post by ANDREAS

Because I wanted to do some traveling before the start of our International Media program, I decided to head over to Bolivia, thus I didnŽt get to know all that much about Peru yet. But that is certainly still to follow. Before my bus left to go to Arequipa, I walked the city of Lima for a few hours, and got a good glimpse into everyday life within a small section of this vast metropolitan area. The highlight of my little tour certainly was Guillermo, a 17-year-old kid who I spotted doing amazing juggling tricks with a futbol in the middle of a terminally busy and thus horrificly dangerous intersection. I watched him from in front of an upscale super mercado for about 20 minutes, as he was doing his tricks while the traffic light was in its red phase. At the end of every little session heŽd thank the audience – drivers stuck in the middle of Lima traffic paying varying degrees of attention to the artistic shenanigans Guillermo was pulling off in front of the hoods of their very vehicles. He then would walk over and pick up the coins that a few generous motorists were willing to hand him in appreciation for his efforts.

After a while I walked over to the middle of the intersection and started talking to him. Every time the lights turned green we had a chance to chat for maybe a minute or two. I was amazed by his skill, keeping the ball in the air at will with any body part imaginable,... knee, shoulder, head, and of course, foot? while lying on his back, sitting on his behind or using a jumping rope? and all this while in the middle of this busy intersection, continuously dodging pedestrians on the crosswalk, and making sure to get out of the way before the lights turned green again.

I couldnŽt help but think to myself: ŽIf that guy were to play in Austria, heŽd make it into our National Team in no time? although heŽd probably make the same amount of money.š Now, I know that doesnŽt really say a whole lot of good about the current state of affairs in regards to AustriaŽs futbol, and I am probably exaggerating, but he was good at what he did! Guillermo told me he was already out of school, and that he did play in a local club team. But in order to help support his family, he would perform his tricks here in the streets of Lima. He would practice for four hours a day and then come to that intersection for about an hour, competing with other jugglers, fire-eaters and little girls selling chewing gum and air-fresheners for the attention of the passing pedestrians and motorists. According to his own accounts, this typically earns him about six Peruvian Nuevos Soles – or about US$1.90.