Things I Love About Peru

Just a short post today as I have to pack and get my bus for my weekend trip to Ica, which is about 5 hours away (so excited!). However, I do have just about enough time to share some quick impressions of Peru so far. Having now lived here for two months, there are obviously a lot of positives and negatives that have come to my attention (as there would be with any place I guess), but today I'm going to focus just on the positive aspects. So, a few things I like about Peru:

• You can spend the equivalent of £2 on phone credit and it will last for seven weeks, with some to spare (although it does have to be said, my little Peruvian brick that I bought here is normally only used for  practical rather than recreational purposes, but still - two pounds!!!).

• £20 will buy a grocery shop for two weeks.

• If you're willing to forego five star luxury, travelling around the country in buses and coaches is super cheap.

• The traditional Peruvian obsession with colour - I'm a massive colour geek and not everyone agrees with me but in my opinion the more colours the better. Don't expect subtle magnolia hues here. Somehow they find all the colours on the spectrum, throw them altogether in a haphazard fashion, and make it look elegant and classy.

• The street food. I've been warned not to eat it, but I have, and I love it. The chicken empanadas with lime are seriously to die for.

This is far from an exhaustive list, but just a few of reasons why I think Peru is such a great place for people on any budget to explore. 

Off to Ica now. Adios!

Writing an Article - Hints and Tips

 After one and half months of churning out numerous articles every day, I have developed some habits that I think are definitely worth sharing. If someone had told me 3 months ago that I would be able to research, write, proofread, and edit a 650-word article from scratch in an hour and a half, and do this three times every single morning, I would have written him off as a madman. But being forced into producing really does hone certain skills, the most important of which I'm going to list below.

Researching
It's the most tempting thing in the world to get caught up in reading reams and reams of information on a topic and not have anything meaningful at the end. Believe me, I spent my whole academic life doing this, and I know I'm not alone! Therefore, it's helpful to know how to filter information right from the beginning, and also how to get it from reliable sources.

• If you want your article to be actually informative and helpful, there is little point just copying what you've gleaned from Wikipedia. Now, don't get me wrong - I think it is a great springboard site, providing an overview of a situation before you start writing about the nitty-gritty, and it can also direct you to helpful websites - but it must be used sparingly. Don't read it as a procrastination technique (which I am prone to doing occasionally).

• To ensure you are getting information from reputable sources, type any of the following 'filters' after your search word or phrase: 

          site:.gov  
          site:.edu
          site:.org

• Also - don't forget that books can be a useful resource too!! The upside is that they also tend to be more reliable. Whether they are appropriate or not depends on the topic of course, but don't discount them if they are. I have a few 'go-to' books here at work that I find invaluable.

Writing

• Before you start researching, write down your title on a piece of paper and brainstorm ideas of what to include - this doesn't have to take long, maybe 5 or 10 minutes, but it allows you to focus your research and you will save time in the long run. After this you will have a clearer idea of which areas of the topic you will write about.

• Decide on a few 'sub-headings' or topic areas (as a rule of thumb, I would say stick to four or five, but of course this will depend from article to article). I also used to do this for essays at university too, and I think I've saved days of my life using this trick.

• Copy and paste certain blocks of text that you think will be useful into a word document. This page will seem chaotic at this point but resist the urge to organise it now - this will only slow you down.

• Scribble down useful words/phrases/ideas on said piece of paper as you research. I usually write down the research under the relevant 'sub-headings' (which I might or might not include in the actual article). This means I have a visual aid of where I have enough research and where I need to find out more.

• Now is the time to type out the first draft. The trick is not to overthink it. Just make coherent sentences out of the information you have, and delete and cross out your notes as they get written up. Seeing this visually really keeps me motivated.

You should end up with a reasonably intelligible piece.

Editing

• The hard part is done, but don't rest on your laurels yet. Now is the time for reading through and rewording, restructuring, and replacing some words with better ones (the thesaurus is your best friend at this stage).

Proof-reading

• Take 5 minutes or so away from the article (at this point I normally get up and make myself a cup of tea and then stare out the window for a little while). Then with a fresh eye, read through the article, tidying up any little typos or other errors that weren't picked up on during the editing stage.

This is the basic plan I've developed for myself and have found it works for me. Of course, every article is different but I do believe there are some tips which will help across the board. Hopefully I've managed to list some of them here!

Wednesday 13th August - Summer Sun

Today I couldn't have been happier. A far cry from the usual depressing cloudiness I have become accustomed to, I was ecstatic to step out of the office at lunchtime and see that the white veil had parted to reveal the azure wonder underneath. Feeling the sun beating down on me and actually being able to wear my sunglasses in Lima since I first got here made me want to skip down the street and burst into song, Disney-princess style (and yes - Lima does make you prone to being disproportionately happy when the slightest ray of sun reveals itself).

Tuesday 12th August - Spanish 101

Biggest achievement of the day: kind of understanding how to conjugate verbs in Spanish. Ain't nothin' gonna stop me now!

