Expatriates in Peru Facebook Group - Click to checkout the page.

Expatriates in Peru is the best place on Facebook to talk about Peru.  They recently added their 1,000th member.  It was started by a fellow expat in September of 2009 and continues to grow and thrive.   There are lots of new posts everyday and hundreds of comments that go along with them.  The group is very active!

It is an excellent place for people to get timely answers to any questions they might have about Peru, network, make new friends and share information and ideas.  The group is open to anyone interested in Peru.  It is an extremely diverse group and many of the members get together on a  fairly regular basis to have a good time.  Most of the members live in Peru, so getting accurate accurate information based on experience is the norm.

If you are interested in checking out the group, click HERE.

Click HERE to read another great story about the Expatriates in Peru Group.

]]> http://saboraselva.com/blog/2012/01/20/expatriates-in-peru-facebook-group/feed/ 0 http://saboraselva.com/blog/2012/01/19/sopa-strike-and-saboraselva-com/ http://saboraselva.com/blog/2012/01/19/sopa-strike-and-saboraselva-com/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:57:20 +0000 scoot http://saboraselva.com/blog/?p=1090

SOPA PIPA Strike 2012

Yesterday a lot of the internet went symbolically dark to protest Hollywood’s attempt to hijack the internet, this site included.  Thank you for your patience.  If you live in the US please contact your legislators.  Outside the US, please contact the US State Department.  http://sopastrike.com/.  Please remain vigilant, they will try make some cosmetic changes to the bills and push them through.  Remember too, this is a bi-partisan issue with ill informed and technically illiterate politicians trying to push through bills with the aid  of their lobbyists.

Map of the Pucallpa Zoo

Yesterday we went to the Pucallpa Zoo for the first time since we moved back to Peru in 2009.  I have very personal ties to the zoo.  In 1999 I donated my zoo in Pucallpa consisting of over 100 mammals and reptiles plus about 100 or so birds to the Pucallpa Zoo.  They still had quite a few of them in 2003, the last time I visited the zoo but not anymore.  Back to the visit… Kelly, Mama Rosa and I all hopped into a motokar and headed off to the zoo.  From the center of the city expect to pay 3 or 4 soles to get there. Make sure you and the driver agree you will be taken to then entrance of the park.  The zoo is located at km4.2 on the Carretera Federico Basadre LINK.  Once you turn off the highway it is still another kilometer to the zoo.  The last bit of the road is a muddy nightmare during the rainy season.   Currently the zoo is in a state of chaos, which in this case, is a good thing.  They were awarded about 6 million soles(over US$2 million) to upgrade and repair the zoo.  There is ongoing construction in almost every portion of the park.  The zoo has a long and storied past, it has seen it good times and bad, right now times are great!

Lilies in bloom - Pucallpa, Peru © 2012 Saboraselva.com

The entrance fee is S/. 3.00(about US$1.20) for adults and 1 sol for students.  Like everywhere else in Peru, make sure you are prepared.  Bring a camera!  You never know what you are going to see.  Also take insect repellent, sunscreen, toilet paper and some snacks. Oh, and it being the rainy season, bring an umbrella, just in case!  I posted a map of the zoo.  As the map says, ‘use it to locate your favorite animal.’   You can expect to spend about 3 hours exploring the zoo, snacking and enjoying the beauty of the park. Enjoy the photos  and I will be posting more on Facebook.

We were walking along when Kelly spotted the most colorful and beautiful caterpillar we had ever seen.  And yes, it does have a tail.

This is a vulture, believe it or not:

An Ocelot having a nap:

Spider Monkeys or maquisapa as they are known here having a good time:

Spider monkeys - Maquisapa © 2012 Saboraselva.com

Wooley Monkeys or Mono Choro as they are known here:

Woolly Monkeys - Mono Choro © 2010 Saboraselva.com

I am a nerd and while going through my news updates today I came across an interesting article on noise pollution and how a new application called NoiseTube was being used to track it.  The app works with either iOS or Android devices.  I downloaded the Android version and will start monitoring noise around Pucallpa and report back.  So, do your part!  Download this and help track the noise in your neighborhood, be it in Peru or elsewhere in the world.

