Three Strikes...You're Out!

Peruvians depend very heavily on the bus system, because most Peruvians do not own their own vehicles. Since the buses are very necessary, it is a problem when there are days that the buses do not run. For example, two weeks ago there was a paro (a strike) where the buses did not run for an entire day. Taxis were available, but the ladies that I normally go with each morning and I walked for about a half an hour before we even found a taxi that was willing to take us to our desired location. In other places in Lima, people destroyed parked buses with stones and fists. When we found out the next week that the strike was going to run for two consecutive days and was supposed to be worse than the last one, we knew that something needed to be done. The strike was going to be held part way through the week, so how were we supposed to make it to Fetzer Memorial Christian School (were we have a special ARRIBA building for our classes) each morning? Because the school year had ended at Fetzer early this month, and the teachers were moved out from their apartments on campus, the three other ARRIBA girls and I got to stay on campus for two nights. The language helpers (that we normally have) had a day off, while some other tutors who lived nearby were able to come. The Morrells, the professor and his wife, had the apartment behind the classroom, so they had no problem getting in in the morning. We all made it through the strikes and were thankful for the place available for us to stay. With the three strikes, we were out of our Peruvian homes. It felt so good to get back to them just after the two days we were gone.