Heading North

Holly, Tash and I had a bus departure at 12:30pm yesterday so while Holly finished packing and checking out, Tash and I went browsing the markets of chachkees in Mancora in search of dried seahorses and starfish for Tash's fishy-themed bathroom back home. While browsing I ran into 2 more people I know from Barranco; Papacho, a native Peruvian from Chiclayo was in a market area selling his hand-made artisan jewelry doused with gorgeous stones he's collected from around the world, and Francesca, my middle aged hippie friend who sells hippie jewelry at the disco, Help from whom i've bought several things from! What a small world to run into people you know while you're an 18 hour bus ride away from where you know them! Holly and Tash think it's hilarious that I know someone almost everywhere I go! What can I say, I like making friends everywhere I go! I must get it from Stan. After checking out and paying for my 3 nights of accommodation, 2 big bottles of water, and 2 beers from the bar for just a grand total of $44, we took a tuk tuk (haha) to the bus station just 6 minutes down the road as our bus was scheduled to leave at 12:30pm. We made it just 10 minutes before our scheduled departure and were told the bus was going to leave at 1pm so we went to fetch sandwiches for the 14 hour bus ride ahead of us, including clearing immigration. We bought 2 sandwiches each (they could be consumed in 3 bites) of tortilla con verduras which means omelette with vegetables for 1.50 Soles each (.55) and they were probably one of the 10 top most delicious things I have eaten in Peru and I have tried everything at least once. Our bus finally left at 1:45pm (Peru time) and we rode on our non air conditioned bus straight through to the border where we exited the bus and waited in line for 45 minutes to turn in our immigration card and then rode another 30 minutes to a location to have our passport stamped. After the stamping, we waited for a bus transfer that would take us to our next destination about 7 hours away in Ambato, Ecuador. While waiting for the transfer, we each bought a plate of street food for $1 which got us about 4 bites of chicken and some yucca. It was weird switching from the Sole, the currency in Peru, back to American money which is the currency used in Ecuador. Our bus ride was far less torturous than I thought it would be having had back surgery nearly 1 year ago and not doing well sitting for long periods of time. I slept for probably half of the total bus ride and only the last hour and a half were difficult. Other than the  experienced discomfort and antsy-ness, it was freezing, like cold enough to see our breath outside, and I was dressed in a tank top, shorts, and flip flops. Of course my warmer clothes were under the bus in my duffle bag. The andean woman next to me in her indigenous get up looked me up and down like I was a crazy gringa. We arrived at our bus terminal which seemed to be near the end of an alley at 3:30am and waved down a taxi to drive us the 30 minutes to Baños, our destination city. We arrived at a hostel that was recommended in a travel book that Tash brought and for $7.50 a night we have a comfortable, warm bed in a 4 bed dormitory, hot water, access to a kitchen to cook whatever we want as long as we clean up after ourselves, internet, towels, pamphlets for recommendations for stuff to do around town, and a key to our room that locks. We went straight to bed and I slept until 10:40am! For some reason sitting and sleeping on a bus for nearly 14 hours makes me tired. We woke up to a rainy day and went browsing around town with gary from London and Nils from Denmark. We stopped for a cup of coffee then walked around looking for a bar called Bar Bamboos which is owned by Patricio, a friend of Francesca from Barranco! After finding the door to his bar and finding out it was closed, we headed back towards the hostel and on the way came across some wonderfully artistic graffiti along some brick walls and didn't hesitate to take pictures. The 5 of us walked back to the general vicinity of the hostel and us girls decided to walk into an excursion shop to book some activities for tomorrow. For $35 we're going zip lining on a 1000 meter wire and ATV riding around waterfalls and a volcano. We have 3 hours! I just a scrumptiously delicious nectarine and plum and now i'm heading to bed so that I am well rested for our adventure tomorrow. Buenas noches amigos!

