Eat, Surf, Live

Went to pay my Telphonica bill this week and unexpectedly found myself living in the Peruvian present. In this cash based society I was shocked, well more like pissed off, put out, aggresivo if you will, to find that after getting myself to the main telephone company center, nowhere near my house and with a taxi driver just as confused as I (have you ever tried to tell someone in another language how to go somewhere when you don't even know where you are going) only to find that they do not take plastic, not even my Peruvian debit card. So I stood there and kept asking the same question over and over as though my incessant questioning is going to change the mere fact that this company only accepts cash...are you kidding me. Deep breath, plan B. I get directions to the bank, walk 15 mins. take out dollars. Then I haggle with the money changers on the street for a better exchange. I mean why accept that . 03 difference that the bank is trying to get from me, yes better to gamble on the street especially with blond hair and crap Spanish, however this time the tactic of waiting, questioning, waiting, worked I did get my 2.93 verse 2.90 that was offered at the bank. I am unable to express that amount of joy I feel when changing money on the street, the unknown, the gamble, the haggle, the adrenaline rush the first time you try to spend the bills wondering whether the are counterfeit. Back to Telephonica, the doors are locked NNOOOO was what the two old Peruvian ladies heard as they turned to see a blond women grasping onto the handles of large glass doors, again trying to persuade corporate as two security guards, close enough to touch only 1/2 an inch of glass separating them, point to the store hours. After a strangely rewarding conversation, apparently frustration is an effective tool for releasing inhibitions and letting language flow, I was walking four blocks to find a liquor store across from a casino where guess what, I was able to pay, with plastic, my Telephonica bill.