Election Time
In case you were wondering, yes, Marianella and I are still alive and well here in the Southern Hemisphere. I know if you were relying on this blog for that info, you would been left wondering-I'm amazed myself that it was April (or six months ago) that I last updated the website. I can only imagine what my Aunt Carol, who I promised in July that I would be updating the blog shortly after my return back to Lima, would say to me at this moment.
My excuse, lame as it may be, has been that Marianella and I haven't really been doing anything extraordinary over the last few months-no exotic trips, not even any weekend getaways recently; we've been doing what we'd be doing if we were still in St. Paul-grinding through the work week, catching up with errands and family on weekends, with the occasional fun night/activity on a Friday or Saturday night. Not so interesting, right?
Well, hopefully it will be interesting enough because I do plan on updating the blog more often, with little tastes of life from Lima. Some of the news might seem quite foreign, much might sound familiar, but hopefully wherever it lands on the spectrum, it will be interesting for you all.
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The wheels of democracy were thrown into action today as mayoral elections commenced across Peru. As with elections in the U.S., Marianella and I were quite glad for the day to arrive-no longer will we be faced with the oversized grinning faces that are affixed to banners and propaganda everywhere we drive in Lima (although we are fortunate in that mayoral campaigns don't seem to involve TV commercials).
The interesting thing about voting in Peru is that all citizens between the ages of 18-70 are bound by law to vote. Not doing so results in a fine that can't be evaded, since whenever you want to do any official business, you must pay the fine first (a lesson Marianella's experienced from her days living overseas). Additionally, about three weeks before election day the citizens of the country await in nervous anticipation (or at least the Vizcarra family does), hoping to avoid getting drafted for election day duty. Basically, much like jury duty in the U.S., citizens are selected randomly to run the election day proceedings. So follow me here-Marianella's father, who is 73, was one of those drafted; while he's not required to vote because of his older age, he was required to serve as an alternate to the main election guy which would have meant being at the election proceedings from 8 a.m. until well into the evening if the main guy didn't show. Fortunately for Marianella's dad, the main guy showed. Just goes to show you that bureaucracy everywhere seems to make little sense.
My favorite aspect of the whole weekend was finding out that alcohol sales were banned in Peru from Friday at 12:01 a.m. through Sunday evening. News traveled rapidly among my school's teachers on Friday morning, to the dismay of many. When I asked one of my students that morning if alcohol sales were banned because they were worried about protests, she informed me that the reasoning was so that everyone would show up sober on Sunday for the vote. I found myself laughing all weekend thinking of a dry Peru.
So this morning, Marianella and I embarked to the voting station which was about a ten block walk from our apartment. I wasn't voting, but I was enough of a gentleman to accompany Marianella on the journey and I was also quite curious about the whole process (besides, it wasn't like I could be relaxing with my Sunday morning Bloody Mary anyway-just kidding :-)). We left at about 10 a.m. and arrived at the school hosting the vote in about twenty minutes time. I was wary of the line forming, but unlike other experiences we've had when dealing with government queues, the pace was brisk and soon Marianella was in the inside and I was left outside watching the masses huddle from every direction. Although I'm not much for politics, I have always enjoyed the energy of voting sites on election day and it was interesting to see Peru's citizens gather. You could almost describe it as a party, although no one seemed overjoyed to be there and of course, there was no promise of alcohol when entering this party. After about fifteen minutes, Marianella emerged, showing me her middle finger which was doused in a purple dye (to guarantee that she and everyone else only voted once). The crowds were beginning to pick up and I wondered how busy it would get in a couple hours, as the traditionally late arriving Peruanos would begin to make their way to the voting booths.
On our walk back, we stopped off at a market to gather a few provisions, discussing how we might spend our open afternoon. After leaving the market, we soon arrived at the decision for our afternoon-staying in the comfort of our apartment. The reason was because of a traffic jam like none we've seen on Lima's streets (and that is a pretty bold proclamation). We were outpacing cars and buses on our walk home as the normal Sunday tranquility was overtaken by the voters of the city.
Traffic began to thin in the late afternoon and we're still waiting on official word as to who the new mayors of Lima and the suburbs will be, but it was certainly an interesting day in Lima, one we'll be repeating in April when the presidential elections occur (and I think when I'll be drawn into the vote).
The interesting thing about voting in Peru is that all citizens between the ages of 18-70 are bound by law to vote. Not doing so results in a fine that can't be evaded, since whenever you want to do any official business, you must pay the fine first (a lesson Marianella's experienced from her days living overseas). Additionally, about three weeks before election day the citizens of the country await in nervous anticipation (or at least the Vizcarra family does), hoping to avoid getting drafted for election day duty. Basically, much like jury duty in the U.S., citizens are selected randomly to run the election day proceedings. So follow me here-Marianella's father, who is 73, was one of those drafted; while he's not required to vote because of his older age, he was required to serve as an alternate to the main election guy which would have meant being at the election proceedings from 8 a.m. until well into the evening if the main guy didn't show. Fortunately for Marianella's dad, the main guy showed. Just goes to show you that bureaucracy everywhere seems to make little sense.
My favorite aspect of the whole weekend was finding out that alcohol sales were banned in Peru from Friday at 12:01 a.m. through Sunday evening. News traveled rapidly among my school's teachers on Friday morning, to the dismay of many. When I asked one of my students that morning if alcohol sales were banned because they were worried about protests, she informed me that the reasoning was so that everyone would show up sober on Sunday for the vote. I found myself laughing all weekend thinking of a dry Peru.
So this morning, Marianella and I embarked to the voting station which was about a ten block walk from our apartment. I wasn't voting, but I was enough of a gentleman to accompany Marianella on the journey and I was also quite curious about the whole process (besides, it wasn't like I could be relaxing with my Sunday morning Bloody Mary anyway-just kidding :-)). We left at about 10 a.m. and arrived at the school hosting the vote in about twenty minutes time. I was wary of the line forming, but unlike other experiences we've had when dealing with government queues, the pace was brisk and soon Marianella was in the inside and I was left outside watching the masses huddle from every direction. Although I'm not much for politics, I have always enjoyed the energy of voting sites on election day and it was interesting to see Peru's citizens gather. You could almost describe it as a party, although no one seemed overjoyed to be there and of course, there was no promise of alcohol when entering this party. After about fifteen minutes, Marianella emerged, showing me her middle finger which was doused in a purple dye (to guarantee that she and everyone else only voted once). The crowds were beginning to pick up and I wondered how busy it would get in a couple hours, as the traditionally late arriving Peruanos would begin to make their way to the voting booths.
On our walk back, we stopped off at a market to gather a few provisions, discussing how we might spend our open afternoon. After leaving the market, we soon arrived at the decision for our afternoon-staying in the comfort of our apartment. The reason was because of a traffic jam like none we've seen on Lima's streets (and that is a pretty bold proclamation). We were outpacing cars and buses on our walk home as the normal Sunday tranquility was overtaken by the voters of the city.
Traffic began to thin in the late afternoon and we're still waiting on official word as to who the new mayors of Lima and the suburbs will be, but it was certainly an interesting day in Lima, one we'll be repeating in April when the presidential elections occur (and I think when I'll be drawn into the vote).
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