La Rutina Diaria
We're getting settled in here in Lima, and a daily routine is starting to fall into place. I like it!
First of all, my WB job is working out after all--despite the bureaucratic idiosyncrasies of the Bank, I went in on Tuesday at lunchtime to meet my boss and ended up starting work that afternoon. And if all goes well, they are even going to pay me something! Work so far is going well--I'm quickly learning what data does and does not exist, the exciting first step of any analysis project. But even better, the office environment is really great. I share an office with three Peruvians who are in the post-undergrad/pre-grad school junior associate program at the Bank--exactly the same type of job in which I spent most of my billable hours over the past 6 years. So, we have a lot in common in that respect. They are all very nice, and it's cool that I instantly have young Peruvian friends. I haven't hung out with them yet outside of work, but I hope I get a chance soon. Everyone else in the office seems nice too--I've met a bunch of them in the lunchroom or around the office but at this point I can only remember about 3 names. The best thing is that they are all Peruvian, but they all also speak fluent English. Which means that the social language of the office is definitely Spanish, and I can listen and speak somewhat when I'm involved, but if I can think of how to say something I can just switch to English and they all understand. It's not the trial-by-fire that an entirely Spanish speaking workplace would be, but it's a nice balance that I'm comfortable with.
Another daily thing is getting to and from work. I decided that walking 50 minutes a day in heels was excessive and unnecessary, so I learned how to take the bus. Since I only ride about 5 minutes down one street it's really not that hard--I can hop on any bus and I'm on for too little a time to get hassled--but it's still a notch or two more stressful then riding the bus in Santiago. The main thing is that you have to verbally tell the guy when to stop (you yell "I'm getting off at X street"), and since raising my voice and emphasizing my imperfect pronunciation is *always* my favorite thing to do (hah), preparing to get off raises my blood pressure a bit. I try to get on the bigger busses, because they are usually less crowded and there's a greater chance that someone else will get getting off at (and thus calling) my stop.
The third element of my daily routine is that we found a pool and started swimming! It's much more formal than in Chile (which was technically supposed to be more formal than it turned out to be), so we had to sign up for a "class" and pick a fixed time to go--we're swimming Tuesday and Thursday from 7 to 8 pm, and Saturday morning from 8 to 9. At first we were worried they would give us a hard time about wanting to swim laps rather than learning how to swim, but it turns out the standard procedure is somewhere in between a class and a masters team. The "teacher" is more like a coach, who helps people with their technique but also writes a 2-3000M workout every day. We can either do our own thing or do the workout, and it's nice to have some variety. Three hours a week at a decent pace is definitely more swimming than I did in Chile, so I'm psyched to actually keep in shape here! Hopefully it will do slightly more than just balance out the 9 hours a day I'll be spending in an office...
So now that the basic structure is in place I'm looking forward to filling my free time with gatherings with friends, visiting the city's tourist sites and good restaurants, and some weekend excursions. Yesterday we spent the afternoon eating delicious ceviche and relaxing at a private pool/football/cricket club (yes, originally British) with one of Taylor's academic contacts (the most middle-class of all of Lima's private clubs, our hosts assured us). It was a nice afternoon all around, but talking with the two couples was a particularly interesting glimpse at our potential future as an academic ex-pat family. I don't need to write a ton about it, analysis-wise, but I just wanted to note it here so that I'm reminded of it later on. Duly noted.
First of all, my WB job is working out after all--despite the bureaucratic idiosyncrasies of the Bank, I went in on Tuesday at lunchtime to meet my boss and ended up starting work that afternoon. And if all goes well, they are even going to pay me something! Work so far is going well--I'm quickly learning what data does and does not exist, the exciting first step of any analysis project. But even better, the office environment is really great. I share an office with three Peruvians who are in the post-undergrad/pre-grad school junior associate program at the Bank--exactly the same type of job in which I spent most of my billable hours over the past 6 years. So, we have a lot in common in that respect. They are all very nice, and it's cool that I instantly have young Peruvian friends. I haven't hung out with them yet outside of work, but I hope I get a chance soon. Everyone else in the office seems nice too--I've met a bunch of them in the lunchroom or around the office but at this point I can only remember about 3 names. The best thing is that they are all Peruvian, but they all also speak fluent English. Which means that the social language of the office is definitely Spanish, and I can listen and speak somewhat when I'm involved, but if I can think of how to say something I can just switch to English and they all understand. It's not the trial-by-fire that an entirely Spanish speaking workplace would be, but it's a nice balance that I'm comfortable with.
Another daily thing is getting to and from work. I decided that walking 50 minutes a day in heels was excessive and unnecessary, so I learned how to take the bus. Since I only ride about 5 minutes down one street it's really not that hard--I can hop on any bus and I'm on for too little a time to get hassled--but it's still a notch or two more stressful then riding the bus in Santiago. The main thing is that you have to verbally tell the guy when to stop (you yell "I'm getting off at X street"), and since raising my voice and emphasizing my imperfect pronunciation is *always* my favorite thing to do (hah), preparing to get off raises my blood pressure a bit. I try to get on the bigger busses, because they are usually less crowded and there's a greater chance that someone else will get getting off at (and thus calling) my stop.
The third element of my daily routine is that we found a pool and started swimming! It's much more formal than in Chile (which was technically supposed to be more formal than it turned out to be), so we had to sign up for a "class" and pick a fixed time to go--we're swimming Tuesday and Thursday from 7 to 8 pm, and Saturday morning from 8 to 9. At first we were worried they would give us a hard time about wanting to swim laps rather than learning how to swim, but it turns out the standard procedure is somewhere in between a class and a masters team. The "teacher" is more like a coach, who helps people with their technique but also writes a 2-3000M workout every day. We can either do our own thing or do the workout, and it's nice to have some variety. Three hours a week at a decent pace is definitely more swimming than I did in Chile, so I'm psyched to actually keep in shape here! Hopefully it will do slightly more than just balance out the 9 hours a day I'll be spending in an office...
So now that the basic structure is in place I'm looking forward to filling my free time with gatherings with friends, visiting the city's tourist sites and good restaurants, and some weekend excursions. Yesterday we spent the afternoon eating delicious ceviche and relaxing at a private pool/football/cricket club (yes, originally British) with one of Taylor's academic contacts (the most middle-class of all of Lima's private clubs, our hosts assured us). It was a nice afternoon all around, but talking with the two couples was a particularly interesting glimpse at our potential future as an academic ex-pat family. I don't need to write a ton about it, analysis-wise, but I just wanted to note it here so that I'm reminded of it later on. Duly noted.
posted by HelenO at
2:02 PM
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