Peruvian public transportation goes on strike because they don't want to get tickets!

That is exactly right. It seems like the authorities are finally starting to enforce the traffic laws in this country. But it seems like the public transportation workers do not like the idea of being law-abiding in order for things to be more orderly.

The police have been issuing more tickets these past few weeks for traffic violations and honking the horn when it is not necessary (like when you want the vehicle in front of you to get out of your way, for example, or even worse, when traffic is backed up and people are in a hurry or frustrated and they decide to honk incessantly). It's a good thing that the police are trying to get drivers to follow the rules when being behind the wheel. Driving in Peru is not civilized at all and it's more like being in a video game. Take a look here. It takes special skills to drive here. Things like making a left turn from the farthest lane to the right and swtiching lanes without using the blinkers are common practice. I was glad to see that something was being done to teach people that they need to obey the rules.

Well, the bus companies decided to go on a strike today because the police are issuing expensive tickets left and right. There were very few buses on the road today the only word that comes to my mind to describe what it was like is chaos. A lot of people use the public buses here and the fact that there were very few running was simply horrible. I didn't realize there was a strike until I stood on my usual corner to take the bus and not a single one would come around. Only then did I remember. I had to take a small bus (combi) to go to one of the main avenues in my part of town and from there get on a different bus to go to work. I had to pay twice as much as I would usually pay. Fine. I have to get to work. When I got off that bus I spotted one that would get me pretty close to work. The money collector lady said the bus was only going up the road till it got to one of the major avenues in town. Fine. Close enough for me to just walk to work. I was overcharged again as was everyone else. At one point the money lady told a bunch of people to shut their mouths when they started to complain. Excellent customer service.

Tons of people were standing on the streets hoping to get on a bus or taxi. And when one came around, they would all run to it and shove people left and right trying to get on the bus. Cabs here do not have meters, so they were also overcharging people. Some people got creative and decided to drive their own vehicles on the streets and make some money. When I was finished at work, I didn't think I'd be able to take a bus home and I was right. So I decided to walk home and boy, it was a long, and I mean LONG walk. It took around 1 hour and 40 minutes. A lot of people also decided they would walk. I had never seen so many people walk on the streets here. I decided to stop by the supermarket to get a drink and there were lots of people in line to check their stuff out. There's a speciall line for older people and women that are pregnant, and this lady (she looked old but certainly not old enough to be in that line) cut in the very front of the line, which made everyone around upset. She became rude and so did the people behind her. It made my day :)

Hopefully things will go back to normal tomorrow. Not only do these reckless bus drivers jeopardize their passenger's lives and be rude to them but now they're striking because they don't want to pay a fine when they break the rules? So if I don't want to go to work because I have a lot of stuff to do then I just don't show up? If I steal or kill someone, should I then not be punished because I had a "reason" to do so? I think not. And mind you, it isn't just the bus drivers that drive like crazy but everyone in general!!!!! If these people drove the way they did in the States, they'd all go to jail. So much for passing a driving test and a psychological test. This, my dear friend, is the kind of country I live in. A country were people go on strike because they don't want to be punished when they commit a violation.

Related posts: Honest cop gives ticket and yells at corrupted bus driver, Ranting about combis and getting convicted in one.

I FINALLY GOT MY DIPLOMA!!!!!!

I haven't been very good about blogging these days since I have been quite busy with work and stuff and I didn't have internet access for about a month. Well, I am now happy to announce that I have my bachelor's diploma in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).

I took an on-line correspondence course when I was living in Piura (northern Peru) with a university here in Lima. I did that for 2 years and then, around the end of the course, I moved to Lima. Once in Lima, I had to take a couple more classes and teach a class in front of one of the university professors. That pretty much concluded all of my classes and my credits were now complete. HOWEVER, the stinkin university told me I needed to do a lot of paperwork and that the whole process to get the diploma would take about eight months!!!!!! I started to get the documents they wanted me to get but it took a while since I had a 9-to-5 job and I was also busy taking Portuguese lessons. I had to go to the bank numerous times to make payments and then I had to go to the many different departments the university has all over town.

When the time came for me to finally be able to get my diploma, the university went on strike for 3 months. About 3 weeks ago, the strike had been lifted for a short period of time and I was finally able to get the darn diploma. It had taken so long I wasn't even excited when I got it. I'm NEVER going back to that school again.

A visit to the men's prison in San Juan del Hurigancho.

I visited one of the men's prisons in town back in January of this year and I wrote about what I saw there. I divided my story into 3 parts due to its length, so just click on the links below if you wish to read the entire story.

A visit to the men's prison in San Juan de Lurigancho Part 1.

