Life Style In Peru

Learning Peru's beach culture
By Marie Alvarez-Calderón

Why are Peruvians so attracted to the beach? As every North American knows, equatorial beaches can do a tremendous amount of damage to human skin, hair, and eyes. Besides, how could anyone, much less those “poor” Peruvians, afford even the sand to sit on to watch the waves of the Pacific collide with the shore?
It seems to me that inthe U.S. many people are absorbed with job security, planning for retirement, and investments. South Americans understand that the veneer (apariencia) of civilization is very thin, that politics and economics are unpredictable, and that the only things that count are the closeness of generations and sharing the beauty of each day.
While many Peruvians may not be “rich” by North Americanstandards, a surprising number own beach homes. Acquiring a beach lot and constructing a suitable place to house a family and a few friends (4-6 bedrooms, sleeping 8-18 people), along with a separate bedroom and bath for the maids, can be more a matter of priorities than of extra cash on hand. In a land where families and friends are the priority and are often numerous, a beach house in a gated communityis the summer haven for young children to play in safety and peace, where adolescents can meet and date, and where grown children can return with their own families to enjoy the summer months of December through March.
These years, the most popular Peruvian beaches are located south of Lima off the Panamericana. The beaches all have names, but there are so many of them along the cove-linedPacific Coast that their precise address is often identified by kilometer location. Unless someone knows the kilometer location of a particular beach, it is unlikely that they will be able to find it in a day. The beach where Teresa literally put her stake in the sand is located at kilometer 98, approximately 59 miles south of Lima.
Entrance gates are staffed by guards with walkie-talkies. Anynon-resident who wishes to visit a beach development must show a legal ID, a house number and owner’s name, and their hosts must call the gate in advance.
Travel time to and from Lima depends entirely on the time of day. On particularly busy days it can take as long to get outside Lima’s city limits as it does to complete the rest of the trip. Since weekend trips to the beach are such a priority, thegovernment has minimized the traffic jam by turning all but one lane of the divided Panamericana into a one-way highway during certain hours. Since everyone knows that no sane person would go to the beach on Sunday afternoon or return to Lima on Saturday morning, three of the four lanes become one-way during those times. Pity the tourist who arrives in Lima on Sunday afternoon and decides to take adrive south!
Before I must return to my windowless office in a Texas chemical manufacturing complex, let me record how it feels to be truly alive.
I am sitting in the living room of a house in Brisa’s beach, looking through a wall of glass, and past a covered patio, at a flawless day. There is not a cloud in the crystal blue sky. The air is dry and remarkably cool, due to the Humboldt Currentthat runs along the western side of South America. No matter how hot the sun is, and the equatorial sun can be cruel, any spot of shade offers a gentle repose.
Today the ocean is Copen blue and calm, with a single row of glistening white waves. The shore is dotted with a neat line of brightly colored sombrillas (beach umbrellas) in tomato red, traffic yellow, emerald green, and royal blue, next toelegant cotton tents in the purest white. These are set up and taken down each day by a small army of beach employees, who also rake the sand each morning to remove any trace of debris before the homeowners descend for their daily tan. During the day, a stream of friendly local vendors provide a wide variety of refreshments, ice creams, hats, bags, and jewelry, all of which can be charged...