Interview: Living in Peru! and discover best place to visit

You plan to go live a few months or a few years in Peru? Julie gives us his experience!

Peru is a country full of cultural and natural treasures, not to mention the friendly people. Julie is a party after studying for several months. Check out his assignment in the course of this interview!
Living in Peru!

Describe us in a few sentences the country where you went. 

 I went to Peru. A very rich country since the discovery there are both, the coast, the Sierra (mountains) and Selva (jungle). Each region has its own kinds of music and culinary delights. I arrived at the end of the summer, that is to say the end of March. This is largely in Lima that I lived four months. The capital is located along the Pacific Ocean, approximately 9 million people and is characterized by a rather chaotic and a relatively high traffic pollution.

Peruvians are very proud of their dishes. This is also one of the first questions they ask when they meet a tourist: "qué tal la comida? gusta you? "

 
Why did you choose this country? What were my motives?
Initially relatively undecided, I do not know what destination to choose. The idea was to go for the first time alone in a developing country for the experience of total linguistic and cultural immersion. I also wanted to learn a new language and live field experience after many years of study. I chose Peru thanks to very positive echoes of a friend who went there three years ago to work for an NGO that works with street children in Lima.

 

 Did you go alone or with friends?
So I went alone without knowing the language ... I think I wanted to test my resourcefulness.

Have you experienced a major culture shock?
The first big shock for me was that the temperature when I left the airport. I must say it was snowing in Belgium when I left. During the journey from the airport to my first home, I can still hear the taxi driver told me in English that I could remove my sweater! When one has spent a very long winter in his country, this is not the first reaction, we keep her sweater!
Also, since I landed there without knowing anything about the Spanish, it was not always easy to understand the caller and to be understood.

     Peruvian driving scared me [...]
Another shock that I think is also traffic. Instead of the pedestrian and the conduct of Peruvian scared me because drivers are not lenient with pedestrians. In Lima, drivers are kings unlike Belgium. So it took me a lot of concentration in the first weeks when I was crossing to avoid the collision.

In Peru, people take the bus a lot. He stops just anywhere and rolls fairly crazy. There is not as systematic as ours shutdown system. The first week, so I went to walk my Spanish class because I was afraid of finding myself anywhere in this huge capital mistake of not being able to speak to tell the driver where I wanted to go down. Conclusion: take bus requires the ability to speak a minimum in the local language.

 

 Have you managed to easily integrate you are local?
Yes, I think, even if at first it feels like the same frustration in terms of language because we do not know how to express as desired. Not being able to make jokes or a little humor was the most frustrating for me at first. Peruvians are very sociable and curious. They go easily to strangers and ask many questions.

What about in terms of language? Learning difficult?
Learning Spanish is relatively easy for francophones. Without any basis, it takes a month and a half to get by. But that is changing relatively quickly. The most difficult was to understand the street children. Only at the end of my stay I was beginning to understand much better. They speak Spanish streets with different words and phrases and also a different accent.

 
Did you do something in this country that you never had before?
Language learning on the job, eating meat that I do not have the habit of eating (such as heart, liver ...) knowing that I am not at all focused on meat in general.

 
What is your best memory?
Pick one is hard, I would say salsas evenings with friends we met there.

Similarly, worse?
Being in the middle of nowhere, alone in a van with a driver and no credit on my laptop.

 
When you have the most during your stay?
If I have to pick one it would be during the tour organized to visit Machu Picchu. I was with a friend from Lima and we found in the woods along a railroad struggling to arrive at a rendezvous point before nightfall. Be aware that the guide told us that for our safety it was best not to walk at night along the tracks.
Armed with our backpack adventurer without flashlight, we therefore launched my girlfriend and me in a sprint to arrive as quickly as possible. Seeing the sky darken, we walked more quickly. The path was endless and we still walked for 45 minutes in the dark. Very sweaty, we finally arrived at their destination. The very significant event was also the discovery of Machu Picchu in the morning.

What sites and cities highlights have you had the opportunity to visit during your stay?
Huaraz is a city located in northern Peru where you can see the white and black Cordière Cordière. From there, I made a one-day trek called Laguna 69, it's beautiful. We see the turquoise lakes, it is impressive. Machu Picchu was obviously also very striking.

 
What have you brought to this country?
I brought the super good Peruvian coffee, pisco (local alcohol) and also woolen clothing (hat, gloves, poncho,

Do you want to return to that country or even live there?
Yes, I would return to Peru because I loved the experience and also to review the Peruvian friends met there. And why not live a year or two.

Advice for people who want to emigrate there?
On housing, if you book a house for a specified period, read the contract if there is one!
I was faced with a quandary. I booked my accommodation from the internet and the contract was written in Spanish. I could not understand it because I do not speak a single word before leaving. After three weeks, I wanted to change the house because the atmosphere was pretty bad and the manager told me at that time that it is put in the contract that I can not get my deposit (it was the equivalent of € 220) because I leave before three months reserved. So it's a bad joke!

Another tip is to not hesitate to get vaccinated against rabies. There are a lot of stray dogs especially in the north.

 
What is the average budget per month on average to live in?
I would say about 800 € per month.
Feel free to discover new destinations on our travel blog!