Day Six

It is 7:05 am and I can hear the strains of 'Eye of the Tiger' drifting out of the kitchen where breakfast is being cooked. Traffic is already a steady drone outside, occasionally rising in angry squawks of car horns, which are very high-pitched hereabouts. It has been less than a week, but I can safely say that Peruvian drivers are the most aggressive drivers I have ever seen, anywhere. The absence of traffic lights means that, on narrow city streets where one can't see around the corner, cars slow down when approaching interceptions and leans on the horn to alert any other car, invisible to him, that he is approaching the intersection. A few inches is more than enough space for vehicles, from the tiny 'tuk-tuk' cabs up to to buses, to pass each other. After my first two days of near constant traveling, I was honestly surprised I hadn't seen even one accident.

Yesterday I worked again at the French Hospital, and used a jackhammer for the first time ever. Everyone should use one at least once. Riding back to PSF, we remarked on how a lot of care is taken in making the front of buildings look very nice, or even fancy, while the sides are generally bare brick. Also: a useful, and frequently used loophole in Peruvian zoning law: if the top floor of a building is not completed, if it is still 'under construction,' then you don't have to pay taxes on it. As a result, nearly all buildings in Pisco have rebar sticking from the roofs and a few building materials scattered on top. The entire city looks vaguely like a construction sight, and a lot of it literally is.

Breakfast is being served now, and then we'll be off to work. Last night I felt the first rumblings of a possible traveler's bug. Everyone does sooner or later, mostly sooner. Sorry I shared that with you, but for posterity's sake, I'm recording it.

Until next time.