Lauren: Los Cités.

Peruvians in Santiago have been some of the worst hit from Saturday's 8.8 earthquake. Much of the city has been able to recover pretty quickly, in our neighborhood you almost wouldn't know that there had been an earthquake except for the shortage of non carbonated water and bread, and (until recently) the lack of hot water.

But many immigrants living in Santiago from Peru especially, but also from Ecuador and Bolivia had been living in antiquated adobe apartments, made basically from clay, arraigned a lot like Gladys for those of you who know what I'm talking about. They're little rooms down a corridor with a walkway outside and rooms on either side of the walkway. As many as 15 people will live in one room, while they save and send money home. These little apartments go for about $20/month.

Chilean newspapers have reported that as many as 500 Peruvians have been affected by the quake.

I met a Peruvian man, Clemente Chavez, in the Plaza de Armas where the city was founded nearly 400 years ago. He said the adobe walls of his house split open, and he was living with a friend of a friend until he found a new home.

Another Peruvian who works at a restaurant near our apartment told me many Peruvians are living in tents outside their homes or in parks until they could return home.

A friend from Peru said that the Chilean government was reaching out to Peruvians offering them a way home if they wished to return.

On a run yesterday, I found an encampment in the park of people that had been displaced by the earthquake. It was relatively small compared to others in different parts of the parque forestal, only about 50 people. They had white lunch bags propped up around their small square of grass where they were living that were decorated red, white and blue, (the colors of Chile's flag), that had little inspirational sayings like "Go, Chile!".

-- Lauren