Mancora

Lots has happened since I last journaled and I'm not sure where to start! I'll start with saying that I left Lima on Wednesday. I knew I was planning on leaving The Point because I only planned on starting off working in a hostel. Welp 5 month later I was feeling like I needed a change of scenery. I decided to treat myself to a vacation by going up to Mancora, a resort-like city way up in northern Peru famous for its gorgeous beaches, surfing, and hot bods. I wasn't keen on the nearly 20 hour bus ride (assuming everything is on time) so I booked a one way flight for about $140. I got to the airport at noon for a 1:50pm flight and was told the flight was delayed; we're leaving at 3:30. No problemo because I had lots of things to occupy my time with! We finally boarded the plane at 5:15pm. I was not pleased. The flight was uneventful but my snack was delicious; a chicken salad sandwich on a roll big enough for 4 bites and a muffin. We landed in Chiclayo for reasons I am still unclear of, waited for 20 minutes while some Peruvians lined up orange cones on the ground, and departed for Tumbes- another 30 minute flight. We finally landed and I looked for a mini bus or a group of people going to Mancora, a 1.5 hour taxi ride for 130 Soles! I found 2 youngins heading for Mancora so we jumped in a taxi and headed towards our destination; paradise! I napped the whole way there until we were just 10 minutes away from Loki del Mar, the hostel where I made a reservation to meet up with Holly and Natasha, 2 lovely girls I met in Lima at The Point who are practically traveling the world on money they made while bartending back home in England. Holly is almost 22 and Tasha is 25. I arrived just before 10pm, checked in with Gerson, a cute Peruvian working in reception who seemed to skip a few beats when flirting with me in Spanish and went straight to my room to zonk out. I made sure to tape a note to Holly & Tasha's door letting them know I made it alive. Loki del Mar is practically a hostel resort for backpackers. For about $10 per night, I have access to a huge bar with frozen slushie alcoholic drinks, a gigantic pool equipped with a volleyball net, hammocks (not in the pool!), wifi, computers, a 43 second walk to almost white sandy beaches doused with restaurants serving cebiche with the fish they caught on their boats which I can see from the restaurant and little old ladies offering massages while you watch the waves crash in the beautiful blue ocean. I am in heaven and I sure deserved a break from the hustle and bustle of Lima. I am far away from honking cars and barking dogs which Franny always seems to hear when we Skype! Both Thursday and Friday were spent at the beach with lots of sun screen and the water is absolutely delightful- and so is the view of the gorgeous surfers who come from around the world to surf here! For lunch on Thursday we went for Menu where you can choose an appetizer and an entree for 8 Soles (about $3). After asking for aji, butter, more juice, and the coffee that came with Tasha's lunch (sounds needy but we needed those things!) and 15 minutes of our waiter bringing none of the things we kindly requested, I started to get annoyed. The thing in South America is that waiters don't make money off of tips so whether their service is 5 star or shitty, they get paid the same. Because we were 3 gringas in a restaurant full of Peruvians, our waiter gave even less of a shit. Five minutes after we finished our food, I asked for the check and let the waiter know that we weren't going to be paying full price for Tasha's lunch. I sternly (just below the level of making a scene in Spanish) told our waiter that his service was terrible, he didn't bring us any of the things we asked for, and instead of knocking off the 1.5 Soles for the coffee, he was going to knock off 2 whole Soles. He was not happy, but he didn't have a choice. We walked out saying we wouldn't be coming back. I felt so empowered taking a stance in Spanish! I can definitely tell my fluency is improving. I'm not intimidated to talk about anything with anyone in Spanish for fear of not understanding because there isn't much I don't understand! While having lunch I saw Chris- someone I met in Lima nearly 5 months ago who partied pretty hard in the bar- I got up and gave him a big hug but he seemed pretty socially awkward so I didn't chat for long. For dinner Thursday night we bought a bottle of rum and a box of pear juice and passionfruit juice (juice here comes in big boxes enough for 6-8 drinks) and went to a restaurant where I kindly flirted in Spanish so the chefs would let us drink. It worked. We sat down and had damn near the most delicious meal I have had in Peru thus far. The chef even came out and let us know he was going to make us a sample appetizer to try- sweet! Little did I know he was going to charge us for it which makes me regret making him 2 drinks from our bottle. I guess I believe in what goes around comes around. After feeling pretty tipsy and consuming delicious treats, we went to go browse the beach to dip our feet in the water. After returning to the hostel, I decided to head to bed and was asleep by midnight. Such a pleasant day! Last night while walking back from drinks on the beach, I saw 2 familiar faces enjoying a late night sandwich- Cielo and Krisitan; the 2 Argentinians I met a few weeks back in Lima when I was having a bad day from needing to make a rather expensive last minute purchase. In Lima, I sat with them on a rooftop restaurant watching the sunset drinking a few beers. They're the ones who snagged the leftover beer from the glasses on the table next to us once the family had left! We embraced each other with huge hugs and confirmed that we would find each other on Facebook in order to keep in touch. Tomorrow the 3 of us are hopping on a bus to go up to Ecuador. Tasha and Holly are heading up that way and I am visiting my friend Emily who I know from the University of Maryland. We were neighbors for 2 years and we left the same exact day to come to South America only Emily is teaching English. It'll be nice to see a familiar face from back home (although nothing will top spending 10 days with my brother)! All this updating is making me work up a sweat so I think i'm going to go jump into the luscious pool 2 meters from where I'm sitting. And yes- I measure in meters now =)

