After 18 months with SGS in Camberley, Surrey, I was asked
to consider a position in Lima, Peru for
a period of 2 years with my family as South American IT Manager, on hearing this
news we all travelled out to Lima during November 1999. The journey did not
start too well as the flight from Madrid to Lima was overbooked due to a
cancellation from the previous day and we were then travelling Economy on a
Columbian Airline to Bogota, Columbia and onto Lima from there. This resulted in
us missing the pickup at the Airport and taking our life in our hands with a
local taxi driver who seemed to be colour blind as he did not stop for red
lights. The hotel was comfortable, but Jo was reluctant to venture out alone, as
I had to spend several days in the office, we were taken to see several
apartments which were very nice, but Jo had a feeling of insecurity, which did
not leave her. Only towards the end of our visit were we taken out , first to a
resort in the Andes which was nice and then to a private beach, travelling
between these two places we came to appreciate
the standard of living we have in this country. Our return was more
comfortable and Jo and Leanne enjoyed the aspects of Business travel on a
long-haul flight, endless food and drink! After returning to the UK I then flew
out to Miami 2 days later to discuss the position, but before any decisions were
made I then became involved with projects in the Philippines which took the
focus away from a South American move.
City Guide
With nearly 6.5 million people crammed into a few square miles
of seaside desert, Lima is a city to love or hate, a microcosm of all of Peru's
ills and much of its appeal. For 300 years it was the capital of Spain's South
American empire, and its vice-regal history lingers on in its sophistication,
the decaying beauty of its boulevards, and the liveliness of its intellectual
life. Over the past 30 years, though, much of Peru's rural population has
migrated here in hopes of finding a better life. Today, Lima's streets are
packed with immigrants, most of them wretchedly poor. Some are beggars, often
refugees from the political violence in the highlands; others are reduced to
trying to sell something -- anything -- to anyone who will buy. The press of ambulantes
(street vendors) vigorously hawking their wares can be overwhelming.
