Hi, I'm from Peru

[Martin11581 0]

WELL MY WIFE WILL FINALLY COME HERE ON THURSDAY!!! . SHE HAS HER PASSPORT and the envelope with her now. I AM VERY ANXIOUS!!!!

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Congrats Martin!! Your wifey si going to be here very very soon, just tell her to bring plenty of peruvian products.

We do get Inc Kola at our local supermarket -PATHMARK- and we pay about $2.00 per bottle. My mom sends me chocolates and PRODUCTOS PROVENZAl too, in Peru I paid about $1.20 per bag and here I have to pay $3.50 not fair at all but what else can I do???

Angela If you still in Peru enjoy as much as you can, spend alot of time with your family and friends.

Gotta go guys

Good night!

Vi

WELL MY WIFE WILL FINALLY COME HERE ON THURSDAY!!! . SHE HAS HER PASSPORT and the envelope with her now. I AM VERY ANXIOUS!!!!

[athena_ny 1]

Congrats Martin!! Your wifey si going to be here very very soon, just tell her to bring plenty of peruvian products.

We do get Inc Kola at our local supermarket -PATHMARK- and we pay about $2.00 per bottle. My mom sends me chocolates and PRODUCTOS PROVENZAl too, in Peru I paid about $1.20 per bag and here I have to pay $3.50 not fair at all but what else can I do???

Angela If you still in Peru enjoy as much as you can, spend alot of time with your family and friends.

Gotta go guys

Good night!

Vi

WELL MY WIFE WILL FINALLY COME HERE ON THURSDAY!!! . SHE HAS HER PASSPORT and the envelope with her now. I AM VERY ANXIOUS!!!!

We have Mirko's brother Challe (er, short for Carlos, I guess) sends us stuff every once in a while ... and we just hope they don't steal it when it comes through customs

Our friend from Bolivia was telling us that when her husband came back from Bolivia (well, he'll be her ex soon enough) at Miami, he had 60 empanadas in his bags (#######, I thought that was ridiculous) and since the box they checked had meat they took them all. And it's easier to get stuff through the airport (at least for us) than through the mail ... sometimes if someone in his family (and they're a huge family so there's always someone) is coming to the US for a visit or has come to Peru for a visit, they'll pay them to bring stuff back and then mail it here so that customs won't get it.

When Mirko came back, he brought me Peruvian wine AND pisco! But since the last time I went overboard on the pisco sours, I'm a little scared to open the pisco.

[Martin11581 0]

One main thing to bring from LIMA is MEDICINA!!

[athena_ny 1]

One main thing to bring from LIMA is MEDICINA!!

I don't want medicine from Lima. If my husband keeps popping antibiotics the way he has been, he'll get a super bacterial bug that nothing will kill. I'm going to all measures to keep the medicine IN Lima.

[James&Angela 0]

Hi everybody!!! How re you doing? Here in Lima everything is ok, without news, only that the weather is changing, from sunny days to windy days but we know that its normal on this time of the year, considering that winter is very close.

Dear Vi, yes Im still in Lima, thanks for your advice about enjoying as much as I can, time with my family and friends, for sure, thats the most that Im doing now, cause I know then when I travel to USA I will miss them a lot ....

Kisses....

Angela

[athena_ny 1]

Hi everybody!!! How re you doing? Here in Lima everything is ok, without news, only that the weather is changing, from sunny days to windy days but we know that its normal on this time of the year, considering that winter is very close.

Dear Vi, yes Im still in Lima, thanks for your advice about enjoying as much as I can, time with my family and friends, for sure, thats the most that Im doing now, cause I know then when I travel to USA I will miss them a lot ....

Kisses....

Angela

Angela, what part of Lima are you from?

My husband is from San Borja

[James&Angela 0]

Hi Athena... Im from San Miguel, close to Plaza San Miguel (its a big mall), maybe your husband has been there some time Then I met a wonderful american guy and we re right now in all process about gettin Visa K1 for marrying in USA asap So tell me, your husband is now addapted to his new life in USA? What dioes he miss the most here? Im pretty sure that I will miss of course my family, and then the food, its delicious!!!!

