Earthquake in Peru

[Duckfeet]

When I was young man, living in Florida, and "doing" drugstores, I decided to "quit," and sold my '63 panhead, and headed down to Trujillo, Peru, where my dad was living and working at the time. I mostly hung out at the beaches on the west coast there, Puerto Chicama was my favorite, had big waves. I got involved in some low level coke deals, and was always trying--unsuccesfully to score opiates down there at drugstores and such. Smoked a lot of base and pasta, the crap you could get on the street, before they put ether to it, and made cocaine hydrochloride... Every once in a while got some good coke, but mostly it was just beer drinking and chasing girls and being a typical gringo surf-rat and beer-drinker, worked as a half-ass motorcycle mechanic too...had a lot of good times, always seemed to meet really cool Europeans wandering around down there. Never got to Cuzco or Machupichu, which was stupid of me...actually got in some trouble, and had to zip out of there....

Sounds pretty bad with all the people dead and fucked out of house and home by earthquake, don't know if any other opys ever hung out down that way....

[ProdigalSon]

I sincerely am saddened by your heartache bro

[slugbone]

there was a very piercing short satire article on "the onion.com" a few years ago that had the title: "15,000 brown people dead somewhere". the news doesn't cover it, and americans are quite apathetic when it comes to news like this sadly.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31925

[Duckfeet]

Yeah, yer rite. I'd be no different if I hadn't of lived down there a bit, and knew people...there's so much death in all kinds of ways going on in the world, lets face it, we all got compassion fatigue. I was mostly just curious if anybody else had lived down that way. And the areas I was mostly in was north of Lima, and the earthquake hit south. I lived in Argentina a lot, and worked out of Brazil and Argentina, when I worked the offshore oilfield, and hung out when I was even younger in Nicaragua too. Long time ago...I miss it, people down there always treated me alright...

there was a very piercing short satire article on "the onion.com" a few years ago that had the title: "15,000 brown people dead somewhere". the news doesn't cover it, and americans are quite apathetic when it comes to news like this sadly.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31925

[9177]

Machupitchu?

Isn't that the home of the Mayan temple?

[Duckfeet]

Exactly, and it always bummed me out I was too lame to go see it...seems like I knew every beer joint and coke dealer between Trujillo--where my dad worked--and Puerto Chicama, where they had this long point break and year round waves. I just was to busy screwing around to travel to somewhere further away than the nearest party...but it was a cool country, I had a good time down there....

Machupitchu?

Isn't that the home of the Mayan temple?

[9177]

That would be great to party down there...

[kyuss]

It is sad.
It's always a high
death toll when so many
people are living in fragile housing
which is the norm in the third world.

I always wanted to go
to India when I was younger.
But seeing the cows float away
down the ganges during a flood
changed my mind.

[mrklean]

I've spent a few months in Peru. Been thru Lima but I don't recall even staying the night there pretty much just drove thru. This was in 2000? If I remember. I haven't really been keeping up on this earthquake enough to know exactly where it hit. I remember driving on the outskirts of Lima. If you think you've seen ghetto you haven't seen shit till you've seen that hell hole. One image that sticks in my mind is of a lady I saw coming out of her little shack (basically a cardboard box) and walking by all the other little outhouse size shacks to dump out their "toilet". These shacks spread about as far as the eye could see and not one had electric or running water. I think these little shantytowns are where alot of the people who harvest peppers were living. Basically, if it was one of these areas which the earthquake hit (I think it was) then there wasn't a whole lot to knock down in the first place. I still feel bad for all those people. Lima was a pretty happening city though, if the earthquake had hit there more directly I think we'd being hearing much more about it.

Duckfeet, that is cool that you spent some time down there. Do you speak spanish? It sucks that you didn't get to do some motorcycle touring while you were there. Riding some of those rodes in the Andes would be intensely dangerous but totally worth it. I also never made it to Machu Pichu which I regret. I did see plenty else while I was there: Lake Titicaca, many bottles of K, feilds of coca, good people. The fun I had in discos in some of the harder to access towns up in the mountains are some of my favorite memories.

[Duckfeet]

Yeah, I went to a few places, and my dad actually had a motorcycle, some small Honda that I rode all over the place, but I didn't get to the major tourist draws, and kind of regret, since I was so close, not going to Machupicchu...but the Earthquake was south of Lima, and most of my doings were on the North side, best I remember.

Yeah, I speak spanish like I do English. I spent all my teens in Argentina, and then Nicaragua, cuz of my Dad's work...I can talk plenty bad about the fucker, he was a mean crazy drunk,,,but he did love all things South American, and thanks to that I got to live and be exposed to the culture/people down there, and for that I always was grateful...DV too has done his share of time down there, and knows that it's a world of difference than Mexico and Central American countries. These places down there are far enough away from the U.S. to be truly *different.*

But yer rite on the poverty and hopelessness among the people, particularly indiginous peoples...down there, they are ten times more racist than we are, and if you ain't born with European looks and ancestry you have tough time of it, and it's hell trying to crawl out of poverty, as there are few if any, social programs...