Why bother?  The noise here is one of the few things that really bothers me and is out of my control.  Now I have a tremendously useful tool to measure it.  Interested, check out the article on mashable.

http://mashable.com/2012/01/11/noisetube-noise-pollution/

“We live in very, very loud world. With cars whizzing past, construction sites pounding away, ambulances roaring around and the dull ache of idle chatter constantly bombarding the sound wall, it’s easy to get overwhelmed in a noisy environment. And there’s good reason for that: Although it’s usually pushed into the background, noise is actually a form of pollution.”

 

 

• Some visitors may have noticed my weather feature stopped working back in November.  My data provider(weather.com) decided to switch from a free to paid model and I have been busy with other projects to update it.  So… I have the code rewritten and will be testing it soon using wunderground.com as my data source.  Still have some formatting and display issues, but it is getting there!  - update(working now).
• Fixed the translation code.  Now using Google translate to provide non-Enlgish translations of the website.

Have a Safe, Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Scott

But the best addition for 2011? Our vote goes to Dulcemania.  It is located at Jr. Raymondi #389(Next to the Yamaha dealership).  The service is top rate. No jumping up and down or snapping your fingers here for service, they actually wait on you!  They offer free wi-fi, you need to ask for the code for the day. They also have air conditioning which makes it even more appealing.  There is also an upstairs area that is like a lounge where you can just relax and enjoy surfing the net while chatting with friends.

They offer wonderful tea, coffee, espresso, iced coffee drinks.  Their selection of freshly prepared juices is second to none and always made to order.  Their desserts are to die for, as my wife would say.  They have the best desserts without a doubt.  You can also pick up a empanada or quiche as well.  The owner is a professional pastry chef and her staff is amazing.  They make custom orders as well at very reasonable prices.

If you are in Pucallpa, be sure to check them out!

© 2011 Saboraselva.com

We hope everyone has a great weekend!  Monday is Halloween which is not the most widely celebrated ‘holiday’ here, but is gaining in popularity.  Tuesday is a national holiday, Dia de los Muertos aka Day of the Dead.  We will be going to the cemetery to pay our respects to all our friends and family that have passed away.

Sunflowers for Kelly

It has been quite some time since my last update.  We have been rather busy the last few months.  As the title of the post suggests, we have been back in Peru for two years now.  It has not been easy, but we are doing well.  There are few things that we can’t control and are a constant source of frustration, namely; the noise, the uncared for dogs that proliferate the streets and cause untold chaos and of course, the dust.

Here are the highlights of the last month: 

