Courtney Ng
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This is the Only Time You Will Ever See “Efficient” and “Peru” in the Same Sentence.*

November 10, 2009 @ 4:15 PM | Permalink

I've been in Peru now for more than months, and if there's one general rule of thumb I've learned about how things work here, it's that every task requires an average of 3.5 more steps than it should to complete. Let's explore a seemingly simple example: you need a copy of the reading for your next class. For most American students, this means that you either a.) get a copy from the professor, b.) buy a book which contains the reading.
 
In Peru, however, students never purchase books, and professors are very rarely willing to photocopy readings for students. This leaves only one option: every student in a class must go to the library to photocopy the reading from the same book. Here is the usual sequence of steps it takes to get that reading:
 
  1. Go to the central library on campus.
  2. Look up the reading in the library catalog.
  3. Discover that one of the 50 students in the class has checked it out – return in 2 days to try again.
  4. Assuming that another of the 50 students has not checked the book out this time, fill out a call slip.
  5. Bring the call slip to the Check-out Desk and check it out.
  6. Head to photocopier. Wait in line to request to have the readings photocopied.
  7. Pay for the photocopies.
  8. Return two hours later. Photocopies are not done.
  9. Return two hours later. Photocopies are done.
  10. Read the darn thing.
 
I'm starting to become convinced that professors make getting the readings particularly difficult so that when you finally retrieve it, you'll treasure it like your newborn baby. Another plus side of this overly complicated process is that you meet a lot of (very nice) Peruvians, and you begin to look forward to assigned readings, because each time you get one is another trip to greet Mr. Softspoken Librarian, Ms. Photocopy Lady with the Nice Nails, and the Library Security Guard Who is Fascinated by Your Hand Sanitizer (not kidding).
 
AND if you turn in your book late, you'll get suspended from the library system for a week, which means you get to make a new Peruvian friend who will take out the books you need for you!
 
*The sarcastic tone of this post is only partly from frustration. I really love Peru. :)

Comments

Posted on 12/02/2009 by

Michelle Saltis

Michelle Saltis

This is really entertaining! I love Peru, and the fact that time has such a different meaning for South Americans than it does for us Northerners.

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