The Great Adventures of Jason&Lauren: Peru Style

Machu Picchu, one of the 7 wonders of the world is a place for which I simply don't have enough words. Our train arrived in Aguas Calientes in mid afternoon an the passengers emptied out into a market decorated floor to ceiling in the same touristy crap as the next square space of rented store. We walked around looking for our hostel which we were told was walking distance but ended up with a police escort to the front door! We informally checked in by telling the woman in reception we were there. Erica walked us to our second floor room which had 2 beds, a private bathroom with a shower, and a breathtaking view of level 4 rapids beneath our window. The crashing of the water outside our room was a conern of mine that I wouldn't be able to hear my alarm clock in the morning! Luckily it wasn't a problem when my alarm went off at 4:30am so that Jason and I could catch a bus up the mountain to watch the sunrise. We walked to wear the buses picked up an dropped everyone off at 5am and patiently waited in line behind about 50 people in line and gradually watched the line of people get longer and longer and sleepy backpackers and tourists waited to board the bus. The only problem with this situation is that Carlos, our tour guide was supposed to drop off our bus tickets at 9pm after he gave us our briefing at 8pm at the hostal. Welp Carlos never showed up and we woke up poor Erica, the receptionist at 4:45 in the morning to fetch our non existent tickets. I called Carlos' cell phone rather annoyed to inquire about our bus tickets to which I discovered that his phone was off. I attempted to talk my way into convincing  the bus drivers to let us on anyways to which I received laughs. The line was getting longer and I didn't want us to lose our excellent location in line. I finally got in touch with Carlos after my 4th attempt who I could tell had been sleeping. I angrily explained who I was and that we were going to miss the sunrise he sold us so well on just the day before. He said he would run the tickets over and could be at the buses in 10 minutes. The buses began boarding and Jason and I had to lose our place in line and patiently (yet annoyingly) waited for Carlos' to correct his mistake. We already began thinking of ways to negotiate his mess-up. I saw a small Peruvian man running towards me who I assumed was Carlos. I snatched our tickets, gave him a look, and asked the bus driver who had previously been helping me if he could pretty please assist us in getting a good place back in line. He rushed us over to the woman accepting tickets to get on the bus who had previously rejected my sob story and basically threw us on the bus! Thank goodness! We rode up the windy road seeing waterfalls in the same spot after each twist that had obviously been disrupted by the man made roads constructed so that we, the tourists could see this magical wonder of the world. The Inkas constructed Machu Picchu on the top of a mountain that was difficult for potential conquerers to find which is why the Inkas were one of the few populations in history to not have been conquered by the Spaniards. We made it to the entrance of what seemed like a theme park with turnstiles and officially entered Machu Picchu by 6:15am. We meandered around the 500 year old stone structures, probably built better than some present day architecture, in the clouds and with few human disruptions. We snapped pictures and asked the rare passerbys to capture some awesome shots of us with amazing backdrops. The tranquility of being amongst such breathtaking structures with such fascinating histories had a calming effect on my soul as I could feel the importance of this once sacred land. Jason and I met our tour guide and group outside of the entrance at 7:45am and proceeded to re-enter the site on a guided tour in English. The meaning behind various structures scattered throughout the mountain were explained to us and with the gradual disappearance of the clouds and the appearance of the powerful sun, the scenery became more and more beautiful. We were told to prepare for rain because Machu Picchu is known for having a tropical climate but we lucked out with just a light mist in mid morning. We finished our tour around 11:30am and were free to explore the mountain on our own. Gabe, Charmagne, and Kenyon, our new American Machu Picchu exploration buddies accompanied Jason and me to find the Inka bridge which we were told is Indiana Jones style. Come to find out, not only is it not Indiana Jones style and more of a small passage way over a narrow path, it was blocked off. Anyway, Charmagne and Kenyon are sisters from Arizona and Gabe is living in Chile but from New York. Gabe was an extremely attractive 26 year old traveling with his adoptive mother- precious. Jason and I were repeatedly complimented on how well we got along to which I gave credit to the way our parents taught us to be flexible, patient, and accommodating! We spent the early afternoon trading off cameras and taking each other's pictures so as to capture every moment and breathtaking view. At 1pm Jason and I hopped on one of the many buses going to and from Machu Picchu bringing and