Hysterics on a Plane

I flew to Lima the night before last, and had a seven hour delay that really only needed to take about two… We flew into Houston by about two in the afternoon and had to board my flight to Lima at three pm. So far, so good, I got to my gate, ready and happy that I only had an hour layover. They called us to board and the plane, packed full due to tourist season combined with Peruvian Independence Day on the 28th.

Anyway, the plane pulled back a few yards from the gate and immediately the pilot noted a problem with a “whatchamacalit” in a motor feeding air into the back of the plane. Back to the gate for the maintenance guys to have a look. They fixed it up and we pulled out again.

Nope, still not working and now, the fuel pump acted up and the problem needed more attention. This time, they got us off the plane and into the terminal because they could not keep the plane temperature down. We hung around for an hour and a half while they sorted out the problem and then they loaded us back into the plane.

As soon as we were back in the plane one of the passengers decided that he felt sick and could not continue his trip to Peru. They offloaded him but here’s the trick, if you have booked into an international flight and get off, your luggage must exit with you so that people don’t leave bombs on board by getting conveniently sick etc. Anyway, we sat while they got the bag off, about an hour. By now we were delayed about four hours. The plane was uncomfortably hot and it turned out that one of the motors needed coaxing from some sort of a cart to start up and they had one that was too small, so said the captain. This produced a sweltering delay in the broiling plane. I admit to discomfort and sweating profusely myself. A number of passengers began to gripe vociferously about vague discomforts and their waning confidence in the plane itself.

About now a couple of women with babies began to be quite vocal that they were feeling bad and the plane was not cool enough and one in particular complained that since she had just had a caesarian three weeks before and her baby was new, she was afraid that the baby would become ill. One might ask why a woman would fly internationally just three weeks after a caesarian. With no warning, others chimed in with sympathy for the caesarian woman and her baby. Suddenly, the airline was going to kill the baby. The baby would die in the heat yet at no moment did the baby cry, whine or look particularly feeble, that I could see. Somehow then, the argument shifted to us and several chimed in that we all might die like so many chickens in a Quonset hut in southern Texas or something. Wait a minute, we were in southern Texas… On top of that, a third year mechanical engineering student, who I think exaggerated her qualifications insisted that, despite all assurances by the jet engine mechanics, our plane had become unfit to fly, further inciting the panic. Pretty quick we had a reasonably significant mutiny and a half dozen or so passengers opted to take the flight on the next date. Naturally, they did not check availability, and I happened to know that these flights were virtual sardine packs of Peruvians and tourists.

You have probably leapt to the conclusion that this reenactment of the Exodus cost us hours more in searching for stupid people’s luggage. In the end it took something on the order of three hours but did get me an upgrade. Instead of arriving in Lima at 10:30 pm, I got in at 5:30am having spent twelve hours on a plane instead of six and all because of a few hysterical and drastic Latinos.

National Strikes/ Bored In Cusco

Alan Garcia Caricature After The Bagua Killings

Just about a month ago, the natives around the city of Bagua, Peru protested the government policies around water and the protest grew ugly. Between police and native inhabitants, 32 people lost their lives in the violence that erupted there. If you are not connected to Peru, likely the big news items like Iran, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, and the tragic demise of Michael Jackson, the Bagua killings have been little more than a footnote.


Avenida Del Sol... Empty

This social unrest has resulted in big problems for the pretty well failed government of Alan Garcia. Garcia was the president elected back in 1985 who was in power when inflation hit 1300% and the Maoist, Shining Path terrorists got really rolling in Peru. In fact, it all went out of control when Alan was president last time. The best question might have to do with why they ever re-elected him. That truly can be asked in virtually all elections in Latin America but then I suppose we are not immune to bonehead election results in the US now. Without digressing, I am stunned at how short memories get with the rising generation and above all in countries where literacy is an issue both for ability and lack of interest.


The Strike

In the end, he is in and the best choice Lourdes Flores never had a chance… The Garcia government has made so many poor choices that no one can actually track them. They have done things without consulting the communities time and again. As a result, things have gotten kind of rough. The strikes have been carried out by various guilds and unions and this latest one was orchestrated to include most of the important ones. They paralyze parts of the country Tuesday and Wednesday and others on Wednesday and Thursday effectively chocker blocking the whole country for three days.


Civil Construction Workers With Their Clubs

We decided that my presence in the camp could result in my getting kidnapped and held for some demands so I cut out and went to Cusco. Indeed, Cusco carries out nasty and rigid strikes that have a terrible effect because it is the Inca, tourist Mecca. Right now, the whole place is shut down for two days and hardly a tourist in sight. You cannot get in or out of the city and if you try, you are likely to get your windows busted out by thrown rocks. I have to stay here to get my stuff that I left in camp because I was not planning on this and I go home on Saturday. This really whacks the local economy.

I went out to see the strike this morning and the strikers acted in a civilized manner. The strikers behaved themselves but all had their clubs, just in case. They did not throw any rocks or gas at me or anybody else that I saw, but they had their fun. In the end, I was more disturbed by the protest paperwork. This whole platform promises terrible problems for Peru if something does not happen soon. The real problems come from some of the Hugo Chavez related solutions…


A Woman Selling Roasted Bananas and Sweet Potatoes

My mother told me that she loved nothing better than to be caught in a disaster and ride it out. On this and other points I differ. For my account I am nothing but stranded in a decent hotel but bored to tears in Cusco, Peru. This has a certain level of sacrilege to the tourists who come here just to see IT. I have seen it before and it has its charm, but I recognize the stale urine smells and cheap tourist photo ops with the ladies and kids in pseudo native attire, packing lambs or leading around alpacas. I need to be working or going home and have not been able to bring myself to do any of the tourist stuff. Who could imagine being bored in Cusco?