But yeah, I love it, I'm crazy now I have a pension, not to be living down there, but I always found serious opiates difficult to obtain, and right now, I can't live without'em.... :-( That could change, it's changed before.....but right now, I'm on 100mg daily methadone, and it's put a real crimp in my travel dreams...

Best wishes

df


I've spent a few months in Peru. Been thru Lima but I don't recall even staying the night there pretty much just drove thru. This was in 2000? If I remember. I haven't really been keeping up on this earthquake enough to know exactly where it hit. I remember driving on the outskirts of Lima. If you think you've seen ghetto you haven't seen shit till you've seen that hell hole. One image that sticks in my mind is of a lady I saw coming out of her little shack (basically a cardboard box) and walking by all the other little outhouse size shacks to dump out their "toilet". These shacks spread about as far as the eye could see and not one had electric or running water. I think these little shantytowns are where alot of the people who harvest peppers were living. Basically, if it was one of these areas which the earthquake hit (I think it was) then there wasn't a whole lot to knock down in the first place. I still feel bad for all those people. Lima was a pretty happening city though, if the earthquake had hit there more directly I think we'd being hearing much more about it.
Duckfeet, that is cool that you spent some time down there. Do you speak spanish? It sucks that you didn't get to do some motorcycle touring while you were there. Riding some of those rodes in the Andes would be intensely dangerous but totally worth it. I also never made it to Machu Pichu which I regret. I did see plenty else while I was there: Lake Titicaca, many bottles of K, feilds of coca, good people. The fun I had in discos in some of the harder to access towns up in the mountains are some of my favorite memories.

[Saint]

I was in Peru in 1999/2000 for a few months, from Bolivia on my way to Venezuela. I spent some time in both Ica and Pisco which I really enjoyed. I never had a desire to see Machu Picchu nor Cusco (I know, a bit like visiting Egypt without seeing the pyramids but it just isn't my thing) but I really enjoyed the coastline.

Today I bought El Pais because there weren't many details on the news here (and I want to practise my Spanish as well). And to my horror I read how bad the situation actually is. It had some pictures of Ica and the square in Pisco: square is as good as gone, death bodies everywhere, people wandering around in shock etc.
It sounds lame but it seems to hit you harder when you've been there yourself. I met some really nice people in Peru, went to some illegal bar in Ica where local musicians were waiting for anyone who'd hire them for a few sols. We had a good time drinking with them while they were playing their Criolla-music for nobody in particular. No-one ever turned up to hire them but they didn't really seem to care, they had a good time anyway.
What would have happened to them?..
In Pisco I stayed in a hostal on the square where they made superb & cheap 'Pisco-sours'. I went on a boattrip with some friendly Peruvian who lived there. But the hostal is gone as well...

This makes me wonder how I would react if I'd been there right now: would I be helping out? Or would I just get the hell out of there? Everybody likes to think of himself as a hero but you'll never know how you'll react until disaster hits you right in the face.

[Saint]

By the way: I read this on the Indro-onlinesite ( http://www.indro-online.de/bolivia.htm (http://www.indro-online.de/bolivia.htm) )

Methadone is available on the Bolivian pharmaceutical market (trade name = "METASEDIN"). It can be prescribed by licensed doctors on a special prescription (receta valorado) and will be dispensed by pharmacies as takeaway medication.

I wonder if this is true...

[NV12]

I have spent enough time in
South America to say
that I live like a king in
comparison to some.

Images of dirty bug infested children
hair matted against their heads from
a lifetime of neglect
no water
soap
food
Crawling out of their "houses"
spaces made from digging into
the mountains

The sheer joy and disbelief
on their faces
when I handed them some food
will never leave me

I think I have it bad sometimes.
Neglected they are
So sad because they only want
to survive

[AWOL]

Yeah I miss it too, other than the anti-US crap. Had a lot of fun though that's for sure, really nice people down that way. Sad to hear about the earthquake in Peru that nobody will know about up this way.

I did get to go to go to teohtihuacan and see the pyramids there in Mexico, that was pretty awesome. I'm sure I spelled it wrong btw.

[mrklean]

In Pisco I stayed in a hostal on the square where they made superb & cheap 'Pisco-sours'. I went on a boattrip with some friendly Peruvian who lived there. But the hostal is gone as well...
.

Pisco sour's are the shit I kicked myself repeatedly for not bringing a few bottles of that shit home with me. If I ever decide to drink again I am starting with a Pisco sour. I can almost taste it and I remember the little bar I drank them in for the first time pretty clearly considering how wasted I was. It was on the second floor off of a square with a fountain (not sure if it is the same square you are talking about) and was actually a pretty nice place considering some of the other dives I hung out in down there.