Kisses...

Angela

[athena_ny 1]

Hi Athena... Im from San Miguel, close to Plaza San Miguel (its a big mall), maybe your husband has been there some time Then I met a wonderful american guy and we re right now in all process about gettin Visa K1 for marrying in USA asap So tell me, your husband is now addapted to his new life in USA? What dioes he miss the most here? Im pretty sure that I will miss of course my family, and then the food, its delicious!!!!

Kisses...

Angela

We were at Plaza San Miguel when we just visited his nephew and niece live near there with their mother.

Well, I met him after he had already been here a while; he entered on a tourist visa, so we did not do the K-1 or K-3 process. What he misses the most is his family, and surfing and how there is so much to do there - when visiting there was also someone to go visit or somewhere to walk around, and here I don't think there is so much of that. Also, the people in Peru he feels are a lot nicer, though he's met a lot of nice people here, he's also had some incidents where people were mean/rude because he's Hispanic, which he's struggled with, so he obviously misses the fact that he feels like he fits in more in Lima. Real Inca Kola, real chicha morada, pisco sours, cheap ceviche.

I'm not from there, but I miss fresh, cheap alfajores He misses turrones.

You speak English pretty well (at least written) so you won't have as much trouble as he did with that - he came here not planning to stay but his dad who was on a work visa died, and he had to stay to take care of that and learn English as efficiently as possible.

He often gets frustrated here - everything is money money money, like we had to buy 2 cars so we can just get to work, because many US cities do not have good public transportation (as I'm sure you'll find), and going somewhere is so easy in Lima, so he misses that (however, doesn't miss the way people drive there! ) If you/your spouse have advanced degrees, it's a lot easier, but we're both working on our's now - got married young, hehe.

So while he's adapted at this point, and is okay with being here because I am, he loves Lima more - someday I'd like for us to be able to go back and live there

[James&Angela 0]

Hi Athina, thanks for your answer... Well, yes, you have said some things that I will miss also when I travel to USA for living there. Of course for peruvians is common to find a bus or a taxi in any corner or street, and its also normal to have lots of things to do, visiting a friend or family, going to a restaurant, cinema, theatre, dancing discos, the zoo, cause everything is close and on the same area ... As my almost husband always says: "In Oregon you will have very quiet and calm life, cause in comparison with Lima, Salem is a very small and quiet city" Imagine than here in Lima we have eight million people and in Salem is only one hundred fifty thousand people!!!!!! So Im sure I will be quiet and happy with my love but at least at the begginig I will miss the noise, the cosmopolitan life here, the Lima smell

My baby also has told me that we will try to get some peruvian food when its possible, cause he loves it too! He is fascinated with all our main dishes, the Inca Kola, and Lucumas flavor. Dont know if you have tasted on your visits here lucuma icecream or some dessert with that fruit? For my love, thats amazing! He has thought that would be a nice idea trying to sow a lucuma tree in our future house Well maybe that would be a very nice experiment to raise a peruvian plant in american land... we will see what happens and then I will tell you

And yes, both of us have professional degree: Im lawyer and he is engineer. Maybe as you say, that could help me, but I must admit that Im a bit scared thinking about my possibilities as professional there considering that Im latin and dont know if I could have job opportunities for my career. But my love and me are very possitive always so we will find the best way to get a good job even if its not as lawyer at the beggining...

Well, your husbands name is Mirko, right? I think I have readen that here ... Kisses to both of you

Angela

[MandR 0]

WELL MY WIFE WILL FINALLY COME HERE ON THURSDAY!!! . SHE HAS HER PASSPORT and the envelope with her now. I AM VERY ANXIOUS!!!!

Martin.................. Congratulations

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Hey Guys!!

If you don't mind I would like to join this conversation. I'm peruvian too and came to this country about three years ago. I never thought about moving to this country, I felt that my life was complete in Lima, I have an awesome family, great career and great friends but when I met Sil (my hubby) he turned my life upside down. He proposed to me, we got married in Lima and after 6 months I got the Visa and came to NYC.

This is a huge city with a large hispanic comunity, now I can say that I have friends from all over the world.