So, in case you had been being kept awake at night wondering about Spanish conjugation, here is a short explanation:

Each verb in Spanish either ends in 

ar (e.g. cocinar -to cook)

er (e.g. comer - to eat)

ir (e.g. escribir - to write)

and then then to conjugate (make it agree with the subject. e.g. she RUNS - the 's' is making it agree. You wouldn't say 'she run' would you?!) it's just a case of removing the last two letters and adding the appropriate ending, as follows:

	cocinar	comer	escribir
yo (I)	cocino	como	escribo
tú (you) (informal)	cocinas	comes	escribes
él/ella (he/she)	cocina	come	escribe
usted (you) (formal)	cocina	come	escribe
nosotros (we)	cocinamos	comemos	escribimos
ustedes (you) (plural)	cocinan	comen	escriben
ellos/ellas (they)	cocinan	comen	escriben

That's all for today. Adios amigos!!!

Monday 11th August - The Clean Clean Streets of Lima

It struck me today, how unbelievably clean the streets of Lima are. It is a capital city, so you might expect litter, or dirty patches, or even stray leaves blowing around your feet, or... something. But there is nothing. The trees and decorative gardens/grassy patches are impeccably kept, and resemble some kind of show-garden. The trees either have been bred to be some kind of super-trees that don't drop foliage, or there is a tiny elf residing in the trunks that runs out if one leaf or bloom even thinks of being out of place. Everything is white, glossy, and swept within an inch of its life. A model for London to adopt perhaps?

Spotlight on Mancora: A Week in Paradise

Tucked away in Northwestern Peru, Mancora is home to the country's best sandy beaches which stretch for miles and is also one of Peru's sunniest places; probably not surprising as its only about 300 miles from the equator.

Travelling up from Lima, it was like we'd entered a different world. With temperatures upwards of 30C and bright blue skies, I guess we could be forgiven for thinking we'd died and gone to heaven. We stayed with a small independent hostel, called Misfit, and were living in one of the four huts that are directly on the beach. An ocean view and sandy stretches weren't a bad sight to wake up to every morning, and it was just a short walk along the beach to town.

Our living quarters 

(we were staying in the green one)

Long, lazy days drinking cocktails and eating the Peruvian seafood speciality ceviche (personally not a fish fan, I opted for the tacos instead, but I've heard the fish dishes here are pretty amazing on account of the fish being fresh from the sea) should be interspersed with the other activities Mancora has to offer. Snorkelling with turtles is one way to pass a morning, or maybe surfing or diving is your thing. Unfortunately, when we went to book our surfing lesson, we were informed it would be a waste of time due to the lack of waves. 'You'll just be floating on a board' he told us - surprising, as we had heard from multiple sources that Mancora is THE surf town of Peru - so we decided not to part with our money there and go shopping for necklaces at the market instead.

The market is definitely worth a peruse. Full of statement handmade jewellery, many made from shells or shell pieces, it's definitely the place for gifts or treating yourself. As with most places in Peru though, bartering skills are key, and is something I haven't quite yet mastered. We found ourselves also having to barter down the tuk-tuk drivers. If you're not familiar with a tuk-tuk (which I definitely wasn't before I got here, but it became my primary form of transport for the week), it's essentially a rusty tin can on wheels. It has an engine, and apart from the seat in the back covered by a roof, and the piece of metal covering said engine, you are completely exposed to the elements. Travelling at high speeds along the dusty, uneven roads leaves you feeling a little dishevelled at the end, but the high whilst it's happening is akin to riding a crazy rollercoaster. And it's ever so slightly addictive.

If beautiful sunsets are what you're after, 

then this is the place to come!

I must admit, a week was enough. I always forget that I don't like sand, and it takes me by surprise every time I visit a beach, and so I don't think I'll be spending my life savings on a house on the seafront any time soon. Nevertheless, despite being constantly covered in small grains and having nothing but cold, saltwater showers, my time in Mancora was fantastic. Cheap drinks, super cheap food (on average I was paying the equivalent of £2 for a 2-course meal and a drink), gorgeous sunsets, and wonderful temperatures, it's a place I would recommend to anybody!

Friday 25th July - Birthday Madness

Today I felt like I was dying. This bug/cold/infection I have was about three times worse today and I can now feel it in my ears. On the upside, we did have a nice little birthday party in the kitchen for two of the colleagues at work today, complete with food, music, and cake. Learned that Peru has a strange tradition pertaining to birthday cakes - they cut a circle out of the middle and only cut and serve the outer ring. When I pressed for information about why they did this, no-one was able to tell me, and I'm still none the wiser.

And this evening, on the advice of my flatmate, I ate two raw cloves of garlic (mixed in with potatoes and cheese) in the hope it will clear my symptoms. Didn't taste great but I've got my fingers crossed it will work by tomorrow morning.

Thursday 24th July - Lima Should Come With a Health Warning

My throat feels like it's been coated with tar and lined with sandpaper and have used about two packs of tissues today. Definitely not ideal timing as I prepare to leave for Mancora at the weekend. Pretty sure the climate of Lima is partly to blame. The stench of car fumes is almost overpowering and every morning I see thick plumes of black smoke being belched out from the cranes at the building site across the road. Not surprising that all this smog is making itself cosy in my lungs and throat - doesn't have much chance of escape with this cloud blanket that seems to engulf the entire city.

Wednesday 23rd July - That Holiday Feeling

So three weeks in for us and next week the office is closed, so we are already mentally preparing for our holiday in Mancora, a beach town 700 miles north that looks pretty beautiful. Deciding not to stay at the chain hostel Loki, which is a popular destination there, we have booked a place at a little independent one - Misfit Hostel. Consisting of a few little huts that overlook the beach, I can't say I'm not a little bit excited. However, definitely NOT looking forward to the 20 hour bus ride.