July in Lima, Peru

Well July has finally arrived and cold winter weather has set in as I must hold tight for the next 5 monthes until summer arrives (hopefully on-time).  Work has slowed a bit since some of classes have ended and I find myself with more free time than I would care to have, still it´s nice to have a day or to during the week to breathe. 

This month as well as last month I have been busy getting all my papers in order with the municipality of Breña for my upcoming wedding in August, thats right folks I´m getting married!  Even as I type this post from Zdenka´s home I am currently finishing up the last remaining tasks in order to get married here in Peru.  Let me just say that the while living in Peru may be great there are a few things that are quite tedious, like getting married for example.  So far Zdenka and I have had to fill out numerous declarations and documents of which are only the beginning of the civil marriage process, then we had to pay to publish an wedding announcement in a local newspaper (I believe it was called La Razón, which means The Truth or Reason).  Meanwhile I had to get my birth certificate certified by the Peruvian Consulate in San Francisco to verify that I was indeed born in the US, this process was not as stressful since I already had an extra copy from a year ago.  Today we took our medical exams which was an interesting ordeal, first off the State requires that all couples get medical blood-work done to test for any comunicable diseases or viruses, sounds simple enough yet strange for marriage.  Well when we went to have the test done we first paid the fee and then filled out a standard medical form (so far so good) but then when we handed in the document the nurse asked Zdenka what her blood type was to which she gave the answer and when it came time to ask me I was clueless so guess what I had to have my blood taken.  A quick prick from a surgical needle and my blood was donated, exam finished?  What left me was confused was that because Zdenka knew her bloodtype she did not have to give blood, hell she didn´t even recieve a medical exam for that matter.  I guess the honor system and prefabricated medical results are common practice by the municipality! 

Anyways, whats done is done (even though I paid for an medical exam which was practically never conducted) and all that is left is for me to take my certified birth certificate to the Ministry of Exterior Relations to have them verify that the Consulate in San Francisco verified my birth certificates validity, a process of course which will cost money and time.  It´s amazing how they make up ways to stretch out a legal process for the sake of making a few extra soles.  Regardless of how ridiculous the process might be the end result is all that really matters to me.

Aside from the wedding arrangements there is also the independence week which is coming up and should be a lot of fun.  In Peru, the week of the 28th is a very special date since it marks the day the country declared it's independence from the Spanish Crown.  It's also important to know that this date was not the day Peru expelled and defeated the Spanish Army since this did not occur until December after the Liberation forces led by General Antonio Jose de Sucre claimed victory at the Battle of Ayacucho.

"... From this moment on, Peru is free and independent, by the general will of the people and the justice of its cause that God defends. Long live the homeland! Long live freedom! Long live our independence!".