• Kelly and I recently celebrated our 13^th wedding anniversary.  Even after all this time, we love each other just as much, if not more than when were first married.  She is an amazing woman and I cherish every moment we spend together.
• We have been back in Peru for just over two years.  I have been a legal resident of Peru for nearly two years.  What does that mean?  Well, I am going to apply for citizenship based on marriage.  The process is very straight forward and not especially complicated.  I can start the process on or after November 6^th. I will write about it and my personal experience as I go through the process.  Many people have asked me why I want Peruvian citizenship, there is no simple answer and it is very personal to me. That said citizenship does have its advantages.  No more twice a year trips to DIGEMIN to update my CE.  I will no longer be required to get a visa to travel to places like Bolivia and Brazil.
• I quit working at the university and now teach private classes.  My students are my boss and if they don’t like my teaching style or methodology, they will let me know.  So far things have been going well.  We continue to add new students.  In addition to regular classes, we offer conversation classes.  I have two advanced groups and one basic group.
• Kelly has quite a few private students.  She is also teaching Spanish.  If you are interested in learning Spanish and would like more information, leave a comment on this post and Kelly will email you.  Classes are available locally or via Skype.  Rates are reasonable.
• I am completely recovered from the plague that put me in the hospital.  I have gained about 4kg or just under 9lbs.
• Kelly has just about completed her master’s program; she will be finished in February.  At that time we plan on taking a month off to relax and recharge before Kelly really gets into writing her thesis.
• My garden is doing great.  I was supposed to write about that a few months ago.  It is amazing what living so close to the equator does for a garden.  I have grown everything from seed and learned a few valuable lessons along the way.  In 45 days my tomatoes went from seed to over a meter tall.  They are starting to bloom, so I should have tomatoes for as long as I take care of the plants.  There is nothing to tell them to stop producing.  I should have my first papayas in about 45 days.  My pumpkins grew too fast and in the end, I only have one pumpkin for Halloween.  In the States it took a good 90-120 days to grow them, here… about 60 days to my first harvestable pumpkins.  The only thing holding me back is the lack of decent soil.  There is a reason it is called Pucallpa.  It is Quechua for ‘red earth’ which is really clay.
• We had the house rewired.  Now 2/3 of the house is connected to the earth grounding system we had installed.  I asked the electrician when he was here if many people have such a system.  He replied that he has not seen many.  It isn’t cheap but it was worth it.  Nothing like being able to turn on a light without having a strong flow of electricity course through your body.
• We had a new water tank and pump installed.  Nice to have water 24/7 as opposed to the past.  Pucallpa doesn’t have metered water, so if you are connected to the city system, like we are; you get water for a total of 12 hours a day.
• We installed an 18,000BTU split unit air conditioning system.  It is awesome, but we generally use it only when we are teaching.

Since returning to Peru in 2009:

• We have made substantial repairs to the house, including:  a new laundry room and kitchen.
• Kelly and I have made some really good friends via this blog.  There is not a whole lot of information about Pucallpa available in English, so we get a lot of inquiries from people all over the world.

The future:

• Still on the list, repair the pool.  It is really frustrating to have a pool, but not be able to use it.  Need to install a pump and filtration system.
• Add a roof to cover the second floor of the house, hopefully before the rainy season.
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http://www.cnr.org.pe/nota.shtml?x=5492

I wrote this about a week ago, but wanted to wait to post it.  As of yesterday (Sept 8^th), I was finally given a green light to resume eating normally and leave the house! I am not allowed to have caffeine again, but honestly, after a few days I did not miss it at all.  I have a few weeks left on the meds they prescribed me, but I can honestly say I feel 100% better than I did just two weeks ago.  I have a few months of recovery ahead of me, but thanks to the great medical care I received, I am well on my way to a full and complete recovery.

A true story, what I will call the ‘Perfect Storm of Illness.’  A few months ago I got sick, I thought it was nothing and would be better in a few days.  A few days turned into a few weeks, I knew something wasn’t right, but I refused to go to the doctor.  After about a month of feeling really ill, I went to the pharmacy to get some medicine to treat parasites.  I followed the course of treatment and, for a few days, felt a lot better.

Then it happened…  On August 26^th I finally asked my wife to take me to the doctor. I had started to run a fever and was not able to keep food down.  I had lost almost 40 pounds (this on top of the 25 I lost when I had dengue in 2009).  We went to a private clinic, Monte Horeb, which is great by Pucallpa standards.  They did blood and urine tests and determined that I did indeed have parasites, just not the kind the medicine I took would kill.  So, they gave me an IV because I was dehydrated and prescribed a course of treatment for five days.  I thought I was getting better over the weekend, so much so, that I made plans with a friend on Tuesday.  We were chatting Monday night and I was OK.  About 3AM Tuesday, I woke up feeling like I was going to die.  I did not want to wake my wife, so I waited until about 6AM and told her I needed to go to the hospital.  We got a motokar and went to the Pucallpa Regional Hospital.  It is not the nicest place in the world, but they do take good care of people, given the resources they have available.  We saw the doctor that treated me at the private clinic; she works at the hospital as do about 90% of the doctors here.

The parasites had really done a number on my body and were increasing in my blood stream at a near exponential rate, from 3% to 5% of my blood volume in less than 24 hours.  They hospitalized me and I spend the next three days receiving 11 liters of IV fluids and a cocktail of drugs to treat the parasites and other conditions that had developed as a result of my weakened state.  Being in a public hospital is inexpensive, even by Peruvian standards.

