People and noise

Martin

Sunday morning. I awoke bright and early, planning to make good use of the day ahead.

Helen stirred. “I’ve been thinking,” she said, “That this room smells a bit like the inside of a guinea pig hutch.”

I sniffed, and kind of agreed. We’ve moved to a different house, and I have to admit that I’ve been more than a bit slovenly in my cleaning habits. Oh well, I thought. Better set some time aside to do some tidying soon. (Read more)

Shoes

I have a pair of Eco-Sneaks. They are made from recycled materials, with the sole being fashioned from an old car tyre, and the laces crafted from recycled plastic bottles. In practice this means the soles have the grip of bald tyres and the laces don’t stay tied, but let’s not nitpick, they’re ethical after all. Really, I’m under no allusions that they might well be a cynical attempt by an American company to cash in on the green bandwagon, neatly packaging up an ethical purchase for the kind of consumer that would splash out on a conspicuously green recycled eco-phone. (Read more)

Communication Culture - Letters

It is often said that the art of letter writing is dead, though presumably never by Peruvians. Here letter writing is either very much alive, or a virulent plague of zombie letters have taken over the county, tearing chunks out of other forms of communication and eating the peoples brains. (Read more)

A Journey to the Dark Side

It began as the office was closing on Friday evening. “Let’s go for a drink around the corner,” said the people from the next office. As far as I remember, this was the first time they had ever suggested such a thing. A number of excited conversations ensued. As I finished collecting together my stuff and shutting down my computer, I added my voice to the hubbub. “Yes. Let’s go. Let’s go.” As we left the office, Helen turned to me and said, “So, you’re ok with going to the karaoke tonight.”

“Umm…what?” (Read more)

I Am Music

Well for all the talk about this being a blog about people and music, the music based posts have been somewhere between thin on the ground and non-existent. This lamentable situation ends here. (Read more)

Viva las ONGs

Shortly after launching this blog, I said to Helen “Now all I have to do is find things to write about regularly”.

“You could always make a post about your wonderful, amazing girlfriend,” she said.

So here is a post where someone raves about the astounding brilliance of my girlfriend. That someone isn’t me, but I’m sure that doesn’t really matter… (Read more)

You…

I wanna take you to a gay beach. (Read more)

Homesick

This morning I realised that I´d been in Peru for six months. Yesterday I realised that I might be going through my first(?) pangs of homesickness. (Read more)

National Identity

Peru runs an national identity card system, known as DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad). I’m pretty sure the card doesn’t contain anything like the biometric data that people have been campaigning against in the UK, but nonetheless, it’s a pretty big deal. Ownership of the card is obligatory, and without it you can’t vote or legally get married, and a great number of companies will not employ you. There’s probably a bunch of other things you can’t do without it too. As a result, everyone has one.

Or so I thought. (Read more)

Harry Potter and the Hmnff Burphh Mnnsh

Going to the cinema is a decent way to break up the week. On Tuesdays there’s a special half-price offer, meaning tickets are approximately 70p, which the irrepressible tightarse within me finds almost impossible to resist. Add to this the fact that when watching a film in a foreign language even the most mindnumbingly stupid piece of cinematic trash can become a challenging educational experience, and it seems like you’re on to a winner. I even found “Hotel For Dogs” tolerable. Plus, imagine my joy at finding a situation in which Helen, normally vehemently against the concept, will agree to watch a science-fiction action movie (Star Trek). (Read more)