What I do. Continued...

Education.
Everyone agrees it's important.
Here in Arequipa, there are several Universities. There are also some in Puno, Juliaca, Tacna, and even some types of higher education in Ilo and other places.
The main universities in Arequipa are: Universidad Nacional San Agustin- La UNSA (national), Universidad Catolica, Universidad Catolica San Pablo, and Alas Peruanas. There are various technical institutes around and about as well.
As far as these universities are concerned, it is hard to get into the UNSA because the tuition there is payed by the state. Unfortunately, the pay of the professors at the UNSA is determined year to year depending on the Budget and/or corruption of officials and so there are constant strikes by the professors. That SUCKS for the students. Turns your vacations into school and your school time into useless time and often means you end up studying a few years more than necessary.
The Catolica seems to be a prestigious enough place, but costly and the students are supposedly liberal snobs. (Just what I heard). The San Pablo is where my wife studied and they seem to be pretty strict about everything aside from being expensive. Here at my job we encourage the youth not to go there because they are really dedicated to the idea that one can not study and work simultaneously.
*** Side note and cultural observation. This sentiment about work and study is widely accepted and for that same reason, youth live with their parents much longer. This changes the WHOLE SOCIETY. Seriously. People mature slower, are less independent. The other side of the coin is that family ties are strong and there is a community support within the family. I'm glad I was independent of my family early and enjoy the self reliance that I gleaned from taking care of my own matters from 18 on.***
Alas Peruanas is generally looked down upon as the bottom rung of the university experience, but having only actually entered one university here(San Pablo), and seen the outside of another (UNSA), I really couldn't tell you.
I estimate that the percentage of people that seek higher education here is decent, but I am sure it could be much, MUCH more.
Something else different about the University experience here is that a person has to apply, be accept in, and follow one career. That means that at age 16 (when they finish high school) they must know what they want to do for their career. I think this is a bad system. Numbers agree with me. According to a statistic that the Ministerio de Trajo (work department) released in Arequipa a month ago: 80 percent of all professionals are working in something that isn't their field. That is a lot of wasted time and money. Basically, we have lawyers and doctors driving taxis and selling pirated DVD's. I like the State's option of letting you get in and than decide. I like the ability to leave studies for a while and than come back. Some universities are ok with this (UNSA) some are not, (San Pablo) but it is not easy anywhere. I like being able to switch universities, and having most of my credit counted in the new institution. Here, nothing counts and if you desire a change, you have to quit and than start from scratch somewhere else. I like being able to pick my classes and figure a schedule that works for me. Here you are assigned classes and schedules that are, frankly, ridiculous.

There are more things that I could say, but I think you get the idea.

What I do.

Here in Arequipa, I spend the bulk of my days in the Church of Latter Day Saints Employment Center. Here I teach a class that helps orient people in finding work and interacting with their resources. It's a nice job and I like helping people, so I find it rewarding. It's a nice building, and my bosses are good types so everything is good on that front. As far as what else I do: I am the new media specialists for the center and as part of this, I manage a newsletter and website. The website is located here:
http://sreperusur.weebly.com

I know, I know. VERY SIMPLE. But what do you expect? My bosses aren't technological geniuses and they need to manage it after I leave, in a mere two months. That being said, the thing I enjoy about what I do is that I can help people that have very little hope and very little optimism in the economy and I can help situate them. The LDS employment center is very "Teach a man to fish" oriented and I find that refreshing.
The economic situation in Peru ... Well. Like anything, there is opportunity for those willing to work. It is not easy here. A normal monthly salary here for around 50-60 hours a week would probably fall around 500 ./S . That's roughly 180 bucks a month. It's a tough environment, but one can be successful. Currently, there is a boom of micro finances and small businesses. I enjoy seeing that because it creates a more favorable market overall. I do what I can to get people to communicate with each other so that employment and self employment is easier and more profitable.

Journal Post: Observation #8 Dryers

I miss my dryer.
Dryers aren't very common here. In fact, I think that in my whole area of expertise (S. Peru), I think that I have seen two personally. Bummer, because I like when I put my clothes in and then they come out warm and delicious smelling, as opposed to hanging and smelling like the farm animals that live next to us in the outskirts of town. Not to mention, hang drying WRINKLES EVERYTHING. I am no fan of ironing things, but it is a necessary evil. Because there are no dryers, sights like these are fairly common:


Well. That's the way things are. So if you live here, I hope you are lucky enough to have a washing machine, slightly more common than the dryers, but not very. Hand washing to me seems like it takes FOREVER and I would hate to do it. I once had to hand wash my undergarments in a faraway lawless town called Desaguadero for three months. It was a bummer. Another problem with cloths lines, is where do you hand your underwear? Some people have places out of public eye to hang those things, but many just hang them where they can. Makes for some interesting walks in certain parts of town. What is the first thing I do whenever I get back to the states from Peru? I wash ALL of my clothes, and than toss them in the dryer with way more fabric softening sheets than necessary. So if you need me on April 28-29th, I'll be doing laundry.