dropping off tired tourists every 20 minutes. We browsed some more shops and packed our belongings to be ready to pick everything up to board our train by 6:30. Jason and I went to Aguas Calientes in the meantime; warm mineral baths accessible after paying 10 Soles at the front gate. I had completely forgotten to bring a bathing suit so I was prepared to go into the baths with a tshirt and shorts. Well much to my dismay, you can't go in the water unless you have a bathing suit. I was almost completely denied entrance to just sit by the pool of water with Jason! After 1.5 hours of dangling my feet in the warm water, I was approached by a woman telling me I couldn't put my feet in the water. Seriously? I paid 10 freaking Soles and can't dip my tired Machu Picchu feet in the mineral-y water? Ugh! Our train ride back to Cusco was 2.5 hours and noisy from the 3 year old screaming child in the seats in front of us. From the bus station we took what was supposed ot be a 1.5 hour bus ride but we think it may have been our driver's first time in a vehicle. Ever. So it took us just under 3 hours. Bliss. We finally made it back to The Point in Cusco and ran into Ben, the owner of the Cusco chain (he actually bought the rights to use the name/logo of the chain) who I became friendly with from his visits to Lima. We briefly chatted, quickly checked in and crashed pretty hard in our comfortable beds. We woke up at 8am to leave by 8:30am for our 11am flight. In confirming our flight details, I noticed that our flight was at 1:25pm and not 11am- woops! Jason and I sat in the garden chatting about the use of medical marijuana and had a fascinating discussion regarding the pros and cons of this recent fad. Our flight was mostly uneventful until the brief turbulence that lifted me up from my seat and made me almost wet my pants- holy moly. We landed safely and still alive, grabbed a taxi and headed back home (to my home at least). We rested while Jason packed and I booked a trip for us to Ica to go sandboarding. While booking our trip, I met Alex in reception who was booking his trip to Cusco. Alex is from Bermuda! And a cute redhead haha! We went to La Canta Rana for dinner and had quite possibly the most delicious food I have had thus far in Peru. At one point a local came in to the restaurant with his dog, Tato who responds to 'sientense' which means sit- haha! We tossed him a few pieces of bread with the owners permission and he caught them in the air- precious! We went to bed early to be well-rested for our next adventure and took the 5.5 hour bus ride in the morning to Ica in the desert of Peru. It should have taken 4 hours and I was getting concerned that we'd miss our reservation for sandboarding! Our taxi driver dropped us off at Hostel Huacachinero in Huacachina where Astrid and I stayed a few months back for the same exact adventure. The only thing that had changed was that Pepe the in-house parrot no longer lived there because of restrictions on wild animals. I saw Frank who is a bartender at the Hostel where we stayed who Astrid and I spent time with back in October. He is a cantador which is the equivalent of a sommelier, but for pisco. He taught me some really interesting things and will be in Lima at the end of this month for a class so I invited him into my bar so I can make him a pisco sour! Jason and I had time for a snack and a pitcher of frozen lemonade before going to reception at 4:30pm for our sandboarding tour. This time our sandbuggie was full (9 passengers and a driver) but 3 of the participants didn't plan on actual sandboarding. One woman was 3 months pregnant, her husband had hurt his back, and there was one older gentleman. The coolest part was seeing the man who drove our sandbuggie last time when I was with Astrid. I even still had a picture of him and Astrid on my camera so I walked up to him, asked if he remembered me to which he replied it would be difficult to forget such a beauty and I showed him his picture on my camera! He practically fell over! We became friendly with Daniel who we switched cameras with occasionally to capture all of our precious moments. I invited him to come to dinner with Jason and me and we met in the bar for pisco sours ahead of time. I had a passionfruit sour, Jason had a blackberry pisco sour, and Daniel had an Orange pisco sour: yum-o! We went to bed semi-early and woke up at 8am to hang out by the pool before our bus ride back at noon. We got another pitcher of frozen lemonade and relaxed outside before the sun got too strong. Again, our bus ride was 1.5 hours longer than it should have been and quite torturous with the screaming and kicking child behind me- oy. I turned around every time the kid kicked my chair and gave his mom dirty looks. After packing his final things in his suitcase, we went to Javier for dinner to watch the sunset on the roof and to see Gustavo, my waiter friend there. We had passionfruit pisco sours and decided to try a few new dishes. Jason hopped in a cab at 8:35pm to head to the airport and I failed miserably at holding back a few tears. We had so much fun and I will miss Jason a lot, but I am absolutely thrilled hat he was able to come visit me in Peru. We had a very unique experience together that we'll remember forever. Things here have been far from low key as our 2 current German bartenders are moving on and starting their backpacking adventure and I am training 2 new German bartenders! I even took them and a group of 15 people to a really nice beach earlier in the week called Punta Hermosa. It's a lot cleaner than the beaches where I live but it's a 45 minute cab ride. It was hot and the sun was strong but I did a great job at reapplying sun screen. Oh, and I got stung by a jellyfish! Don't worry- life is still great =)

Bienvenido a Cusco!

