At first I really hated walking to and from work. It is about a 25 to 30 minute walk down a dirty, long and what some have told me “dangerous” street. It is just so hot that by the time I get to work I am sweating and feel like going back home for a shower. But after doing the walk so much it does not feel long at all and I look forward to seeing the same sights along the way.
On one corner the same man sells pastries from the trunk of his car everyday. On another corner a young mom sells newspapers and her 2-year-old baby is always playing on the street while she works, or sometimes she is breast-feeding the baby. I always see the same bike repair shop with the same old and worn looking bike with the sign “se vende” on it. One day I asked how much the bike cost. I thought it could be fun to bike ride to work and I thought they might appreciate getting rid of the bike. However, the bike was too expensive for my salary so now I just look at it every time I walk by. I would really love to buy a motorcycle or something and ride around town the way a Peruvian city is meant to be seen, on a motorcycle. But I think my mom would kill me if I attempted to do that.
Along with some small cevicheries that always have drunken men sitting at outside tables drinking beer and eating ceviche, I also pass by fruit stands selling mangoes or avocado stands. Now that I have been living here for awhile every now and then I pass by someone I know while walking home, a student or a friend or sometimes I hear my name being hollered by someone passing in a mini van, or “cambia” the word Peruvians use to describe the big vans that stuff about 20-30 people in at a time and drive crazily around the street.
One time I saw a women strap her lambs to the roof of a cambia before climbing in wearing her indigenous dress and bowler hat. Another time I myself was stuffed into the cambie so tightly that when the man (or often boy) who works in the cambia opening and closing the door to let people in and out and yelling at every corner where the cambia is going, opened the door to let some people out I almost fell out of the cambia myself. Another time I was so stuffed into the cambia that some lucky Peruvian man got a chance to do a little feeling. There was nothing I could do to stop it at the moment.
Speaking of a little feeling, once I was sleeping on an overnight bus and woke up to someone trying to cop a feel! It was in the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping and it was pitch dark and I was not really sure if I had dreamed it or what and I did not know what I should do! I think if I could go back I would definitely yell and scream, but at the time I just pulled my jacket close to me and turned all the way around from the man next to me.
Wow - neat story. I like the way you expressed that feeling of a walk starting to become more enjoyable once you get used to it and start to notice fun sites to see along the way. It also paints a vivid picture for me of walking along on a hot day and all the sights you might see like the bowler hats and vibrant colored skirts.
It's also very interesting to me how you resolved yourself to take a different course of action should you possibly get felt-up on a bus again in the night. I frequently find myself stunned by new situations and when I later think about it I say to myself "if that happens again, this is what I'm going to do." It really makes sense to me how it is useful to use mental imaging to do better in sports when you visualize yourself in a situation in order to practice responding to it. That real situation on the bus was just the first time you dealt with it - had you practiced dealing with it (self-defense class, or in your head) then you'd be better prepared to deal with it. Eh?
Sure, it's good to think about what you would do, but doing it is another story. I used to get my butt grabbed by bicyclers all the time while I was walking to/from work or wherever in Mexico, and so I decided that the next time that happened I was going to chase the biker and kick their tires so their bike would fall over. Of course when the time actually came, I was wearing high-heeled boots (which is probably what got my ass grabbed in the first place) so all I did was try to run after him, looking like an idiot, and brush the tire with my foot. At least I didn't fall down myself, that would have added insult to injury; or maybe the other way around.
I was thinking more about this one time when Nikki and I were walking down the street after having some Kokoro (mmmm...Kokoro) and this woman in her car pulled out of a parking lot in front of us and paused on the sidewalk where we were walking. She had three little babies with her and she had bruises all over her face and the babies and the mom were all crying. It caught us both so far off guard that we didn't know what the hell to do and she drove off pretty quick. As soon as that happened I realized that the right thing was to see if we could try to help (especially since Nikki was working at a place that could have helped her or at least helped refer her).
Of course, another time we were in a parking lot and a woman asked us for some change for "food and housing" and Nikki said "here's my business card, call me tomorrow morning and I can help you with both of those things" and she wasn't interested in taking it.
DAMN THE MAN! Even local development is tricky sometimes!
You know what I would do now? I would let the guy continue to feel away. I've really loosened up a lot over the years.
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