A visit to the men's prison in San Juan de Lurigancho Part 2.

A visit to the men's prison in San Juan de Lurigancho Part 3.

Contributed story: Behave yourself (By Teo Rios Ramirez)

The following story was written by one of my co-workers and I decided to share it and translate it into English since it was pretty inspiring. I would like to preface this story by stating that the police in this country are very corrupt and they can't always be trusted. The original version of this story in Spanish can be found here.

BEHAVE YOURSELF (By Teo Rios Ramirez)

I fell asleep in a bus lost in the midst of toxic traffic on Wilson Av. on a Tuesday night. Suddenly I woke up, when the vehicle stopped at one of the first blocks of Tacna Av. and I heard the voice of a traffic police officer, a strong but tired voice, possibly reaching the end of a rough day. The following is a recreation of what took place in those memorable ten minutes.

- Good evening. You have just picked up passengers in a prohibited zone. I need your documents please.
- But chief, it was just one lady...
- Look, a prohibited area is a prohibited area whether it's one lady or three. I need your documents.
- But chief, it's the first time...
- Even if it were the fifth time, it's still a violation.
- Come on, chief...

The officer takes his glasses off, rubs his eyes and puts his glasses back on. His tiredness is now noticable in his eyes. It's definetely not the first time he hears this and it won't be the last one for as long as he's a cop.

- Sir, my shift is almost over and the last thing I want is for you to make things complicated. I need your license.
- Come on, man, it's no big deal.
- It's a minor violation, let me see your license so I can now write a ticket and that way you can finish up your route.

The driver mumbles something unintelligible. I can't see the cop's face now, but I'm sure he's starting to frown.

- If you need to tell me something, say it out loud, the very same way I'm talking to you, so that everyone can hear you.
- But chief, it was no big deal...
- Stop repeating the same thing over and over and let me see your documents before I give you another ticket because of that broken turn signal.
- Come one, chief... I don't have...
- You don't have a license? Have your passengers get off the bus and have the fare collector give them their money back. I'm going to get on my motorcycle and you will follow me to the impound. Do you understand?

Then, out of the blue, what I never thought I would see in Peru happened. The cop's face became red and his weary look turned into an expression of indescribable fury. He pointed at the driver with a gloved right index finger, clenched his teeth and his voice was able to be heard all the way to the opposite side of the avenue.

- Put that money in your hand away! You don't have a license, you make me waste my time and on top of that you're trying to bribe me? I'm going to give you all three tickets I should have given you initially and if you don't follow me to the impound or if it takes you too long I will put an arrest warrant out for you!

I swear I wanted to shake the cop's hand, get a picture taken with him and tell him he was a heroe. I didn't care I was stranded on Tacna Av. at 8 at night and I didn't care I had to walk for a block to be able to catch a different bus. It's just that you don't see this type of things everyday.

'Nuff said.

Ranting about combis and getting convicted in one.

Riding the combi (bus) is starting to get a little old recently, but alas, it's the most common way to get around in this city unless you can afford taking taxis or having your own vehicle, both of which I could afford but I would hate to spend so much money when I know there's a cheaper venue. Therefore, I have to ride the bus to work at about 8:20 in the morning and then at 6:30 p.m. or so to go back home. The traffic is pretty bad at both times of the day and they're usually very crowded. There is no air conditioning, so the windows need to be open in the summertime. However, some windows are stuck and they can't be opened. And when it's cold in the winter, the windows need to be closed but some windows -- you guessed right! -- cannot be shut. The seats are in horrible condition most of the time, and they're usually not very big. A 5'10" person might have a hard time fitting on one of the narrow made-for-midgets seats.

To add to all this, some people silently flatulate inside the bus and it's always a while before the fragrance disappears. Other people are extremely nasty. Some people know how much money they're supposed to pay but they want to pay less or the shouting cobrador (fare collector) sometimes overcharges and that's when people get nasty. Some people will start a huge argument over 0.20 cents whilst others simply take the passive-agressive approach and decide to get off the bus and get on a different one. You wouldn't think this could get any worse, but it does. They're loud and reckless. Music is usually played on the bus (not my favorite kind of music 90% of the time), the fare collector is always yelling out the names of the streets where the bus travels and the horn is honked every 5 minutes. A lot of the drivers are not licensed and if they are, you wouldn't think they would be due to their reckless driving (everyone in Lima drives recklessly anyway). The buses are owned by private companies, so the more passengers the bus gets, the more money the company and the employees make. Some of these drivers will speed, switch lanes and run the red light in an effort to get passangers on the bus and risking a bunch of people's lives, and their own, in the process.

