Peruvian Pirates, Ar Ar

They're pirates alright, except they traded in the eyepatch for a nice big copy machine. 

One victim of these pirates who spoke out angrily last week is Alfredo Bryce Echenique, 2002 winner of the Spanish literary award Premio Planeta. He is known worldwide for his novel "Un mundo para Julius (A World for Julius)" that exposes classist Peru. 

This week, Bryce has been throwing fireballs at Indecopi. 

Indecopi, short for the "National Institute of Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property," is the government agency charged with "the mission of watching over the loyal and honest competition in Peru."

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Before we continue, let me interject my relevant personal observations:

Indecopi's mission statement? Ironic at best. Without fail, every Indecopi employee must pass at least one store openly selling pirated intellectual property before arriving at work every morning. 

Peruvian pirates own the books, music and DVD market here. After one week here, I was desperate for a movie. I learned that the black market is the only option. Own four DVDs for $3.30.

You might have more luck finding a legitimate book store than a movie store, but you won't find a good price. It's like the cell phone thing (see previous post)--it doesn't make economic sense to buy the real thing for three times as much, no matter how ethical you are.

It's not like these shady businesses operate undercover either. There are whole streets, whole markets purely dedicated to pirated books, music or DVDs.

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But back to Indecopi vs. Bryce:

Indecopi recently charged Bryce with 16 separate counts of plagiarism. His fine? $20,000. 

It's true. More recently, Bryce has become notorious for plagiarizing articles by journalists, authors and diplomats and publishing them widely.

But obviously, Bryce agrees with me that the agency charging him is a sham. He published an opinion piece in the Peruvian magazine Caretas accusing Indecopi of being responsible for the robbery of at least one million dollars in pirated copies of his novels. He relates his experience of a book fair signing at which a number of fans brought pirated copies for him to sign.

Bryce doesn't deny plagiarizing. Instead, he proposes a deal for Indecopi. 

He'll drop their debt to him down to $300,000 dollars instead of a million, and he'll subtract the $20,ooo for his plagiarism penalty. That way Indecopi only has to pay him $280,000. 

The irony of this whole situation Bryce sums up in one line: "Why and how did I become, more than anything, the only pirate that has existed in the history of Peru?" 

He's right: how is it that the world famous novelist gets the plank while the real pirates are banking on his literary genius? 

Sorry Bryce. Looks like it's only Christmas for the pirates. Arrr.

Bin Laden for Christmas?

How would you like it if someone gave you "Bin Laden" for Christmas? Maybe a lot. Maybe in a box otherwise known as a coffin. Maybe in a uncomfortable and dark jail cell.

In Peru, you can actually "give" Bin Laden as a gift. On Christmas eve here, people wait until midnight and then join their neighbors in the streets to shoot off fireworks.  The brand names of two of the biggest fireworks sold in Peru are "Rata Blanca" (Black Rat) and "Bin Laden." 

When I first heard that, I wondered if I should be offended.

But then I thought about the joy I would have in shooting Bin Laden into the air and watching him blow into bits in the wee hours of Christmas morning. I felt better.

Turns out they've also had Bin Laden Champagne in Peru for Christmas.

I must be really thirsty.

Or I just inherited a keen interest in water from my Colorado family. Anyway, I found this interesting article on MSNBC's World Blog about the shrinking sources of water in Peru. 

I thought Arequipa's blueouts were bad, but this piece revealed some disturbing facts about Peru's capital:

1) Lima is the second largest city, after Cairo, located in a desert.

2) Two million of Lima's eight million people don't have access to running water.

They've got some ideas to solve this water shortage, including a joint dam project (see The Economist) between Cuzco and Puno in the Peruvian jungle.

There's just one problem. The dam's reservoir would flood 120 kms of a new interstate highway between Brazil and Peru that's already under construction. A little interagency miscommunication makes for a big water problem.

P.S. It's still hasn't rained. That brings the count to 123 days without a drop.

The (Customs) Grinch That Stole Christmas

This will be my first Christmas without my family, and without a big pile of gifts. 

Knowing this, my wonderful grandparents (see previous awesome g'rents mention) decided to make me feel more at home. They sent me a box of presents, wrapping each individual item separately to make my present volume appear greater. As you can see, our coffee table is now overflowing with Christmas cheer! 

But the customs grinch stole a large part of the excitement. 

Apparently, Peruvian customs randomly selects a group of packages from abroad for inspection. In other words, they go through each one and make sure neither the content nor the recipient is suspicious. 

Guess who's package was selected. Yep. I got a letter saying I needed to go down to the post office's special customs service with my passport and two copies between the hours of 8:30-10 am and 2-3 p.m. 

This morning, I waited one hour. As if that wasn't grinchy enough, once I sat in front of the customs inspector, he asked me to open the box. He then proceeded to open every single Christmas present in front of me. I screamed for help! 

"He's torturing me! He's ruining my Christmas!"

