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Published: August 3rd 2010
There are these box-like carts all over the streets of Lima that are filled with anything anyone could want...potato chips, gum, Halls cough drops (eaten like candy here), chocolate bars, pop, water and so much more. These kiosks are as common as taxis here. Have a craving for something? A kiosk will not be far off. And in some of these little boxes sit people. People trying to sell what they can to survive.
The first time I realized that in some of the smaller kiosks sit people, I was surprised. My hands were hovering over the gum selection when my eyes looked up and met another set of eyes. The solemn face asked me what I needed and handed it to me without any expression. I paid and left, contemplating her job. There seems to be just enough space for a person to sit and peer out between the chips and over the chocolate. For how many hours does this person sit? Most kiosks are open early and close late. The city seems to be most alive during these hours. Is it warm in there among the sweets? Surely it's not as the temperature continues to drop and the sun remains absent.
My dad and I were talking last week about what so many people in this world have to do just to survive each day. We were talking about this in reference to the cold temperatures and the lack of heating in all buildings here, but obviously this is true everywhere - some people have to work so hard just to survive each day.
The streets of Lima always seem to be filled with people. People sitting in their candy kiosks hoping to sell enough waters and chips to justify their presence there. People trying to wash your windshield with dry rags, hoping the window looks clean enough that someone will pay them. Kids bounce volleyballs on their heads during red lights. Men and women of all ages, though usually older, walk up and down through traffic hoping to sell you exactly what you need at that point - a car cell phone charger, potato chips, peanuts, chocolate, Peruvian flag pins. Kids no taller than my waist board buses to try to sell us candy for next to nothing. People work so hard to earn a sol here.
Lima is no different than other cities all around the world. People everywhere do what they can to survive. The streets of any city testify to this reality. It looks slightly different in smaller towns, but people there experience the same reality. Life doesn't guarantee you'll get everything you need to survive, though some are given it easily. Some work hard for it and also obtain what they need, but others work just as hard, if not harder, and never have enough. Some continue forward with perseverance that is to be admired. Some give up and then work to mask the pain of the struggle with drugs or alcohol. The streets of Lima always seem to be filled with people.
With less than 48 hours until I depart from this city I've grown to love, I am unable to write a concise blog entry about all the thoughts swirling in my head. While I've tried to process experiences and conversations and sights and sounds as they've entered my mind this summer, I feel as though all I can do right now is continue to live into each moment here right up until the time my plane takes off. What I continue to be reminded of this week though is that so much of what I've learned this summer is not specific to this place, but applies to life in general. Many of these lessons have taken the shape of cliches, which works ok for now. "Life's not fair, Life promises nothing, Rome wasn't built in a day, Pick your battles, etc." And I'm probably preaching to the choir by saying that all of these sayings apply to life here as much as life anywhere. I think I've just been reminded of them more in these three months, both in my personal life and in the lives of those around me, than I have in awhile. It's good to be reminded of these truths.
My time here has been incredible and it will be very hard to leave here on Thursday morning. Thank you all for following my adventures all summer! I have really appreciated all the comments, emails, phone calls and prayers more than you might imagine! I will try to post some pictures later tonight so you can see more of the faces and places I will miss dearly.
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Maureen Olson
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random thoughts
ezbeth, are you packed yet? How close are you to the area with the plague outbreak? And finally, how could you get a speeding ticket while you were in Peru. Meems