I was very lucky because I got a job right away, not in my field that is tourism but something related, so don't worry Angela, I think that if you have your papers in order and speak english you will find plenty of oportunities here.

There are plenty of peruvian restaurants and bodegas here, not so close to my house but close enough. There are not taxis where I live, I take the train everyday to go to work, I work in Manhattan (or THE CITY) kind of a huge Miraflores, I like it alot because when I get bored I come back to the peace and quite of my home. I'm sure that in the beginning you will be a little surprise with the difference in the cost of living, here you can make alot of money but you spend alot too. Rent is pretty expensive comparing to the prices in Peru, I was in shock in the beginning but then you get used to that (1 BDR apartment could cost $1100a month)

Oh well, hope it helps. Hubby is calling me adn then we watch Magaly together.

Saludos

Vi

[athena_ny 1]

Hi Athina, thanks for your answer... Well, yes, you have said some things that I will miss also when I travel to USA for living there. Of course for peruvians is common to find a bus or a taxi in any corner or street, and its also normal to have lots of things to do, visiting a friend or family, going to a restaurant, cinema, theatre, dancing discos, the zoo, cause everything is close and on the same area ... As my almost husband always says: "In Oregon you will have very quiet and calm life, cause in comparison with Lima, Salem is a very small and quiet city" Imagine than here in Lima we have eight million people and in Salem is only one hundred fifty thousand people!!!!!! So Im sure I will be quiet and happy with my love but at least at the begginig I will miss the noise, the cosmopolitan life here, the Lima smell

My baby also has told me that we will try to get some peruvian food when its possible, cause he loves it too! He is fascinated with all our main dishes, the Inca Kola, and Lucumas flavor. Dont know if you have tasted on your visits here lucuma icecream or some dessert with that fruit? For my love, thats amazing! He has thought that would be a nice idea trying to sow a lucuma tree in our future house Well maybe that would be a very nice experiment to raise a peruvian plant in american land... we will see what happens and then I will tell you

And yes, both of us have professional degree: Im lawyer and he is engineer. Maybe as you say, that could help me, but I must admit that Im a bit scared thinking about my possibilities as professional there considering that Im latin and dont know if I could have job opportunities for my career. But my love and me are very possitive always so we will find the best way to get a good job even if its not as lawyer at the beggining...

Well, your husbands name is Mirko, right? I think I have readen that here ... Kisses to both of you

Angela

Yes, his name is Mirko ... he's named after a Russian uncle (by marriage) or some such. He's the 6th kid, I think his mom was running out of names (and she fought his dad - she didn't want more kids, so he jokes she was still mad when he was born )

I love anything with lucuma - at some specialty stores here (Florida) we can get the ice cream, but the fruit is very very very hard to find. I hope a tree would grow, but Oregon might be a little tricky.

You can get Inca Kola here, but it's not the same - sweetened with processed sweeteners and the like, but it does in a pinch.

With an advanced degree, I'm sure you'll be fine; while you probably won't be able to practice law (at least not right away, since you'd have to take the Oregon state bar), the fact you had an advanced degree should help you in other fields.

I prefer Peruvian food to most stereotypical "American" food - I cook some Peruvian food for him but he eats just about anything so I'm lucky

[athena_ny 1]

Hey Guys!!

If you don't mind I would like to join this conversation. I'm peruvian too and came to this country about three years ago. I never thought about moving to this country, I felt that my life was complete in Lima, I have an awesome family, great career and great friends but when I met Sil (my hubby) he turned my life upside down. He proposed to me, we got married in Lima and after 6 months I got the Visa and came to NYC.

This is a huge city with a large hispanic comunity, now I can say that I have friends from all over the world.

I was very lucky because I got a job right away, not in my field that is tourism but something related, so don't worry Angela, I think that if you have your papers in order and speak english you will find plenty of oportunities here.