But my cries were only heard by other postal employees, and by their reactions, I wouldn't be surprised if "going postal" was also a problem in Peru. 

Okay, I really didn't say that. But I did try to politely ask, "Excuse me, sir, will we be opening every single gift?" 

He let off a little bit, and left me the biggest and nicest-wrapped present for me to open later. 

I decided not to mention that if any of these gifts were drugs, that one probably would have been about the right size. I didn't want my only Christmas surprise left to be ruined, after all. 

SerPost Peru, you stole my Christmas! 

Real music

This song "Strong Peru" gives a glimpse into 

the Peruvian experience, and the pride many who've 

left still have for their country.

Peru Bravo

[Acoustic] Es el flow de peruanos, estilo de limeños, 

It's the flow of Peruvians, the style of Limenians, 

vamos que romperla así

we're gonna break it like this.

[Sola] Mi tierra, mi sangre, mi paz y mi guerra

My land, my blood, my peace and my war
Los tantos recuerdos que queman 

The many memories that burn

Quisiera contarte mi amor y mis penas 

I would like to tell you my love and my sorrows

Y lo que el viento no se lleva
And what the wind doesn't take with it.

[Youngsta] Crecí en un barrio humilde así como otro cualquiera

I grew up in a humble neighborhood like any other person

Desde chico supelo que es ectaxis marihuana era 

As a boy I knew what ecstasy and marijuana were

Cemento roto cuando caminaba por la acera 

Broken cement as I walked on the sidewalk

Siempre ambulantes ocupando la cuadra entera

Ambulances always occupying the whole block

Los crimenes en mi distrito eran algo diario 

Crime in my district was a daily thing

Y en mi vecindario las madres rezan rosarios

And in my neighborhood the mothers pray with rosaries.

Encomendándoles sus hijos al señor para no verlos en cárcel 

Entrusting their sons to God so they wouldn't see them in jail 

acusados por sicarios

assaulted by hit men

La pobreza el símbolo de hambre y tristeza

Poverty, the symbol of hunger and sadness

Sinónimo de no tener un pan sobre la mesa 

Synonymous of not having bread on the table
Por eso hay varones que prefieren el robo porque  

That's why there's guys that prefer to rob because

no encuentran trabajo

they can't find work,

Y mendigar es para bobos 

And begging is for fools.

Puedes encontrar paredes pintadas de amenazas 

You can find walls painted with threats

Doctores e ingenieros manejando taxi en plazas 

Doctors and engineers driving taxis in the plazas.

Debido al sistema todo el mundo está en la ñuña 

Thanks to the system everyone is in the ______?

Por eso lloro cuando soplo mi zampoña 

That's why I cry when I blow my zampoña (flute)

Pero por más problemas que mi patria siempre tenga

But for all the problems that my country always has

Yo represento Lima

I represent Lima

venga lo que venga

come what may.

Mi historia es mucho más que corrupciones gobernamentales 

My history is much more than government corruption

Mas que exportación de coca dentro de tamales

More than coca exported inside tamales
Está basada en riquezas naturales, musica criolla, carnavales

It's based in natural wealth, Criolle music and Carnaval

En Costa, Sierra y Selva y bellezas naturales 

The coast, the highlands and jungle and natural beauty

Como el Macchupicchu centro del Tahuantinsuyo

Like Machu Picchu centered in Tawantinsuyu,

Imperio de los Incas y lo digo con orgullo 

the Incan Empire, and I say with pride,

Casa de Tupac Amaru, el quechua y el aymara 

the home of Tupac Amaru, Quechua and Aymara

Y estos hechos dieron fuerzas para que yo hasta cantara 

And these facts give me strength enough to sing

Y empezara mis huellas dejara, fronteras pasara 

And start to leave my footprints through borders

Con Sola y Fakta cantara, mi patria representara 

With Sola and Fakta singing, my country represents

Peruanos con sabiduría real y fulgor 

Peruvians with real wisdom and brilliance

Te sigo Peru bravo en la alegría y el dolor

I follow you strong Peru through the happiness and the pain

Por siempre, tu sabes, te sigo Peru bravo en la alegría y el dolor

Forever, you know, I follow you strong Peru in happiness & pain

[Sola] Mi tierra, mi sangre, mi paz y mi guerra

My land, my blood, my peace and my war
Los tantos recuerdos que queman 

The many memories that burn

Quisiera contarte mi amor y mis penas 

I would like to tell you my love and my sorrows

Y lo que el viento no se lleva
And what the wind doesn't take with it.

Flor de la Canela, sabor del manjar

The "Flor de la Canela," the flavor of caramel

El tiempo pasa más lento en mi hogar

The time passes slower in my home 

Calores más libres, susurro del mar 

Freer warmth, the whisper of the ocean

Las luces de la avenida Petit Thouars

The lights on Petit Thouars avenue

I didn't translate the last verse because it's the "shout out" 

to themselves part of the song and was harder to translate, 

but you get the idea.