Look Mom, no tickets!

The week in L.A. Was successful in that my main goal was to stay away from becoming too friendly with the LAPD and the CA Highway Patrol. To keep my level stress under control, I relied on the L.A. Metro to get me to most places. I even convinced B to use the Metro and so everyday I would accompany her to her work, come back to downtown, then headed back to have lunch with her, and back again in the evening to pick her up. I became very familiar with everything having to do with the Metro to say the least. So I can't say that I didn't get a ticket because I was driving more carefully but more for staying away from the streets for the most part. I'm sure being in the Metro everyday was not the most exciting thing for my spouse, but she obliged for the sake of keeping me more relaxed and for preventing me from giving my regular “contribution” to the city of L.A. The governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is going have to find another way to fund his state's deficit. I'm through with my donations.

Our visit to L.A. Coincided with the passing of Farrah Faucet and Michael Jackson. Since they lived in L.A and reached the top of their careers in the area, the city went all out as if the lost was personal. I happened to be walking around the Walk of Fame in Hollywood when the news of Michael's passing started to spread. Within minutes fans, old and young, were seeing walking around as if dazed and confused looking for Michael's star to place some memorabilia. Unfortunately for them, the star happened to be covered up with the red carpet for an upcoming event that night at the Kodak Theater. But I'm sure they eventually found a place to make a memorial to show their grieve.

San Francisco Tour Guide

After just three days at home in Miami, we headed out again to do the San Francisco / Los Angeles monthly tour. While the rest of the country seemed to have been basking in the hot summer sun, these cities were as usual, cool and pleasant. The temperature difference from the coast to just a few miles inland is very pronounced. It's always wise to bring a light wind-breaker jacket along and it's a constant ritual to put it on and then take it off as you get closer or farther to the coast.

The first week I played the role of tour guide to Nellie and Hobert from North Carolina which accompanied us in San Francisco most of the week. It was refreshing to revisit most of the

tourist must-see landmarks which I don't usually visit anymore. Fisherman's Warf, The Golden Gate Park, The Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, Chinatown, Hargett & Castro districts, Lombart Street and finally the wine country during the weekend. As I planned each day's activities, I thought about the sequence of events, the best angle to approach the site, the best time of the day to visit, my client's level of energy and where it'd be fun to eat for the different meals of the day. The client's were very accommodating and gave me full control of their schedules. At the end I hope they got a comprehensive and enjoyable visit. It was a good change of pace for me and I enjoyed the city through their eyes.

"Pilas" -the key to a successful life?

The sun in Cusco definitely has “pilas”* Just as much cloudiness as there was in Lima, now I´m overwhelmed by the sun´s intensity in Cusco, Peru. At sea level (Lima), a layer of air and moisture filters the sun rays effectively, but at Cusco´s elevation, the filter is reduced by the 3,400 meters of space missing and thus the sun hits with all its might. It is even difficult to take decent photographs as the contrast between the sun and the shade is so intense that the shady part of the photo looks underexposed and the sunny parts way too bright. Even temperature-wise, in the shade it is in the 50s but just stepping into the sunlight the temperature goes up about 20 degrees.

But the “pilas” I´m referring to is from an expression our youngest son used during our visit when referring to what makes a worker (or a girlfriend) more desirable. Erick has been living here for over 3 ½ years and now speaks fluent Spanish. Through emails, phone calls and the occassional visit, we have witnessed his evolution from an unfocused, carefree young-man to a energetic, focused, responsible adult in his late 20s. Faced with his own inmaturity, the new culture, a language that he barely knew and completely new surroundings, he struggled for months before finding his footing. Now it seems as if he has finally figured “it” out and has become wise and responsible. He sounds like a man my age when he talks about why some of his friends and aquantainces do well while others flounder or even completely fail at becoming independent, productive members of society.

He compares himself to others that also come from priviledged backgrounds but which are so ´spoiled´ that cannot stand on their own two feet without the crutches provided by Mom and Dad. Young men and women that may already have years of education and life experience but when given the opportunity to work, they never show a viable level of interest or display the work ethics and dedication today´s employers expect. He claims that those that don´t have “pilas” to exceed their bosses and their customer´s expectations often are the ones that don´t get the entry-level jobs or when given the opportunity, eventually get fired for lack of motivation and dedication.

