Live and Let Live

Since I live in the boonies- well about 30-120 minutes away from the main districts of Lima proper (depending on traffic) - I have to commute to and from the outskirts to Barranco- the artsy, Bohemian neighborhood, where my office is located. How do I make this daily commute? By minibus off course! Its not just any minibus or bus system, however. There is a driver and a steward for every bus. The objective of the driver is to drive as fast as possible while maneuvering through the traffic maze. The object of the steward is to cram as many people as possible into the vehicle and collect fares. I’ve learned that its actually much better to get into a overflowing bus than an empty one because if the vehicle is empty, it literally stops every two seconds or whenever people are standing by the road to try to fill the vehicle. The first time that I got into the “convi,” I was a puzzle piece that didn’t fit in the puzzle of human bodies inside. I had to bend by body into a pretzel to fit in as I waved goodbye to my host father through gritted and nervous teethe. But now, Im an expert, totally unafraid of the “public” transportation system of Lima.

On a side note- I noticed that there are an unusual amount of traffic officers in Lima who are women. It turns out that the government in the early 2000’s implemented a program to replace male traffic cops with female traffic cops as a way to reduce corruption. At first, there was a huge backlash- and some taxi cab drivers even tried to run over the women- but not it seems better. As a side project, I’m planning to look into the effectiveness of the program and to see if gender norms have normalized since the inceptions of the program. Any article suggestions from anyone about the topic?

Update on showers: I’ve switched from morning to afternoon showers as a coping mechanism since the days are hot and humid. A cold shower actually feels pretty good.