Enter Doorman(Portero)
Who are the people in your neighborhood Capítulo 4

The final part to my Peruvian trinity of informality are the trusty and engaging doormen to my building. Mind you I have yet to meet a single resident of my building(again the formal sector seems too busy for the gringo). But what would be considered an informal sector friendship has blossomed with my doormen. They work 8 hour shifts, and the one day they get off a week means somebody has to work a double. That is a lot of door opening, no matter how nice the door.

I´ll start with Enrique. He is probably the most engaged Peruvian I have met so far. He is constantly consuming and analyzing the news. We have dissected Socialism, the theoretical side of terrorism. "One Man´s terrorist is another man´s freedom fighter"
We have talked Chavez and Bush, the economy of Perú, the war in Iraq, and poverty.
I think Enrique gets scolded for talking to me too much by the building manager. I tried to make up for this by purchasing him the occasional Inka Cola, his favorite. He´d make a darn good Peruvian President, but in the meantime, he´s the most engaged doorman on the block.

Oscar

Oscar gets the night shift a lot of the time. Most nights I get home and he´s there braving the chilly lobby(it´s still winter here). Last night I got home and he was wearing a New York Knicks parka with the hood up. I wanted to slap him five and talk about Sprewell, but I figured he didn´t buy the coat because he was a baller.
He likes to call me Señor Hardman, which makes me feel like I should own a granja (sprawling country estate).
Oscar likes the finer things in life. Mainly movies and the occasional trip to the Casino.
He explained his gambling strategy to me. In one pocket he keeps a 20 soles note, the other, a 50. He starts with the 20 and tries to work some magic. If that fails, he brings out the big guns.
Casinos began to pop up during the reign of President Fujimori. They are everywhere in the city, mostly featuring slots or tragamonedas as they are called here.

Pastor
Little is known about the mysterious Pastor.
He is a curious fellow and he works hard. I give him fits because I use the staircase instead of the elevator, thereby nullifying his task of opening the elevator door. He often runs to the door or the elevator to get there before the resident.
Pastor is never without his black suit and matching five o´clock shadow. I like to muse that in his spare time he is a contract killer or something like that. He would definately be cast in the Peruvian version of the film Reservoir Dogs.