Job Discussion Forums

[rrunaway]

Hello,

I am moving to Arequipa, Peru in January with my boyfriend. I have a few everyday life questions for those of you with experience or that may live in Arequipa.

1) We will be drinking, cooking with, and brushing our teeth with bottled water. However how do you prepare vegetables and fruits that need to be washed? Do you use bottled water? Should we avoid particular fruits and vegetables at restaurants that may have been washed in tap water (you always hear lettuce horror stories)?

2) We plan to visit the Amazon at some point. Is there good bug spray available in Peru (with DEET) or should we bring our own?

3) On a related note, I have heard to just plan on purchasing malaria preventative medications after we arrive in Peru as they are much cheaper there. We won't need them for every day, just for a trek into the Amazon at some point. Is it wise to plan to purchase the meds there in Peru? We prefer Malarone. Does anyone know if this is readily available?

4) Are yoga mats fairly easy to find and purchase in a big city like Arequipa? I'd prefer to save the luggage space and just buy one when I am down there instead of bringing it.

5) Lastly, what items would you recommend bringing from America as they are unavailable, costly, or not as effective in Peru? We have been told to bring shoes, condoms, some cold meds....what else?

Thank you all for your help with this. We both greatly appreciate all the information we have gleaned from this forum and hope to assist fellow travelers in the future.

Cheers.

[naturegirl321]

I just PMed you with lots of info.

1. Wash them with salt, or vinegar or special food bleach that you can buy at Wong, a grocery store. WASH everything, even bananas. I peeled all fruit, never ate the skin. AVOID salads at resturants. I've found little larva worms in them.

2) Bug spray, malaria pills, altitutude sickness meds can all be purchased cheaply.

3) Personally, I wouldnt' take the medicine, since the medicine can have sever side affects. Just cover yourself with mosquito repelent, use mosquito netting, etc. I don't know if Malarone is available. If you're SURE that you want to take that, then bring it, even if they have it, it'll save you the headache of running all over trying to get a prescription and expalining things in Spanish.

4) A posh gym would probably sell them to you or tell you where to get them.


5) Twice as much money and half the stuff. BUT, if you want to pack stuff:
Sheets in Peru are pretty crappy, unless you want to pay an arm and a leg, bring your own or get used to the cardboard ones. Tampons are available, but expensive. Condoms are available, just buy Durex unless you want an oops baby. Contact solution is SUPER expensive. THink $5 for a dinky bottle. Sunscreen is about $20 for a bottle that would cost $3 in the US.

Any medication that you want NEED, bring. That bein said, birth control is available, pretty cheap, good qualitiy and over the counter. I used Yasmin.

Shoes, clothes, you can find them here. Quality isn't the best. You'll probably have to get your shoes resoled often.

If you're thinking of moving here permanetely, then you'll probably need more stuff. But you'll find out once you come. Just start making a list and get it the next tme you visit.

What will you be doing in Arequipa? If you're going to be teaching at an institute, be aware that VERY few and far between places will even get you a visa. I've heard of one and one only and that's in LIma. Border hopping, overstaying visas, split shifts, and low pay are common in Peru.

If you have questions, let me know, I know what I'm talking about, I've contributed to a couple travel books on Peru. I lived there for 6 years, had 3 different visas and eventually got citizenship. Then I up and left and am happy back in Asia

Peru�s nice for a bit, but it really takes its toll on you.

[rrunaway]

Thanks for this helpful response!

[newdayrising]

Hey probably my number one advice to you is not to worry so much! Arequipa is a very easy place to live compared to other latin cities from my experience. I guess except for tampons pretty much everything is available here and is easy to find. Yes, I've even seen people walking around with yoga mats.

I think naturegirl's advice about food and water is a bit over-the-top, or maybe I just have a lucky stomach. But Arequipa is reputed as having one of the best water systems in Peru. I drink tap water all the time without problems even though some people tell me I shouldn't. I've only gotten sick once from the food here and that was street food.

[rrunaway]

Thanks for this response! We'll try not to worry....just want to get a feel for what to expect. We've never visited South America and we are moving there, so we just want to be as prepared as we can.

Thanks again!

[sistaray]

[rrunaway]

Thanks for your response. It appears that yes, Naturegirl does have a lot of valuable information. However, I do take all advice with a grain of salt.

I am now in Arequipa after having been in Lima for a few days as well. Eating fruit from the supermarket and from restaurants and doing well so far. I don't eat much meat and prefer a vegetable heavy meal, so it's been hard to find options in restaurants, but when I have gotten vegetables, they have suited me fine.

Mostly I am looking forward to having a kitchen to cook my own food in.

Thank you all for your continued advice and tips. I hope to give back to fellow travelers as much as I have obtained.

j

[naturegirl321]

[rrunaway]

Thank you both for your advice.

I should say for those reading this in the future what I have been doing that works so far (for me, each person is different).

-I do wash the fruit prior to eating it using tap water and drying with paper towel.
-I have only eaten fruit from supermarkets (not street or outdoor markets yet)
-I have been eating mostly fruit where you do not eat the peel or outer skin.
-I have not had a salad of any kind from anywhere. Though my food has been on a bed of lettuce at a restaurant and I was fine eating it. I also had a piece or two of lettuce on a sandwich at a friends home (friends are very hygienic, but I am not sure where it was from or if it was cleaned in a certain way.)
-I have been taking a supremadophilus pill every other day or so before bed to boost my stomach flora.
-Prior to a big meal (If I remember) I take two enzyme pills to aid with digestion.
-I plan to wean myself off of these pills after a while though when I am more settled.
-I plan to get some of that citrus disinfectant stuff from the store to soak fruits and veggies in once I have a kitchen of my own, just to reduce the chances of getting sick. I had an american friend living here for two years who did that with all types of fruits and veggies and had no problems at all.

[sistaray]

[naturegirl321]

[Caroline]

The amount of precautions you need to take in Peru will probably correlate to the amount of precautions you've taken at home.

So, if at home you wash and disinfect everything and only drink bottled water, you'll need to do all of that and more in Peru. If, like me, you have exposed yourself to a bit of nasty bacteria at home (ie: not being scrupulous about disinfecting and washing all fruits and veggies, drinking tap water), you can probably tolerate a bit of street food, eating bananas without washing them, etc. in Peru.


(I lived in Ecuador for a year and was pretty healthy. I didn't drink tap water there, but ate almost everything.)

[cindygettis]

Having lived and worked in Cusco for several months, I would highly recommend staying away from salads and fruits in restaurants. If you buy fruit in the supermarket, make sure it is totally sterilized. I must say before going to Peru I thought people were overly-paranoid about germs, but after several very bad episodes of sickness, I think it's very important to be careful in Peru. Mostly I was sick the whole time I was there. I also contracted Typhoid, even though I had had my vaccination. There are many different varieties of the disease and it's very common to get it there.

[naturegirl321]

[cindygettis]

I like rrunaway's idea of taking enzyme tablets to boost your immunity. After I got sick I started taking them and noticed good results. They also help build up the good bacteria in your stomach after you have had a dose of antibiotics. You can find these tablets in the pharmacies in Peru. (As a side note, that is one great thing about Peru- the availability of medications without prescriptions. However, it does create issues with diseases building up immunities to certain medications. Then it can be very difficult to take an antibiotic for a disease like Typhoid.)