Fixations

I keep a mental list of the things I find strange or funny or interestingly different here… and often I’m lucky enough to have my camera with me to document the action. 

Based on the number of photos I have, I am apparently fixated on different methods of transport, especially kids' ornate plastic bikes, especially with a tiny “child" seat at the rear so that a doll or stuffed animal can be strapped in. 

The water and gas delivery truck will also apparently deliver one of these types of bikes, too.

Bicycles are very much a part of the traffic here in Lima, mostly with these carts on the front. 

Sometimes people are lucky to have their friends drive them around. 

The carts usually have a small engine attached to them. The best, though, is when we see someone zooming through traffic on a mountain bike and realize that they have attached an engine to the bike. No picture yet of that; they move too fast for me and my camera.

People in Buenos Aires were so neat and orderly while they waited for the bus, waiting in line. The buses actually stopped to let people on and off, too, unlike Lima. What a radical concept!

We saw many motorcyclists in Argentina wearing their helmets half on their heads and half off (i.e. the part where normally they would look out of was on top of their head, and the chin guard was perched on their foreheads), or, like the guy below, were holding them while driving. I'm not sure if they were planning to put it on before they wrecked...? Then, to top that, we saw several examples of drivers holding babies as they steered their cars.

Dressed up dogs are ominpresent on walks in the parks along the malecón, and I find them kind of horrifying. However, they had mostly lost their impact due to the frequency of a dolled-up-dog sighting. I've seen dogs wearing shirt and short (or skirt) sets, knitted sweaters, barrettes and hair clips. Dogs of all sizes, not just the tiny ones pictured here. And then I saw a dog wearing a sequined tutu. 

In Buenos Aires, we didn’t see dressed up dogs, thankfully. But when we saw dogs, they were often in packs of five or six, being walked by someone talking on a cellphone. 

On to other fixations... I had read that for one town in the mountains, it was a big tradition to wear yellow for New Year’s – especially yellow underwear. That sounds fun, I thought. Too bad we aren’t going to travel near there for the holiday. Then, just before New Year’s, I was walking to the mercado and saw one of the little shops completely transformed by yellow. I stopped and looked closer. The sales counter was piled high with yellow cloth… could it be? Yes! Yellow underwear! How much? “S/2.50 to S/3.50, depending on the size.” I asked if they had it in toddler sizes too. “Of course!” What about boxers? “Here!” 

I thought that it was hilarious that the brand on the boxers, sewn prominently onto the waistband, was STRIPPER. So I bought us all yellow underwear to ring in the New Year in festive Peruvian style. Simon looks the cutest in his, of course.

 

Simon and I went to watch his friend Dieuwe’s swim class one morning and I thought it funny that everyone, even babies without hair, had to wear a swim cap. 

This ad for altitude sickness warranted a double take as we walked by. 

Speaking of sickness, I wonder who the target consumer is for this brand of hamburger. 

I love this example of multi-tasking. I can barely knit and carry on a conversation at the same time, let alone knit, walk and care for a toddler! 

And sometimes, multi-tasking means taking a nap while waiting to make the next delivery.