Peru's Government Website Hacked!

I guess I'm a few weeks late on relaying this quite ridiculous piece of news. Some pro-Chile hackers broke into Peru's government website. My favorite "super snarky leftist blog" on Latin America, Borev.net, has the scoop.

Happy Birthday Señora Delia!

Close Your Eyes and Hold On!

Every day at around 3:30 p.m., I go to Cayma, a neighborhood about 15 minutes away, to teach private English classes. There is no bus that goes directly. I could take two buses but that takes about 45 minutes. 

So I take a taxi for about 6 soles ($2). Can you imagine a $2 fare for a 15-minute taxi ride in NYC? No, because they don't exist!

Anyway, I've figured out some general rules in Peru, as taxis can be dangerous and the prices are never posted or metered:

1) Ask at least three people (not taxi drivers) what a good fare is for your destination. Why three? Many people just don't know what the price should be, but to be nice, they tell you anyway. About three people should be enough to triangulate the correct price. 

2) Once you know, hail a taxi that has a blue diamond sticker on the window (that means they're licensed). Give a polite greeting. Tell them where you are going, EXACTLY. If you miss even by a few blocks, upon arrival they will hassle you for more money. The taxi driver will then tell you if he goes there or not. 

3) Here's the tough part. Once you've agreed on the location, agree on a price before getting in the cab. Usually they offer one sol or 50 cents more than the just price, and you negotiate it down. But for tourists, I've noticed I get prices that are 3-4 soles more than the just price. 

Note about negotiating: Bargaining in Peru has some special unspoken rules. For example, if you want a lower price, you need to give a reason even if it's just a sentence long (I go every day and they never charge me more than 5, etc...). Then the taxi driver presents his reason why the price should be higher (it's a steep incline to get there, traffic, etc...). There should be maybe two offers per person, not more. It shouldn't take more than 20 seconds. If you don't get the price you want in that time, it's okay to say, "Thanks, but I can't pay that. Goodbye."

4) Get in fast and lock all the doors immediately. There are lots of cases of robbers trying to get into cabs. 

5) If you're a woman, don't engage in polite conversation with the cab driver unless he's significantly older than you. They take that as an open door to hit on you.  

6) Don't pay until you arrive exactly at where you want to be. If at the end of the ride, they say they didn't know they had to go this far, offer to get out where you are and pay the fare you agreed on. 

7) Close your eyes and hold on. Imagine a NYC taxi driving a tiny car in a city without any stop signs and you get the idea.

Lúcuma ice cream at a Baskin Robbins near you!

Thanks to the Amazon it shares with Brazil, Peru has many varieties of fruits and vegetables that are totally new to me. 

This one is called lúcuma (LOU-cou-ma). 

It's has a sweet flavor and it's meat's texture is more like hard-boiled egg yolk than anything else I can think of. 

I, personally, wasn't a fan of the fruit itself but I do like lúcuma-flavored things. 

For example, I've fallen in love with the quantity and variety of drinkable yogurts they have here. Peruvians drink their yogurt like there's no tomorrow. They sell it by the liter. 

Among the eight liters I drank the week I discovered them are a few of lúcuma (right front, for example):

Interestingly, Wikipedia (ha!) tells me that Peruvians prefer lúcuma-flavored ice cream over the traditional strawberry, chocolate and vanilla. 

I can actually believe that; we were at an ice cream shop and a little boy who was waiting in line kept staring at me (it's the blonde hair, I hope). So I asked him what he was going to order.

"One scoop lúcuma, one scoop strawberry," he said. After that, I paid attention and nearly all the little kids there ordered lúcuma with something else.

Looks like they're growing this friendly fruit in parts of California and Florida. Prepare yourself--any day now, lúcuma ice cream will be invading a Baskin Robbins near you!

Next time you want to buy a gold necklace...

...watch this video first: