Misadventures In Peru
So lately I’ve been stressing a lot about pre-trip costs and planning. Some days I feel like calling it quits and cancelling everything. I don’t, of course, because I would regret it immediately. Since I’ve been a little down I feel that laughter and ridiculousness is in order.
Every travel experience has at least one misadventure. I’ve definitely had my fair share. The thing is although in the moment they are terrifying or stressful or annoying, later down the line they are rather funny. I hope you enjoy my first day in Peru and how in less than 24 hours I managed to blow up the hostel’s stove…
January 2014
It was 2am when I arrived in Lima with my two traveling companions. We headed straight for the hostel and fell into bed. The soft blankets were magical compared to the cramped seats of the plane, so we made sure to spend part of the following day sleeping. Eventually, we went out to see some of the city and buy groceries.
No one was using the kitchen when we got back so we had free reign. The stove was nothing like I had ever seen. It had gas burners covered by a thin sheet of glass, resembling some type of gas-electric hybrid. Taking our chances we lit the first burner which emitted a loud pop but other than that seemed to function normally.
It had been a long day and in our hunger we ended up using all five burners to expedite the process. Our first warning was when the burners kept flickering and dying. Not sure what to do we asked the assistance of an employee. A younger man came in, examined the “situation,” and quickly declared that we had the burners on too high. He believed if we turned them down it would solve the problem. It didn’t.
A minute or two went by, the employee came back and turned on the fan above the stove—perhaps more airflow would help, after all the flames were under a sheet of glass.
Honestly, this all could have ended a lot worse. One moment I was standing next to the stove sautéing mushrooms and onions. The next moment I moved away to search for pepper. It was then that a loud explosion sent hot shards of glass flying throughout the room.
It turns out that the stove was not some weird hybrid. The glass exists for safety purposes and is meant to be lifted off the burners before cooking. Apparently, it is a requirement in all Lima hostels. Being our first day we had never seen anything like it and didn’t know the correct procedure. There wasn’t even an idiot-proof sign telling us to, “Lift glass before use.”
I guess what baffles me the most is when we asked for help—rather than plowing forward arrogantly—the employee who came in not once, but twice didn’t point out our error. He looked directly at the stove, he fiddled with the burners, he turned on the fan, but he never noticed the sheet of glass.
After the explosion we immediately went for help. The worker realized why we had been having so many issues with the stove and quietly helped us sweep up the glass. All the food we had been cooking had to be dumped to avoid consuming glass and one of my friends had a couple burns on his foot from the flying shards.
Side Note: Imagine if I hadn’t moved away when I did. The sheet would have blown up in my face, I probably would have had to go to the hospital, and my trip to South America would have ended after one day. Crazy!
Today I look back and see that event as an initiation ceremony. Life was the hazer telling me, “Welcome to South America! Don’t be a dumbass.”
(Oh and for the record we did pay for the replacement safety glass.)
