strata

It takes me about an hour to walk from school to my house. During that walk, I sometimes feel in danger, like when I accidentally walked through the projects (today). But usually, I’m simply entranced by the commerce: there are about 30 small pharmacies, 200 tiny stores, 10 street vendors selling ice cream, and about seven Chifa restaurants. Chifa = Chinese. The stores in general are baffling to me (So many employees! So little business!), but the Chinese restaurants are of particular interest. I did not realize I lived in a world where people thought, “I CAN have a better life. If only I move to Peru!” (WTF, China?) Maybe I shouldn’t be so naïve, though, having read the accounts of young girls in China who leave their country lives to become factory workers in sprawling, utilitarian cities in China.