. I ended up hangin with Diana in LA and the Bay. This is
a big reason why I decided on Lima and it is relatively open.
2.
Where are you staying?
a.
(The people) With Diana, her roommate
Diana (no relation) and the cat and dog. They have an extra office type room.
Which works fine for me.
b.
(The neighborhood) in what I guess is
considered Lince but we prefer to call it Lincidro because it’s right on the
border of Lince and San Isidro. Lince is a working class neighborhood that has
some parts that are a little bit shaky and San Isidro is an upper class to
middle upper class neighborhood. For reference, the condos in the building I’m
in go for about $200K and have 2 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, an office, deck and
pretty spacious living room. The condos directly across from me are new and in
San Isidro proper and go for about the same maybe a little more and are much
smaller but new construction. I live directly across the street from a big park
that has a swimming pool, a couple playgrounds, some nature stuff, a very
little lake/pond with little two person boats. Right across from the park
there’s some nicer restaurants and a grocery store that can probably be
compared to Whole Foods. Right behind me in Lince proper, there is a big market
where they sell a bunch of fresh everything along with anything else that you
will find in your average grocery store in the US. Clearly the market is way cheaper.
3.
How is Covid down there/did you have to
do anything special/what are the restrictions?
a.
The short answer is… “not great.” Vaccines have
not been widely distributed. Lots of people are dying and hospitals are filling
up. BUT like most things, if you have money, and thus access to private
hospitals or have the money to fly to a country with an excess of vaccines then
you’re good.
b.
In terms
of what I had to do special. You have to get tested and then go into a 14 day
quarantine that you can get out of by taking an antigen test in country. Side
note: why in the tarnation have they not learned they don’t have to scrape your
brain cavity to get an accurate covid test.
c.
Restrictions:
i.
There’s a daily 9pm curfew and a mandatory
Sunday quarantine. You can still get delivery and take trips to pick up food,
take your pet outside and go to the pharmacy. Other than that pretty much
everything else is closed and you’re not supposed to be outside of your house.
ii.
You HAVE TO wear a mask outside of the house and
you’re supposed to double mask. You also have to wear a mask and a face shield
to enter any grocery store or market.
iii.
Most all businesses are open. Including but not
limited to restaurants, barbershops, hair salons, casinos, malls and all of the
stores… I want to say the only thing closed are language schools which sucks
for me (available online only for the most part) and clubs.
iv.
Most businesses take your temperature and spray
alcohol on your hands when you enter. They also have this weird thing you step
on that I assume is alcohol just in case you track covid on your shoes?
Aight, I’ll end it here because I’m tired of writing and
I’ve already wrote too much. In order to catch up perhaps I’ll give another update
in a couple of days
Until next time!
