Package update

In a local tabloid today, I read about a 50 year old foreigner who was found murdered in his hotel room in the district of Callao, just outside Lima. And there I was, in Callao, for the 3rd time walking around with about USD$400 tucked into my bra.

Yes I like living on the precipice of life but this was certainly not my idea of fun. I was back in the area once again at the customs office hoping to sort out the package. And unfortunately for me, I still have to go back in the morning.

Here's why. Today was yet another day dealing with Peruvian work ethics which can be summed up in 1 word: slow. Of course I'm generalizing here and this observation is probably influenced by my frustration, but I make no apologies for it. I waited for Luiz (the agent who's helping me with the papers) in the morning while his 2 "friends" tried asking for my number/address/email/hostel. Then I waited some more for the customs people to finish their lunchtime. Then I waited even more for Luiz outside the DHL headquarters for 45 minutes. The HQ by the way is situated in an industrial area and I must've looked the part of the mad gringa, standing outside in the cold, muttering "fucking sonovabitch I've had enough". By the time we got to the customs office (again), it was almost 3pm. And guess what time the customs office closes? Yup.

So to cut the long-boring-getting-ridiculous story short, I will be back at customs again in 7 hours, with USD$400 tucked in my bra, hopefully for the last time. But it's a fact that there's almost always a silver lining in every dark, pregnant cloud, and here's mine:

To translate briefly, after reviewing my case/sob story, DHL is giving me a special and exceptional 30% discount on the charges, which is something they don't commonly do. I am truly thankful for this and take back what I said in my earlier post about DHL being unhelpful.

Wish me luck for tomorrow...

The most frustrating day ever after the time when I was 6 and couldn't write Z which kept turning out to look like a 5 even after 2 hours of trying

A good chunk of the past 24 hours have been extremely trying. There was even a point where I felt tears pricking my eyes and tried to hide it by pretending to yawn. Then I realised that it was only my eyes' natural reaction to my dry contact lenses and that I really needed to yawn because I was out late last night.

If you had read some of the previous entries on this here blog, you might've stumbled across a post featuring the dilapidated state of the skate ramp I volunteer at in Huanchaco. Shortly after writing about it, the rollerblade hearted guys at Wheel Love put together a collection of skate items for the kids and sent the package on its way halfway across the world.

So it's been a long while and the package has yet to arrive at it's destination because it's been stuck at customs for more than a month now. Note to anyone who's intending to send stuff to a different country: make sure you check what is deemed illegal in destination country before sending it. We made that mistake and are only finding out now that in Peru, secondhand clothes are illegal, no matter for what purpose. And to make things worse, the storage bill for keeping the package for so long has amounted up to USD$470.

The colossal sum is partly my fault because I couldn't/didn't get to Lima earlier where the only customs office in the country is, 800km away from Huanchaco. And today I finally learn what it's like to be a foreigner in someone else's country.

I went to the Centro Comercial where customs is located a few days ago and was immediately bombarded by offers to help; one guy even offered to get me a taxi back into the city even though I just got out of one... And because I was pretty much clueless, like a genteel bovine I was ushered to an office by one guy who claimed to work in customs. He introduced me to Luiz who listened to my situation, and then told me that he will help me get everything done within a day, all I needed to do was make a copy of my passport, pay for storage and sign right here.

Now I speak Spanish as well as I can rap, but I know the word 'firma'. Plus I also know about real life and such things. How many princesses have lost everything to their evil uncles and aunts after the death of their royal parents because in their grief and distraught, they - wait for it - "signed right here"? Obviously I wasn't going to fall into the same trap.

That was 2 days ago. Today, I asked a good Peruvian friend who's also in Lima at this moment (Bruno, bless your soul in this life and the next 3 ones) to come with me to the customs office. Which was a good thing he did because turns out, these guys who I thought were working in customs are not, in fact, working in customs but are agents instead.

Surprise surprise. Coming from Malaysia, you'd think that I'd have guessed this sooner. And I should've. But when you're in a country where the language is not your own, it can get quite flustering though this is hardly an excuse to become stupid. Lucky for me again, I had Bruno and he explained to me my options: 1. do it under the counter(ish) with this agent who will sort out all the papers for me for a small fee, which is not entirely illegal anyway, OR 2. we do it ourselves, which would mean spending hours going on a self discovery tour of the customs department.

Coming from Malaysia, I think you would know which I picked. If you don't, well you can keep guessing. But even with the choice I made, it wasn't just a matter of sitting and shaking my right leg. I spent something like 5 hours and 30 soles in taxis and combis going from one place to another, getting the right stamps, double checking with DHL who had like different offices NOT within walking distance of each other, to make sure we were not being scammed, etc. By the way, DHL is not the most helpful of courier companies in my newfound personal experience. At least not here in Peru anyway.

This Monday, I will still have to go back to the customs office to sort out the final bits and of course, to make the painful payment. I would like to sincerely thank everyone who responded to my tweet for help and chipped in cash to help with the bill. Every bit of amount helped and I truly hope to return the favour one day. Muchisimas gracias.

