New Little Routines and Rituals
In the last 15 years or so, many cities around the world have been painting 'look' signs at the ends of pedestrian crossings, to remind people which way to look for traffic. They're especially helpful for one-way streets, and serve as a useful reminder for people visiting from places where traffic drives on the other side of the road. But San Francisco apparently didn't get it-'look' signs there point both ways, even at one-way streets. They totally defeat the purpose.
The San Franciscan version would be useful here in Pisco, though. Although traffic mostly drives on the right, you can never be too sure. My bed overlooks a divided road, and when they close a carriageway for roadwork, they simply put caution tape across it, and leave it for motorists to work it out. Most of them just go to the other side of the median (one or two try their luck with the footpath) and the oncoming traffic usually gets out of the way. Or everything stops. Or they pass each other on the left. Or they use the other footpath. And it usually leads to longer beeping... motorists all beep their horns so much, seemingly as a greeting, so there's a constant beep beep beep-a beep beep all day long, but when they're pissed off, it's more like beeeeep beeeep beeeep-a-beeeep beeep.
Anyhow, I've gotten used to looking both ways before crossing the road, even a divided road.
Other things I've gotten used to just in these couple of days:
- Checking banknotes as I receive them. Counterfeiting is a real issue here, so when money is exchanged, both the merchant and the consumer inspect banknotes and hold them up to the light in unison. It looks like dance.
- Grabbing empty beer bottles from the stash next to the recycle bins, whenever I go to buy a full one. (Beer comes exclusively in longnecks here, although they're only 650mL (a little more than a standard pint) (a lot more than a U.S. pint), not 750mL (a longneck in Australia).
- Filling the bladder in my camelback. I drink pretty much exactly 4L of water per day, and tap water is not potable.
- Turning on the hot water heater when I use the shower. I finally figured out why it wasn't working-just because it displays a temperature doesn't mean it's on!
- Going to the beach after work. The first day I was here, the water was swimmable, but it's just gotten too cold for me. So now I just watch my new friend, Natasha, get dumped by waves. She's from Canada-I don't think the water will ever be too cold for her. (The Norwegians say she's nuts, though.)
- Entering the gate code, and ducking-the clearance is like 170cm!
- Signing up to sweep the office floor in the morning, before less pleasant chores get handed out. I think I'll mop the office floor tomorrow, though, for that extra satisfaction.
- Going downtown and buying a double scoop ice cream. It costs S/.1.50, which works out to be less than $0.40. The shitty ice creams on sticks cost like S/.6-I have no idea why anybody buys them. They also don't have that exotic-to-me fruit flavour that the scoop shop has. I've forgotten what it's called-I just point.
- Saying '¡Hola!' instead of 'G'day!'