Journal Post: Sunset

Well, you will have noticed a bit of a hole in my postings. Sorry about that. I have a valid excuse. Remember that blackout? Well, here at my work, there was a different one a day or so later, and that blackout messed up our internet. As you will recall from this post: http://peaksandpitfallsinperu.blogspot.com/2010/02/candelaria-continued.html, the time it took to get it fixed was a lot longer than it should have been. 5 days. Anyway, at the same time, the internet in the place I currently reside was also on the fritz and probably will not be accessible again. So here is the long awaited update.
I took some more pictures in Mollendo this last weekend, and bid farewell to the beach because I will not likely be seeing it again in the near future. Here are some pictures of a place that I used to go with my companion. It's a cliff against the ocean between the land terminal and the main block of the city. (Mollendo is crazy in it's setup) At this cliff, there are a TON of vultures, seagulls, and pelicans just chilling and riding what I imagine to be wicked sweet updrafts. Anywho, here they are:

Lifting in the Dark.

Apagon
This comes from the verb "apagar", which means "to turn off". Apagon: We call it a "blackout" in English. These are fairly common, and the power when it is on, is what we call in the USA "dirty power". This means irregular. Volgate fluctuates. I knew this before, but remembered clearly when it fried my wireless modem that I brought down.
Yesterday I was planning on going to the gym. The lights went out, but I went anyway, supposing that perhaps where the gym was, there the light would be also.
It wasn´t.
It was rather strange to be listening to my IPOD in a dark room surrounded by strangers lifting weights.
The gym was exactly not like the 24-Hour-Fitness of which I am so fond. There are weights.
Description: Three stories. First floor, free weights. Second floor, stationary bikes of varied quality. Third floor, some kind of aerobics-step-dance class taught as a group. The teacher of the aerobic deal HAS to be gay. If not, then I am shocked. The building isn´t in great shape, but it isn´t terrible. It has a monthly rate of 40 soles for just free weights, or you can pay 1.50 ./S (that is the "dollar sign" if you will- for soles, from here on out, that´s what I am using) every time you want to go in.
After the uncomfortable grunting and heaving in the dark with strangers, I opted to run the distance (which was probably a few miles) back to the house because the power was still out and there is nothing to do when the power is out.
Luckily, it came back on before I got there.

In a completely unrelated side note, I had a delicious cake for my birthday. Too bad there weren´t two gallons of delicious skim milk to accompany it.
The tradition here is to sing "Happy Birthday" in English (wierd), and then in spanish. Than to blow out the candles. Then to taste the cake. At the cake tasting part, it is expected that someone will shove the whole face in the cake. I had this happen on my mission with a vengence, but this time around, I really wanted to eat the cake rather than ruin a portion with my face so I held it above the would be pushers and kept clean.

Journal Post: Observation #7: Transportation

I was told by my boss that driving here was like navigating a river, you just ¨Go with the flow¨ try to stay above the current. Today, my combi (the Van that serves as public transport) failed to ¨go with the flow¨ and hit another combi. Or rather, turning right from the inside lane (which didn´t exist, it was actually just one lane with too many cars in it), he cut off another combi also turning right and caused that combi to hit his rear quarter. What do you suppose happened? The door collectors yelled at each other for a moment and then everyone went about their business. That´s usually the way fender benders go around here. It´s a hassle to do the insurance thing here and nobody really has it anyway, so the shops are wizards at fixing things cheaply and will Macguyver anything.
Something I noticed when I first got to Peru is that people drive with all five senses. Especially sight and sound. Therefore, people here constantly honk the horn. Maybe because it´s fun, maybe to alert other drivers of thier presence, but whatever the reason, it´s a constant noise.
Also, the combis and taxis make driving a nightmare. Always stopping in the road, weaving in and out of traffic, making intersections way more complicated than they need to be.
Round abouts with stop lights ... Wha???
Nobody honors the rules of the road. The only rule is, if the other guy doesn´t stop, you probably should. And if you are a pedestrian, right of way goes the the car.
Another funny thing my boss said about driving here, ¨Don´t look at the other guy, if you look, it´s a sign of weakness, and you may have to yield. Just keep going and the other person will stop.
SPEED BUMPS EVERYWHERE. This is probably to make up for lack of police, but they are serious about the speed bumps.
Roads that have large potholes and very poor marking. Where is the money to repair roads? The Peruvians don´t know either appearantly.
And another rule that I´ve heard mentioned, ¨The nicer car has the right of way¨. If you hit a nice car, chances are that car´s owner will give you a lot of greif. As opposed to a not so nice car.

All I know is that it´s a valient soul here who gets behind the wheel.

I'm a sad guy Chile

For those of you who don't live on this planet, there was a major earthquake in Chile on Saturday the 27th. The epicenter was near Concepcion Chile and it was especially stressful for me due to my mother's family that lives there. I wish I could say that I had a happy birthday (also Saturday, but the earthquake kind of rained on that particular parade. Fortunately, my family is OK, but watching the footage of the Tsunamis, etc, is heartbreaking. The family here did give me a delicious cake, but more on that tomorrow. Today, I am merely posting this sad face that I made in illustrator. I hope that Chile is in all of your prayers.