There are plenty of peruvian restaurants and bodegas here, not so close to my house but close enough. There are not taxis where I live, I take the train everyday to go to work, I work in Manhattan (or THE CITY) kind of a huge Miraflores, I like it alot because when I get bored I come back to the peace and quite of my home. I'm sure that in the beginning you will be a little surprise with the difference in the cost of living, here you can make alot of money but you spend alot too. Rent is pretty expensive comparing to the prices in Peru, I was in shock in the beginning but then you get used to that (1 BDR apartment could cost $1100a month)

Oh well, hope it helps. Hubby is calling me adn then we watch Magaly together.

Saludos

Vi

M was totally content with his life in Peru too; he was supposed to go to school and have a professional career and all that; which is why he gets so mad he had to come here and spend time here illegally, because then people think, "Oh you have nothing in your country," which is not true. He's not proud of how things worked out, but it's so hard to be embarrassed when it was because of his father's death. When I was in Peru, there were some unfortunate areas of the cities (both Lima and Cusco, only two cities we were able to visit), but I remember telling him, "I don't understand the idea that S. America is so poor and everyone wants to leave; it's possible to live great here, and be happier than you ever will be in the US"

Vi you're lucky to live in NYC because it's so multicultural; I am from ALbany and would not want to live in the city, but that is one benefit. That is the one thing I like about Miami, and I don't like much about that city. Tampa (where we are) has some Peruvian restaurants, and places that sell Peruvian products, so it's okay.

I was shocked in Peru how much a NICE apartment cost - so little compared to here! but I suppose people earn less, too? It's probably all relative. My sister in law's apartment/condo that they own in San Borja was only 60K she told me. I noticed that the apartments tended to be a lot smaller, though I'm not sure what an 1100 dollar apartment in NYC looks like these days. There is also more of a desire to have more STUFF even if you can't afford it in the US, I believe. My husband's family buys what they can afford, for the most part, and here we have loans for cars, loans for education, credit cards - I know credit exists in Peru, but is it as prevalent?

I came back to our apartment and went into the bedroom, when I got back from Peru, and it was a mess, with stuff everywhere because the dresser is broken and he hasn't fixed it, and I was like, "Whoa, it got bigger!" It didn't really, but it seemed so different to what I'd been dealing with the 2 weeks prior. Though I'm told a LOT of countries sprawl less than we do - smaller cars, smaller housing, smaller everything.

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Athena (by the way, is that your real name???), I think you told me in the past that you are from Albany, Sil went to the U.of Albany he promised that he will take me there sometime, I think that he has a few friends that still living there.

About $$$, yeah, you know how expensive NYC could be, at first we thougt about moving to Manhattan but after Sil checked the prices we decided to stay away, a Studio could go for $1800!!! can you believe that ?????????????????? I have a friend that lives in the Upeer East Side and she pays for a 2 BDR apartment $5800 a month, that's ridiculous.

People definitely earn less money in Peru than here, when I mention salaries of $60,000 a year the get very surprised what they don't know is how much Uncle Sam gets from it. Over there we never mention how much we make a year but how much we make a month and usually we get pay once a month.

In our last trip we visited a cousin that just got married and bought a nice apartment in San Borja (are we talking about the same couple??) they live in a 2 BDR with a small patio where they can have BBQ's, a nice kitchen, big living living room and dining room, family room and a small room for the maid, they paid $65,000 for it and we Sil heard that he wanted to move to Lima. Something like that heere will be around $450,000 according to Sil.

Another thing that I don't see here are the girls that help around the house or as we say in Peru "empleadas" or maids, here a girl will charge about $80 a day to clean the apartment. In Peru I was ussed to have a maid but here? forget it!!! so I have to do everything with a very little help from hubby but I don't mind I love to clean my house. I try to cook peruvian food almost everyday and Sil loves it, I'm very lucky, he says that he is "peruano" and of course loves the Pisco Sour and Chicha morada .

I think the american society is more materialistic and in Peru we are more family oriented, that's one of the things that Sil loves about my culture. I miss the big family reunions , the parties (you are so right, in our last trip, all my aunts and uncles invited us to their houses for special dinners it was a little too overwhelming). He is italian so every celebration goes around the food, in Peru is the alcohol!!!! and we love it!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahaha. Oh before I forget, I miss the campings in the beach too.

Time to go!

good night again

Vi