The Mall

We had to get creative while we were still looking for an apartment to establish our residence. I could not stay in the Motel room for so long every day. There was nowhere to go and after a while after you do all you can do, it gets really boring in a situation like that. Obviously I could not go to Vic’s office every day to wait for him so that is how we came up with the idea that I could stay in the mall for the afternoon every so often and we would alternate my “waiting places” to keep me entertained and active until we had a more normal situation.

So one day that we had lunch at the mall, we decided I was going to stay and Vic was going to pick me up after work. This may sound like a very normal situation to you, but for me it was an incredible adventure. The reason why was that I had never been left alone in a public place like this in my whole life! When I was in Lima, I always had someone with me when I went out of my home. I needed help pushing my chair. I didn’t have enough strength in my arms to drive my chair for long distances. Mostly due to polio affecting my left arm from the shoulder to the elbow, so that meant most of the effort to drive the chair was on the right arm and there was just not enough thrust.  Also, in Miraflores, there were no cuts on the sidewalks except for Avenida Larco, which is the commercial area and I needed to go up and down the sidewalks to be able to cross the street. I couldn’t do that on my own. I only move around on my own at home or at work, but never outside. So being at the mall by myself was something huge to me.

The floors in the mall were so smooth and shiny, no steps or uneven places, so I didn’t have any major problems driving my chair. Only that I would move really slowly, but after all, I had hours to explore and do whatever I wanted so who cared! I was 41 years old and I felt like I was a teenager going out to the mall alone for the first time. I had a sense of wonder and was a little afraid at the same time. This was a place of exploration and a challenge too, it was exciting!

The Mall had three floors and a glass elevator to go up and down plus the escalator. I started on the first floor, after Vic and I located the bathrooms and the paid phones to make sure I could reach the phone to call him later. (We didn’t have cell phones at that time). These phones in the mall were on a wall with half booths. There were four of them and only one of them was placed at the height that I could reach, that was the “accessible” phone for disabled people. The fact that here in the US there are so many things that are accessible for people with disabilities is a wonderful thing. Now I am used to it but back then I was really impressed and enjoying every time I discovered something that was accessible to me! It makes you feel that you count too, just like anybody else does. Unfortunately, in my Country we didn’t have that kind of access to regular services and even buildings. At least, not in the time I used to live there Now I understand things are changing and they are paying much more attention to these things. In great part due to the wonderful work of Michael Urtecho Medina, a Peruvian congressman with a disability. You can read his story in English here: http://sites.google.com/site/boletinan/urtecho/BiographyMichael.htm?attredirects=0 And if you can read Spanish, this is the link to his blog: http://congresistamichaelurtechomedina.blogspot.com/

Going back to my story, after locating these important services, Vic would leave and I started my adventure. The first time I browsed through some stores and boutiques. Not many since I would spend some time in each. It was just window shopping but I like to see details and compare prices when I do that. When I went to department stores I could just spend the whole time in one store since they are so big. I remember when I went to Sears and they had a sale on raincoats. I never had one, I never really needed one because in Lima it practically didn’t rain and when it did, it was just what you would call a drizzle in the US, so a raincoat was too much! But I was in New York and I knew it rains there and had already seen rain a couple of times so I thought it would be a good idea to have one, only that the summer was rapidly approaching and I wasn’t sure it was worth to buy it at that time of the year.  But before I shopped I called Vic to ask his opinion. And when I asked the question he said yes, it would be a great idea. Then I told him my doubts in buying then because of the summer and he said it rains here all the time! I went “even in the summer?” and he just laughed and laughed and said “yes, even in the summer!” It was a funny moment, but honestly, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach because the summer is the season I love the most and we never had rain during the summer in Lima (except when “El Niño” current is active). And that made me sad because I realized at that moment that certain things were going to be so different for me for the rest of my life. And I was naive and new to many things I needed to learn and adapt, but it was ok, it needed to be like that. “Once you get on the horse, keep galloping!”