My Lonely Planet guidebook has one page on Chimbote. The first sentence in this short section is “Chimbote is Peru’s largest fishing port—and with fish-processing factories lining the roads in and out of Chimbote you’ll probably smell it before you see it”. This is the city I will make my home for the next year.
My house is on a dirt road, about a 15 minute walk from the center square and the ocean. The lack of hot water will make for very quick showers (if any at all) and part of our roof is unfinished so whenever it rains, it rains inside too. But, it could be worse. This is a nice house by Chimbote standards and I’m only here for a year. Plus, I don’t have termites in my headboard like one of my housemates. On the bright side, Chimbote is said to have the best Ceviche in all of Peru and I have any extra bed in my room for any visitors who don’t mind a bucket bath or a cold shower (hint hint).
I hope to start working in the next couple days, at which time, these posts will (hopefully) get much more exciting.
A big thanks this week goes out to the wonderful Brennan family as well as my dear friend Megan Hanley for saving me from a long, cold night on the floor of the Lima airport.
I'm so proud of you, Cathleen. If any one can find humor in no roof and a cold bucket of water, it's you! You will make such a great member of that community and I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures. I also can't wait to hear about the "culture" of medicine. If it's anything like Mexico, I'm sure you'll hear some real interesting reasons for why and how one gets sick!
ReplyDeleteYou didn't mention whether Lonely Planet hit the nail on the head. Did it?
ReplyDeleteHope that you aren't showering too frequently and that your first few days of work go well!
Thanks Shannon! After just my first week of working, I'm in a bit of shock.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while, the smell of fish will waft through our house and there are certain neighborhoods that smell much stronger than others, but usually the other smells are worse.