Getting High in Peru: Arequipa, its postives and a concern

Arequipa, its positives and a concern:

Arequipa is a fine city in which to live, as I have now done approaching two months. I have gone to and enjoyed the museums; I even returned to some a second time. I enjoy returning to the Plaza de Armas, even after dozens of visits. We’ve eaten at quite a few restaurants, gone to coffee shops, etc. There is much to enjoy and to experience here in central Arequipa.  

My biggest concern is the pollution caused by too many exhaust-spewing combis, buses, and trucks. According to some of our students, each living with an Arequipa family, their Peruvian families share this concern. In order for me to get to the university or to the main plaza, I must cross a bridge by the Pte. Grau, which is a daily cross point for thousands of walkers and tens of thousands of vehicles. It is always busy (a bit less so on Saturdays and still less so on Sundays), and on Mondays through Fridays, morning and evening, there are daily traffic stalls. The attached pictures show the bridge and a nearby street when it is not too busy and the air not too thick with exhaust. I try to avoid the streets when traffic is stalled or when the exhaust is overwhelming. 

The street that crosses the Pte. Grau Bridge heading north is Avenue Ejercito, and I must take this street to get to the grocery store and to other shops. Also, ten to hundreds of thousands of residents live off of this street for miles to the north. So, as we walk north or south on Av. Ejercito we breathe in the exhaust, which you can see wafting at you. There is no avoiding it.      

I’m here for only four months (and, ojala, next year for another 4 months), but I ponder daily what effect this exhaust has on the health of the students I see walking to and from school or waiting to catch a bus or combi. What are the long-term effects on their health, their families, and still others who make their living on Av. Ejercito? I jog, but I avoid this area and attempt to avoid trafficked areas.

Ending on a positive note, not far from where I live is a major construction site with deep foundations and so far, one huge tower. This is the location for another bridge over the Rio Chili and another route to avoid the congestion of Avenue Ejercito. It will take a few years perhaps, but it will be part of the solution for this growing city of almost one million.

Paz y Shalom.