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The Lima Survival Kit
At long last
By Eleanor Griffis, Peruvian Times

The Lima Survival Kit is about to go to press. Hard to believe when you consider how many months ago it first began to be put together.

The idea developed after an editorial conversation at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce two years ago. It's not a new idea. People produce expat guidebooks all over the world, and at the Peruvian Times we were even producing a shopping and "what to bring to Peru" guide in the 1920s. But 1997 was the last time anything similar was published in Lima and the information was way out of date -- not only the usual changes of address and closing or opening of a restaurant or specialty shop, but whole chapters on things like security and travel were no longer valid.

The Lima Survival Kit follows in the footsteps of Living in Lima, which was first published by the American Society (now the American and Canadian Association of Peru) and later taken on by the Canadian Cooperants Center. Much of this new edition is based on that same format, with additional information contributed by the European communities and, of course, by a host of Peruvians who, in the inimitable Lima way of life, seem to operate within an underground information network that always has intel of some new choice product or supplier that no one else has ever heard of.

The problem hasn't been what to put in the book but what to exclude. The enthusiasm has been overwhelming at just the mention of the guidebook, and we were flooded with immediate offers of "Oh, I know of a great.....(carpenter, seamstress, masseuse, bakery, artist, chiropractor, whatever). At one point it began to look as if we were producing some sort of doctoral encyclopaedia, and it was painful to have to cut back the information drastically. Painful because it was all good information.

So what has evolved as a result of all this surplus information is a guidebook in a spiral binder that can be opened to add new information or remove what is outdated. Quarterly updates will be available so that readers don't have to buy a new book every year. The guidebook is divided into more than 12 sections that include background information and contacts and tips for almost every aspect of living in Lima that we can think of -- from choosing a golf course, a lawyer or a dentist to painting the town red or doing fun things with the kids. An additional plus is the companion page on the website -- www.peruviantimes.com -- that will be updated weekly with the latest tips on security, travel, entertainment, and cultural information on Peru.

The Lima Survival Kit will be available mid-January through the American and Canadian Association and from the Peruvian Times. A percentage of the annual sales income will be given to charity, beginning this first year with Terra Peruviana, an association of specialists with projects to help communities of artisans recover and value the quality and depth of their artistic heritage before they lose it to mass production.

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