Job Discussion Forums

[nineisone]

Hi Friends,

Great to see the new forum. Just arrived in Lima last night. First impressions are generally favorable. Big City, hard to navigate and I am constantly trying to get my bearings. Everyone warned me not to stay in Lima Centro, but I have found no problems thus far and dont plan on venturing out during the night. Looking forward to my bus trip up to Trujillo on Thursday.

Had my Woody Allen Bananas moment about an hour ago as I was sitting in the pleasant Plaza San Martin. A group of individuals with signs and banners began to congregate and shortly thereafter a protest of some sort began. Peaceful and plenty of TV cameras present. One journalist even asked my Gringo opinion.

Thanks to all for their help thus far in my journey. I am in an internet cafe trying to figure out how to get that squiggly sign present in all e-mail addresses to function for me so I can continue my e-mails home.

Take care and great to see the new forum!

[Guy Courchesne]

cool

[keepwalking]

Welcome! If you are staying in the centre, check out Machu Pichu restaurant, opposite Monasterio san Francisco - great men� at lunch time.

That squiggly sign thing - ALT and 6 4. Took me a few days to figure that one out myself!

[denise]

I think control-alt-2 also works for the squiggly thing.

Welcome to Peru. Trujillo is beautiful!

d

[nineisone]

Thanks for the help with my squiggly friend. I have that male character trait which makes it difficult to ask for directions, so it is appreciated.

Arrived in Trujillo last night and am very pleased to find such a beautiful provincial city. I am in the city center near the tourist hotels and resteraunts, so I don�t doubt that there are plenty of sketchy areas and urban blight in other parts, but thus far I am impressed. Things seem fairly clean, organized, and user friendly.

The bus trip up was fairly pleasant but also very long. Arresting views of the Pacific Ocean and giant sand dunes contrasted with the in-bus entertainment of poorly dubbed versions of bad American movies. Was a little concerned after viewing the rather ugly city of Chimbote, wondering if Trujillo was going to be a larger version. In defense of Chimbote, the friendliest people on the bus were all residents.

I was quite impressed by the friendliness of the Lime�os. Didn�t expect to receive it in such a large city. With Trujillo, I quickly note a distinct machisimo in the air. The men seem a little more hardened in their response to dealing with me, and the women refuse eye contact on the street. But these are only first impressions.

Great to see the new forum. I made note that the forum link would only appear after I signed in. Is this the norm?

More incessant rambling in this thread later......

[Luna Chica]

So what are your plans for staying in Trujillo? Ha ha my partner is from Chimbote it is pretty f***king ugly huh? But you are right very friendly people. Some good clubs in Chimbote though.

[nineisone]

Yes, Chimbote looked scary and I read it is scary/dangerous. I am taking the somewhat maligned VivePeru TEFL course and hope to teach here for a few months after completion. I�m pretty easygoing so Trujillo will suit me fine, I think. If nothing else it will make for an experience and some interesting e-mails back home. Then I can always jet to Asia if I determine that I like ESL teaching to subsidize future treks into SA or return home to the states and continue teaching history/geography.

Anyway that is my thinking, however fuzzy it might be. I have more rambling observations, but tons of e-mails to catch up on so I will post more Monday.

[Luna Chica]

In my limited experience ( I lived there for a couple fo months) it was fine. Apart from a few cat calls I never encountered any problems. Admittedly I was with a local most of the time, but I wandered around by myself at night a few times. Trujillo is much more attractive though.

Hey are there good clubs in Trujillo?

[keepwalking]

Clubs as in with a DJ and a big place to dance to something other than salsa? Bit thin on the ground in Trujillo. There's Meccano bar but it devoid of atmosphere.

There's a great bar/live music joint. El Tributo, on the plaza (down by the tourist info centre, nineisone) It is a great place, loads of atmosphere, cool band and lots of fun people who aren't scared of gringos! There's also the newly opened Hops which brews its own beer. Very cool.

And there's a cinema with half price tickets on a Tuesday! What more could you want - except a great chicken and chips joint right across from the movies - got that too!

[vaughnyb]

Im taking the same course in trujillo soon so post about your experience. Was arriviing in Lima first less expensive then to arrive in Trujillo from the USA?

Did you get a one way or roundtrip ticket?

Thanks

[naturegirl321]

All international flights arrive in Lima, then you can fly to trujillo which is about 50 to 90 dollars or take the bus, which is between 5 and 15 dollars.

[nineisone]

Hey Vaughn and Friends,

I flew into Lima. Costs about 12 dollars to get a cab to the city center, a little bit more in the safer, nicer district of Miraflores. Im a bit of a budget traveler, stayed at Hostal de Los Artes for about 15 dollars a night. It was fine, a little noisy like most hostals and right in the center close to Buses for both the Cruz del Sur and Orme�o lines. Naturegirl is right in that you can get a bus to Trujillo for only 5 to 10 dollars, however, you might want to get a direct bus with no stops. It is quicker and safer for your luggage. This will cost you closer to 20. As she said, flights are reasonable, although the airport is a little bit out of Trujillo. The bus companies all have websites and are considered very good by LA standards.

Yeah Trujillo is somewhat slow on the entertainment front. I happen to like Salsa and Latino music and there are plenty of nice clubs around the city center that were quite fun on my first Saturday night out with two Peruvians and a trio of Aussies passing through. Women are all over the place. Everyone here says the clubs and the women are wilder in the next town to the north Chiclayo, but dont know the ESL opps there. It is definately laid back in Trujillo during the week.

For me after trudging through much of Central America in previous journeys, to have a city where trash is picked up off the streets, there is upkeep of the roads and sidewalks, and people act in a mostly rational manner is a blessing. Good food, too.

Today was the first day of classes. So far so good. A morning of being taught grammar and methodology and an afternoon of observation of other classes. My gut feeling is that the TEFL course isnt as bad as some may say, but you probably could pay more and enroll in something a little better. But I dont have much to make comparison.

I havent looked at the overall job market yet. There appears to be many opportunities to stay on and teach at the Britanico, the hours and money Im not sure of. They apparently just lost a Gringa teacher to Lima, and every person I meet connected with the Britanico asks if I plan on staying on after the TEFL course and for how long.

Overall, so far so good. I am constantly talking with the few other foreigners who are passing through and gauging their opinion of Trujillo versus other cities and countries. I mentioned Quito was a second choice and was told that the place was filled with Yankees. No Gringo ghetto here to my knowledge. Anyway the city seems to fit my personality fairly well. Next weekend I plan on viewing a futbol game at the stadium and heading out to nearby Huanchaco and the beach if the weather permits.

[Luna Chica]

yea, I am a bit of a salsa freak so it sounds pretty good to me. If you are still there in February you can cut some rug with me. Good luck with the course.

[nineisone]

Sounds great Luna, will mark my calendar.......Glad to know you are coming to Trujillo

[vaughnyb]

Thansfor the info !