An unexpected path...

It is certainly interesting the people one can meet. Earlier today I wrote about the expats and their interaction with the locals. Tonight I went out to dinner with expats and learned some more.

One of the expats works as a manager at the office, but also owns and operates a documentary film company as his side project. He also shoots photography as his other interest. To add further coincidences he has major ethical problems with his industry (originally oil and gas). I found many similarities in him and some rather disturbing differences. He was rather interested when I told him my passion and we talked discussed analog vs. digital in a number of arenas (photography, music, etc.). He was quite excited and was showing me his work in photography. The really interesting part was that the same things that attract me to film draw him to film and the same reasons I dislike digital he dislikes digital. I didn't really expect to find a kindred spirit like this and was surprised even if we do tend to be so divergent.

We walked along the bay in Lima and as we walked the first place that came to mind was...not San Francisco...but Mumbai. Unlike San Francisco where the populated waterfront walking area faces another populated waterfront area (OAKLAND WHAT!!!); Lima has a curving bay and waterfront that doesn't face anything. So as we walked along the waterfront I remembered Marine Drive in Mumbai and I remembered the Santa Monica Pier area in LA. While we were walking on the waterfront we were up on 50-100 ft above the beach, which was an amazing view. Walking along we discussed Lima and the life down here. I have a feeling that if we wanted to (and if I rescue this project as they are hoping) I would have a shoe in for a transfer down to Lima. They are definitely short staffed with people that are doing my line of work and they are really giving me a hard sell. Anyways as we were walking along another thing that reminded me of India was the number of young couples catching private moments. I remember walking around the Hanging Gardens in Mumbai (though I'm sure one can find areas like this anywhere in India) and seeing couples everywhere I turned. It seems like in India, Liman (people of Lima?) couples often live with their parents for a while and during that time they need their alone time and that's where we found ourselves walking along. One of the guys mentioned a proliferation of "short-stay" hotels in Bangkok and "love" hotels or something like that in Tokyo.

From there we came upon quite possibly the most amazing mall I have ever seen. Now I can see many (ok all) of you rolling your eyes as you read this, but hear me out. Remember we are 100+ft above the beach at the top of a cliff. Cut into the side of the cliff is an outdoor mall (think Stanford Shopping Center or Bay Street with storefronts facing a common patio) that looks directly at the waterfront. I need to go back during the day and take pictures, because it was amazing. As it was pointed out to me the architecture was unbelievable (not that the buildings were that nice or anything), because of how seamlessly the mall integrated into the cliffside. We ate a Tony Roma's (manager's choice not mine) and that was ok. I did have a pisco sour (with the egg white foam) and loved it. They go down like a charm (then again I don't consider Tony Roma's to be the pinnacle of bartending) and I can easily see one leading to another to another. Finally it was 10:30 at night and we started to leave and I was amazed at how many people were still out and how much was still open (clearly I'm not in Kansas, Toto, or San Francisco for that matter).

It looks like I'll be working most of the weekend (Saturday in the office), but they have graciously agreed to let me off the hook on Sunday. I'm not kidding there was a moment they hesitated and wanted me to work on another job. If I'm off I think I'm going to go surfing with two of the expat managers. However, I do need to experience more local culture and I plan on investigating further once I have a cell phone (I should be receiving one tomorrow) so I can call locals up. It seems they like to give the expats cells and have them check in occasionally when they go out as a safety measure. Normally, I might scoff at that, but given that I'm effectively out here alone I think it's good. That's about it for now. Buenas noches.