Clearly Peru is a different country, and there are a boatload of obvious differences in living here versus the United States: currency, geography, language, and customs. However, there are decidedly unexpected things that barrel at you out of left field and leave you staring with a surprised, “Huh, that just happened,” sort of feeling. I’m here to document when this feeling happens so you don’t come unprepared.
Soda. You can’t buy Diet Coke in Lima. Yes, Coca-Cola operates in Peru, but they only sell Coke with and without sugar (sin azucar or Coke Light, as they say.) It’s not the same as Diet Coke, but the Peruvian people have no point of reference to even know what you’re talking about so don’t ask. In other news, I’ve come out the other side of aspartame withdrawal.
It’s easier to order orange soda as “Fanta.” Also, local brand Inca Kola, flavored with some herb-like variant of lemongrass, is more popular down here than any Coke product. I’m sure that drives Coca-Cola crazy.
Pizza. They sell pizza by the meter in Lima. For the math-challenged, that’s the length of your pizza in increments of about three feet. I have no idea how wide the pizza is, but I do know how long. We ordered a quarter-meter pizza “special” one night just to see how the Italian spirit is thriving in South America. It’s not. I’ll charitably call what came as flatbread meets middle-school lunch lady. They put fruit on pizza, no tomato sauce, questionable pepperoni, and the dough was sweet.
Greetings. They do the European air-kiss here. Whipping out a handshake was a bit awkward.
Daylight Savings Time. They don’t waste time on it. To me, this is the mark of an advanced civilization.
Manholes. Select manholes get special curb cuts. I have no idea what this is about, but I like it because it’s sensibly on the side of the street and would presumably be less disruptive to traffic. However, I have noticed some manholes right in the middle of an intersection, so what do I know?
Transportation. I ain’t going to lie, minibuses are scary AF. There are a few municipal buses, but most seem to be private. However there are a lot of them and they are cheap. A taxi, on the other hand, seems to run about the same amount of coin as a typical CTA trip for two ($5 USD) and it takes you exactly where you want to go. Don’t get in the mini-taxes. These are fiberglass shells atop a motorcycle chassis — super scary.
Weather. It never rains in Lima. Ever. They get an annual rainfall of less than 1 inch per year on the coast, so you don’t need to pack an umbrella. Having said that, it’s very humid because the Pacific Ocean is right there and the prevailing winds blow inland. Nothing ever gets quite dry enough. The mornings are grey and cloudy, but the afternoon winds sometimes blow the sky clear. Lima is known as the Grey City, and they’re proud of it.
Snow. Snow gets a special mention because Lima doesn’t have any, and most people here have never seen snow. Therefore, most people LOVE snow. Our blizzard pictures from a few years back are incredibly popular when we show them. I assure the Peruvian people that they would grow to hate the stuff if they had to live with it.
Holiday Decorations. So far, only grocery stores or Christmas pop-ups seem to have any of the typical decorations. Hilariously, they use snowflakes a lot. See above.
I’m sure there will eventually be a part 2 to this post, and maybe a part 3.
How many ways can I love this travelogue?!
Glad you’ve detoxed from aspartame. Takes a bit but one does what one must in the absence of The Stuff.
You say, “friends.” Have you found it easy to make friends? Is there an expat community to lend moral support and with whom you may eat sketchy pizza?
Re: Friends. Once you’ve had ceviche with LinkedIn contacts, that line has been crossed, right? We met a local firefighter and his lovely girlfriend who’ve taken us to fire stations & earthquake exercises. 😀