Here are some sample fees:

• The fee for a consultation is 10 soles ($USD 3.60).
• Lab tests are very affordable, 10-20 soles ($USD3.6-7.20).
• An Ultrasound, 40 soles, about $15.  This included the imaging and the technician’s analysis.
• An X-ray was S/. 10.
• The room was shared and cost a little over USD$2 dollars a day.  Yes, really… S/. 6.00 Per day. Food is not included.

The hospital does not supply any medications, the DR prescribes medications and you buy (from the hospital or pharmacy) them to have a nurse administer them.  The hospital sells the drugs at cost, there is NO profit, none.  Finally, by Thursday evening (Sept 1^st), I was well enough to be released.

I can’t even begin to thank my family here in Peru for their support while I was in the hospital.  My nephew is a DR, not at the hospital I was at, but nearby and came to check on me several times.  His wife stayed with me while my wife worked.  Several Aunts and Uncles came by, a few cousins.  It was so nice to have them there.  Kelly stayed with me at night and slept off and on, while watching over me.  She had to chase down DRs and nurses to get help, make sure my meds were administered on schedule and things like that.  She translated for me when I was delirious. The whole time I was there, I spent about 8 hours alone and it wasn’t too bad.  I was able to communicate with the DRs just fine and my listening skills are nearly flawless.  I am speaking more and more everyday and soon, within a year, I should be fluent in Spanish. I try to spend at least 3-4 hours a day speaking Spanish.

What I learned:

• Most DRs know English, but never developed listening skills.  They can read and understand written English, as their medical texts are mostly in English.  If you do not speak Spanish, you can try writing things down, they will know what you are talking about.  My vocabulary is quite extensive, but non-Latin technical Spanish terms still get me from time to time.
• The doctors and nurses are very caring and passionate about their work.
• If you are sick with a jungle illness, the best place for you is the public hospital.
• They are doing the job because they love helping people, not to get rich.  A doctor at the public hospital is paid S/. 2500 per month, less than USD$1,000.  A Specialist can earn about double that. Compare this to Brazil where the doctors just over the border from Peru make S/. 6000 per month, without a specialty.
• Listen to your body and go to the doctor, being ill here is not to be taken lightly.
• Above all, DO NOT drink the WATER, not even boiled.  Use only bottled water.  No restaurant (in Pucallpa) boils their water… So cremoladas, refrescos and ice should only be consumed at home and NEVER use tap water only bottled water.  If you want to debate this, by all mean, go for it.
• Go to the public hospital, you are going to be treated by the same doctors as the private clinics. Service is slower, but it is substantially less expensive.
• I spent about S/. 750 for both the private clinic and the hospital.  The same care in the US would have cost about USD$50,000.

I have been waiting for months to have a decent, legit source of movies and TV shows available for online streaming.  So here is my review after several hours of watching, searching and generally being disappointed.  However, it is free for 30 days!

• Cost?  USD$7.99 per month, billable to a Visa or Mastercard only, no American Express.
• How is the service?  Great, even with my crappy internet connection I am able to stream content without buffering.
• Is it flexible?  No, not really.  You can not stream through an Xbox like you can in the States.  Another option: The Wii, however, the picture quality is less than optimal.   The other options are using a PS3, or an internet enable HDTV, which I believe they support one model. Mobile devices are also not supported at this time.
• How is the library?  To be honest, LAME!  There are NO new releases, hardly any TV shows and the shows that are advertised aren’t actually available?!?!?  Season 1-6 of The Office, wrong… only seasons 1 and 2 are partially available.  A lot of the movies are dubbed in Spanish and  have no options to allow for subtitles or secondary audio channels.
• What is it good for?  Watching old movies from the 80′s and 90′s as well as limited selection of Latin American Novelas and a few movies, but mostly from the 70′s and 80′s.

Still interested in a 30day trial, here is a link:  https://signup.netflix.com/