I´m not sure where Erick got his “pilas” but seeing him work at the Andina Travel Agency, I can sense what he means by having the "pilas". He is very personable with his colleagues and customers. Goes the extra mile to help out without expecting anything in return. After closing the transaction, he even gives out his own personal mobile phone number in case any of his English-Speaking customers run into any trouble or would benefit from hearing some words of advice from a local. He has definitely found his niche in the tourist trade of Cusco and loves to get out in the mornings to be the first one in at the office.

Pilas make you or break you. But, how do you get those pilas to begin with? Is that something that comes built-in in your DNA? Is that something that parents have anything to do with or can influence in their children? Can your pilas get recharged or replaced? I don´t know the answer to these but I have a feeling that some of it may be the result of B and I preventing our kids from having just anything they ever dreamed of. My philosophy is that its better to live wanting just a little, rather than bowing to your or their every desire. A little bit of hunger didn´t kill anyone, but it sure makes you appreciate food when you finally get it.

Maybe we had something to do with it or maybe not, but we our proud of our two sons becoming decent, law-abiding, independent, and productive members of society. Don´t know where they got their pilas from, but we´re happy that they are also loving sons which love to share with us and don´t mind when we witness and admire their transformations through life. I'm a lucky man to have been allowed to live through this.

*Pilas – Noun, Plural, Spanish pronunciation=[PEElas]. Literal translation: batteries. Slang: Energy, Charisma, Vigor, Potency.

Sunny day in Lima (not!)

OK, I haven’t seen the sun in about 5 days and now I’m at the stage that I’m avoiding sharp objects in the hotel room and avoiding being too close to wide-open windows in tall buildings. When things are so gloomy and depressing, one cannot be too careful.

We have been in Lima, Peru since Sunday morning and our arrival coincided with the arrival of Lima’s winter doldrums. The sky is dark grey, fog permeates everything and mixes with the exhaust from the buses to the point that you don’t know which is which, the air is cool but the kind of cool that is not really that cold at first but after a day or two it becomes so impregnated in the environment and in your clothes that it makes your bones tremble and clatter. Like many other cities of this size (8 million) most people in the street dress the part. Not with lively bright colors as in Miami, but dark hues of grey that better match the sky and the smog than a tropical beach anywhere. Not a very fun place to be if this happens to be your only destination but I’m looking forward to visiting with our son in Cusco for the weekend. I don’t care where he is but please let it be sunny!

After a few visits to Lima in the last couple of years, still it’s not as if I know how to go directly to the public library as I do in the other US cities that we usually frequent. For one thing, libraries are not your main tourist attraction so they are not found in the tourist maps or advertised in the hotel’s city guides. So I end up hanging at the several bookstores found in the nice section of town where we usually stay (Miraflores). One section of the bookstores that is always interesting is the cookbook section. There are all kinds of large colorful books on Peruvian cuisine. They usually have close-up pictures of the foods detailed inside and browsing them makes for a great pastime. If I do that a couple of hours before the next meal it works wonders on my appetite and makes the search for the next restaurant an adventure. This city is known for its ceviche and tasted a great variety of them I self-proclaimed myself as a 'ceviche connoisseur'. And of course to keep with my reputation, this week I have already done a fair sampling of their delicious adaptations in a number of venues.

The sampling started on Sunday right after the airport. A local friend invited us to eat at the Marriott Hotel across from Larco Mar, an affluent shopping center built right off the cliffs in front of the Pacific Ocean. I was pleasantly impressed with their all-you-can-eat buffet of typical Peruvian cuisine. It didn’t help that the buffet also included refills of their famous Pisco Sour drinks so by the third trip to the buffet table I had to be extra careful that I didn’t trip on the steps and made a fool of myself. The best thing about it was that in addition to all their offerings, they had a ‘ceviche bar’ where a chef would custom-make your ceviche on the spot. The chef had several types of fresh fish and seafood cut in cubes, finely-cut red onions, spicy red pepper, Peruvian corn and chunks of sweet potato and he would mixed them per your request and top the product with plenty of ‘Leche de Tigre’ (spiced lemon juice) to cure it all. I normally stay away from hotel restaurants but having this experience definitely made me a little more open minded about the possibilities.

It’s about 11AM right now and I must be heading to the nearest bookstore to start the process in preparation for my next meal. Hopefully I’ll get to browse a book about sunny tropical beaches to enliven my spirits a little as I continue the arduous task of sampling all the ceviche that Lima can muster.

Hoping for a sunny (ceviche-filled) day tomorrow, I remain.