Do not get me started on the bus stops. They're just suggestions, just as much as the traffic rules are suggestions. These buses will pretty much stop anywhere to pick people up but they won't do that when people need to get off the bus. It's not uncommon to see people waiting to catch a bus around a sign that says "Paradero prohibido" (Prohibited stop) and the bus will stop where it's not supposed to so long as there isn't a cop in sight. Every corner is pretty much a bus stop, so the bus might stop at every corner. Now, how do you go about getting off the bus? Some big buses have a button on the door you can push, but those are rare. The most common way is to let the cobrador know (usually by yelling it out) where it is you need to get off the bus in advance. But even then, they will sometimes go too far and then you have to walk back. Now there are tons of different routes, and you would think there's written information available to everyone on which buses go where, but there isn't. You just have to learn which bus to take by asking around.

One other thing that I don't like about the buses is that a lot of street vendors will get on the bus to sell stuff. Some vendors get on the bus and walk down the aisle hoping someone will buy something from them. Some vendors get on the bus, wish everyone a good morning/afternoon/evening, apologize for being disruptive and then go on to tell everyone why they're doing what they're doing before walking down the ailse to get people to buy whatever they're selling. Most of them are men, but it's not rare to see a lady do this. Some of them say they used to be in jail and now they're trying to live a better life, others say they used to do drugs or alcohol and now they're trying to make an honest living. One guy got on the bus one time to say he was HIV+ and that he didn't have enough money to buy his meds. One time this young guy got on the bus to sell candy since he couldn't afford paying his college tuition. Some people preach the Word, others play the guitar or sing (some of them are good) and some are just too young to go to "work". It breaks my heart to see kids who should be in school or playing hide-and-seek get on the bus and work for money. I don't usually buy stuff from these people since I don't know whether they're telling the truth, but tonight I felt very convicted.

A 40-something-year-old looking man got on the bus and, after introducing himself and stuff, said he used to be employed but his company started laying people off without any previous notice and, unfortunately, he got laid off and now he needs to find a way to support his wife and 3 underage children. He said his kids needed to be fed just as much as his wife and him needed to eat, and he also said that kids don't understand the words, "I don't have money" or "I can't provide for you right now". He then talked about life being unfair and how we all should help one another in times of need. He pulled a bag full of candy and started to sell it for 0.20 cents a piece or 3 pieces of candy for 0.50 cents. I was just convicted. I reached into my pocket to get money to buy candy (which was really good, I must say). Life is unfair. I have had my fair share of disappointment this year. We must help one another in times of need, specially now more than ever due to this financial global crisis we have going on. We can't predict the future. No one can fortell what will happen to us tomorrow. There is no way to find out what will befall us. We may be in need, we may need a helping hand, and we may not get it.

A new door opens.

I had a phone interview this morning with a charity from London called HILT. After my plans to go to Scotland went down the drain, I was told that a this charity has open volunteering positions for guys, so I filled out an application form, scanned it and e-mailed it. To my amazement, I got a response the next day!!! We arranged to have the interview today at 5:30 am Lima time.

I get so anxious everytime I have an interview or training or that sort of stuff. I don't know if it's just me or if it's something that happens to most people. I decided to go to bed at 10 pm the night before in order to get plenty of sleep, but that didn't work very well. I awoke several times between 10pm and 4:30am, and then I just couldn't sleep at all. I was wide awake and ready to do this. For some reason I thought I was going to be called at 5 am and then I realized it was 5:30 am, so I went online for a while and grabbed a bite to eat. Junior, stop rambling!!!!!!

The phone rang twice before I picked it up. "Here goes nothing", I thought. The connection was perfect, which is really weird since I live pretty close to the airport and there's usually a lot of interference, especially when I'm on the cell phone, but everytime I get a call from abroad the connection is just perfect. No echo, no delay at all, no static, NADA! After exchanging the usual phone pleasentries, I was asked some questions about what I knew about the charity and why I wanted to volunteer with them and how I could be of help to them. If you clicked on the link above, you'll see that HILT works with adults that have learning disabilities and their goal is to help them to live independently. I was then explained how the program works and whatnot. Now they're going to try to get references from me and after that I'll have to get a police check and mail it to them. After all of that we'll discuss when I can start and where in East London I'll be working and of course, I'll have to apply for a visa again.

This will definetely take some time, and I hope things work out for me this time. I told the interviewer what happened to me before and she said they do have everything they need to sponsor volunteers (which doesn't guarantee my getting a visa anyway). At least I can rest assured that this charity has everything in order. I don't really see why I would get a visa denied this time, but you never know. Embassies are just fickle. Very fickle. I will continue posting as things develop.

I still can't believe how awake I feel. Coffee will be my best friend for the next few days...