The day Lima stops in it's tracks...

...is today. 

It's actually a national holiday recognizing the Catholic day of Immaculate Conception. Today, Catholics acknowledge Mary as being born without sin. All the stores are closed. University classes are cancelled. There are parades in the streets of Lima. 

But that's not why the city comes to a halt. 

It's because today everyone will watch the most important soccer game in Peru, the U vs. Alianza. These two club teams generate the most polarizing rivalry in the country and play a few times each year in what is called "El Clasico" or the Classic match. 

There will be lots of beer, lots of chicharrones and no work today. Everyone is staying at home to watch the game this afternoon. 

As for me, I might have to pick my team today. 

Neighboring Bolivia's Presidential Election Today

Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president, is posed to be reelected today in a landslide. 

When Evo closed his campaign on Friday, polls reported that he had 55% of the vote, compared to 18% garnered by right candidate Reyes Villa and 15% by center candidate 10%. 

He wouldn't even be running for a second term, but in 2008, through referendum, Evo Morales created a new constitution that, among other reforms, allowed him to run for another five year term. 

The New York Times published an article about the elections yesterday, and explained a bit about the Evo controversy:

“Evo himself,” said Mr. Calla, the anthropologist, “could be considered the authoritarian left.” Contributing to this classification, he argued, was Mr. Morales’s resistance to cooperating with other parties, threats to jail opponents and the celebration of his administration in government-paid advertising. Mr. Calla called the government’s exuberance over Mr. Morales’s achievements “a cult of personality” in the making.

Cambio, a state-controlled daily newspaper à la Granma in Cuba, created by Mr. Morales this year, offers an example of this fanfare. Its lead article last Sunday described Puerto Evo Morales, a pioneer settlement in the north. A comic-book insert, “Evo: From the People for the People,” championed Mr. Morales’s rise from poverty.

There are concrete reasons for Mr. Morales’s popularity. The foremost may be the sustained growth of Bolivia’s landlocked economy, drawing plaudits from economists impressed with its accumulation of more than $7 billion in hard-currency reserves, even though the country is still plagued by persistent levels of extreme poverty.

Despite the financial crisis and a drop in natural gas export revenues, Bolivia’s economy is estimated to have grown as much as 4 percent this year, one of the highest rates in the region, helped by stimulus spending on welfare programs for children, pregnant women and the elderly.

“Even the I.M.F. is happy with Bolivia’s economy; imagine the irony of that,” said Gonzalo Chávez, a Harvard-educated economist here, referring to Mr. Morales’s often pointed criticism of Washington’s multilateral institutions, like the International Monetary Fund.

As for me, I won't be going to Bolivia anytime soon. He charges all Americans an entry fee of $130. Compared to entering Peru--where I supposedly should have been charged $20 upon entry but wasn't--that's a big sum of money. 

Plus, the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia was recently kicked out and Evo has accused the U.S. anti-drug forces of conspiring against him. Let's just say it's not the best time for me to take a Bolivian vacation.

One last note: If you're the video type, AFP put out a short 2-minute clip on the elections this week.

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.