Warning: many may find the following tidbits that I've posted for the greater good of mankind to be absolutely pointless. However, if this is the case you should seriously consider if you're really my friend in the first place.
- Peru is one of two countries, the other being Scotland (weird), whose soft drink market Coca-Cola could not control to a satisfactory degree. This is attributed solely to the mass popularity of Inca Kola, which is found absolutely everywhere throughout Peru, even though it tastes like really cheap bubble gum and has a color eerily remniscent of urine. Nonetheless, I find myself drinking it with nearly every meal. However, in true American fashion, Coca-Cola waged a massive war for the Peruvian market which culminated in them buying a large share in Inca Kola's parent company and owning exclusive bottling rights (God bless America and her seemingly bottomless pockets). It seems that most Peruvians know this story and tell it with great pride when called upon. The wikipedia article on Inca Kola is great. Check it out.
- Chinese fast food restaurants are everywhere here and go by the appropriate and hilarious name of "Chifa," short for "Chinese Fast Food." I really don't understand why it's not Chiriba, but that could be the topic of an independent blog entry in the near future. Prepare yourself.
- Old Spice has a most delightful scent in their High Endurance line down here that I've never seen in the states. It's called "Ice Rock," and keeps me smelling great, or at least relatively nonoffensive, for hours.
- The taxi cabs in Huaraz, while still driven by maniacs, put the New York versions to shame. Nearly all feature rally lights and bars as well as decals professing the drivers love for Jesus Christ, chubby girls, their children (who are listed with ages on the side) or all three. In addition, many have chrome highlights, garish pinstripes and incredibly loud horns that they beep incessantly. Oh, most of these cabs are named, and often in English so that the tourists can appreciate them in full. Some highlights include the Golden Eagle of Peru, the Panther and Road Warrior (I admit this one wasn't imaginative, but when it's on a Daewoo Tico, aka the smallest car known to man, one takes notice). It's a close fight between these types of cabs, which are nearly all station wagons, and the equally pimped-out motorized tricycles for tarmac supremacy in these parts. I've already taken close to a dozen pictures of these things and will be dedicating an entire photo album to them in the near future.
- Checkers in the grocery markets here wear plastic sleeves that cover their forearms only. I cannot for the life of me figure out why this is and my Spanish is far to crappy to ask with any semblance of decency, so if anyone has any ideas or knowledge to drop on the subject please do so. Immediately.
- Even security guards for the grocery stores here pack some serious weaponry, wear bullet-proof vests and have their hair styled in crew cuts. If intimidation is their goal then it works, as I walk briskly through the stores without touching anything that I don't have to buy and always make sure to say "por favor" and "muchas gracias" to every employee that I encounter.
- The Latin American version of the yellow pages is called Hispanic Yellow. Whose the brilliant marketing guy that came up with that one?
1 comment:
The plastic sleeves on the checkout gals are for the rectal exams that the armed security guards force them to perform on nervous white tourists who DON'T compulsively say "por favor" and "muchos gracias" as if their life depended on it.
Way to cover your ass.
Post a Comment