Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Larry Pitman Is Señor Sanchez a force for good against evil?

Is he worth his salt or just a bother?

Not exactly earth-shaking concerns, but that is currently the hot topic of conversation among our neighbors. Actually, in my view, Sr. Sanchez represents neither. Rather, he is the product of an uncommon and surprising burst of cooperation among the families residing on our block-long street in Barranco, a district of Lima.

A while back, we had a little problem with people breaking into houses on our block. It looked like we were being targeted by a gang of thieves. All this bad stuff occurred when the houses were unattended.

So our neighbors convened a meeting to discuss the problem. It was the first time I had met on a social basis some of my neighbors after living here for five years. Before that, our relationship had consisted of waiving hello to each other.

We decided that the solution to our problem was to hire a security guard. Since the break-ins occurred during the day, we agreed to have our guard on the street sitting in a chair from nine in the morning to nine in the evening. After a few false starts, we found Sr. Sanchez. He has held the post now for some months, rapidly becoming a fixture on our street.

I was a little dubious about the selection. Sr. Sanchez doesn’t look ferocious enough to scare off any bad guys. He is a slightly built, older gentleman with a quiet gentle manner. His sentry post is a chair placed in front of one of the houses, and there he sits very comfortably, reading one of the popular scandal rags, only getting up occasionally to stroll from one end of the block to the other.

The administrative logistics surrounding the employment of Señor Sanchez have been daunting .Each family needs to contribute to Sr. Sanchez’s pay. Collecting the money each month has fallen to our next door neighbor who is continually frustrated with the task. She has begun saying that he is not worth the bother.

We also have to meet every month to discuss issues that have come up regarding Sr. Sanchez’s employment. We rotate meeting in each other’s homes. This is the first time I have been in most of the homes on my block. On the agenda are such mundane topics as where can Sr. Sanchez go to the bathroom, and should we provide him lunch. After tackling these difficult matters, the meetings usually degenerate into gossip sessions. Actually rather fun.

Some neighbors have become annoyed with Señor Sanchez because they think he is spying on them. It is true that whenever something happens in one of the houses: a delivery, a repairman arriving or whatever, Sr. Sanchez is right there. He is curious about anything that is happening on the street.

I say, why not? Isn’t that part of the job?

In the meantime, since employing Sr. Sanchez, there has been no trouble whatsoever from the bad guys.

So right now the score is Sanchez 1, Crooks 0.


Larry J. Pitman is a college professor and writer who moved to Peru in 2005. He is part of the Peru Writers Group. Read past essays at LivinginPeru.com.

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1 Comments

# Mike says :
7 March, 2011 [ 01:55 ]

People in Peru aren't comfortable with others watching closely as things are delivered and such, but it is rather amusing that this extends to the local security.

Why is it such trouble to "collect" the money - and why is someone the one doing the collecting.  Shouldn't everyone just bring the money to the treasurer of your block security committee?

Or are many of the people too disorganized or cheap to pay up?

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