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago when we cleaned and painted the skate ramp with some help from the kids :)

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do later. - Kurt Vonnegut

5 Discoveries in 1 Week

1. Altitude sickness can get real bad

We were in the mountain town of Huaraz for a few days and despite sleeping for 6 hours after arriving plus loading up on mate de coco tea, Joachim still got ill that night at 3 a.m.

While he was feeling like death, I googled more info on how altitude can affect someone and found this on www.altitude.org:

I decided against reading it out because I didn’t want to panic him but I made the mistake of showing it to Mariano who obviously read it out. I suppose in retrospect, that was a good move because people deserve to know if they are in danger of death, hey? Lucky for Joachim and us, he survived the night.

2. If Nat Geo or History Channel ever did a piece on the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, Dominic Casey would definitely win the lead role.

Dom was amazing when we got to Huaraz. Based on his 1 week knowledge of the town and its surroundings, he showed us around, took us bouldering and pretty much played the role of free tour guide. Because of that, we excuse the beard.

3. The strangest wtf toys come from China

We found this in the market in Huaraz. Mattel will never approve.

4. Guinea pigs look better as pets

Cuy, as they are called, are commonly eaten in the Andes and is, in fact, very good meat I’ve been told. Lean, nutritious and tender, there are many ways of preparing this lovable rodent.

5. When you think you can’t anymore, you always can… just a bit more

On our last day in Huaraz, we woke up at 5.30 a.m. to do a 6 hour trek (up and back) to Llaganuco lake 69, 4800 m above sea level. 1 nosebleed, a near exploding head, and what felt like ears that were trying to turn themselves inside out, I finally reached the peak ahead of everyone else…

Not. I was the last make it actually. But still, I am so glad that I did not turn back and it was definitely worth every bit of pain and blister because the lake, as my posh English friend Melissa would say, "was splendid."

Check out more pictures of the breathtaking region we were in. And to answer you disbelievers, Photoshop was not involved in this heart pumping affair.

So now, here we are in Lima, taking a few days to chill before Mel flies back to London on Wednesday and the rest of us continue on traveling. I love this city.

Pictures taken by Mariano when he's not busy making fridge poetry with Spanish magnets and a standard glass of wine.

To get to Llanganuco, you can take a taxi for 100 soles to the national park (entrance fee 5 soles) and back to Huaraz. Or you could go with a tour van which is what we did and cost us 40 soles each. No guide or maps needed; just water, chocolate and persistance.

Live high

I suck at saying goodbyes. I've perfected a please-do-not-touch-me-much-less-hug-me dance routine at airports and public places in general which involves some back patting, side stepping and more back patting. Sometimes even head patting but that's reserved for those with heights below my eye level.

Por eso, it's going to be interesting tonight when Melissa, Bob, Mariano, Joachim and I leave Huanchaco for good. It's been 2 and a half months since I first got here to this beach town where gringos come for the waves and stay for the lines. Drugs, sex, surf and volunteering seem to sum up Huanchaco in a rasta striped nutshell, openable only if reggaeton music plays in the background.

For me though, this town is something special because of the people. Not the bricheros who are looking to hook up with the female tourists. Neither the men who make wolf whistling and cat calling their collective special talent. But the genuine friends I found who will make my goodbye dance tonight a wee bit difficult.

Louise, my dear French cherie/skate ramp buddy who made me banana milkshake and sweet coffee though I don't drink coffee, who also lent me cash when I was so pathetically broke I couldn't even afford to take the bus. Lisa whom with I took a 1 hour bus ride just to have a drink at Starbucks where we spent 4 hours talking, talking, talking. Bob, the smart, creative younger brother I always wished I had who's going to be my furniture business partner. Delphine, Ellen and Annaleen, who taught me that you do not want to mess with Belgian females :P And Mariano, Joachim and Melissa for whom I will reserve all sentimental comments until we actually say goodbye...if we don't end up killing each other first after traveling together for the next week.

Then there's Maricarmen whose house I've been living in for the entire time I've been in Huanchaco. Thanks to her, Mimosa has a good home and will be guaranteed everlasting love. Thanks to her also, I had a good home myself for 2 months with a wonderful housemate and friend who always tried to make me feel comfortable. Te extranare, Mari.

And of course, the person who I can't thank enough for waiting up for me the first night I got here just so I had a place to stay, who also took me out to the beach bonfire on that same night which gained me a cool rep (at least for awhile) - Carmen, Facebook stalker and all round awesome human. You and Mari are the reasons why I would be mad enough to think of staying in Huanchaco permanently.

Before I coming to volunteer in South America, I thought I didn't have any expectations. It was only when I got here that I realised how naive and disillusioned I was about the world. Of course I had optimistic expectations and to be perfectly honest, teaching English these past couple of months plus volunteering at the blind school and skate ramp has not been what I thought it would be. I had a choice though - either dwelling on my initial expectations or simply making new ones. And I picked the second. And it's been really good.

I'm really thankful for the wonderful people I've met and the amazing time I've had here in Huanchaco. Yea I barely went into the water but I made up for that by spending extra time on the next closest thing - the sand. Sure I lost some money, my iPhone and my bank cards but at least now I have to worry about fewer things getting stolen. And I might not have visited the ruins of Chan Chan but I think my everyday view of the site from the bus was better anyway.

I will miss you Huanchaco.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. - some random saint