Cusco is an absolutely beautiful town! When we arrived Monday morning around 8am it was cold and rainy. We arrived at The Point Hostel, Cusco at 8:30am and were greeted by a receptionist who let us know that we couldn't check in until 2pm. I proceeded to ask about my staff discount as I am an employee at The Point, Lima and was basically told I was SOL. Jason and I proceeded to briefly Skype with Franny and immediately take a much needed nap since we had about 3 hours of sleep the night before and because a side affect of acclimating to the 3,500 meter elevation (11,200 feet) is exhaustion. We napped until about noon when we headed to the bar where we could order lunch. I had chicken soup with quinoa and Jason had a crispy chicken sandwich doused with avocado. Both were delicious, but a side affect of acclimating is a lack of appetite. Some other wonderful side affects include difficulty breathing and catching one's breath, a racing heart, headache, diarrhea, nausea, and dizziness just to name a few. Luckily I only suffered from the difficulty breathing and catching of my breath, dizziness, and headaches. During mid-bite of my deliciously warm soup I noticed out of the corner of my eye a familiar face! Ben, an attractive Australian preparing for his afternoon shift at the bar had stayed at The Point, Lima for 10 days with 3 of his other Aussie friends (who happened to be obnoxious). I had taken Ben, his friends, and another Ben who happens to be the owner of The Point, Cusco to Creamfields, an electronic music festival in Lima. I approached him with a hug and received a kiss on the cheek. It was really neat to see a familiar face! We briefly chatted as I started to feel light headed. I didn't finish my soup and headed to a comfortable couch in the bar for my second nap of the day. I woke up at 2:20 and Jason and I went down to reception to check in. I was asked how long I had been working at The Point in Lima to which I replied 4 months and was told I got a free night of accommodation-ha! I had made a reservation online for a room with 6 beds as opposed to 14 because I knew that Jason and I weren't going to be partying a lot which is what The Point chain is famous for. We were assigned to a room named Jaegermeister with 3 bunk beds, a private bathroom with a shower, AND it happens to be the furthest room from all the happenings of this infamous party hostal. Luckily the noise from the bar and the garden outside wasn't a problem for Jason for obvious reasons, and thanks to Franny (love you mom!) I have a lifetime supply of noise-canceling wax I can put in my ears that form to the shape of my openings so as to muff any noise. Great purchase! After checking in and settling down I took another nap and decided to be social by 6pm. I went into the bar and was invited to play pool with an attractive Argentinian so of course I didn't hesitate to kick his butt. After winning, I was challenged to a game by a friend of the Argentinian and proceeded to kick his butt as well. Guy # 3 decided to take a stab at beating me and was successful. Twice! I left the bar and strolled around the hostal until settling down in the garden outside of our dorm room with about 8 Argentinian guys traveling on Summer break from university. We had conversations in Spanish and I was repeatedly complimented on my speaking skills- swoon! The Argentinians had purchased a drum and a guitar in Bolivia and so I didn't hesitate to request a concert from these handsome, Spanish-speaking, blue-eyed twenty-something backpackers. What I got was magnificent! Six songs in Spanish sung by the entire group with enthusiasm. I decided to head to bed at midnight because I wanted to be well-rested for a day of adventures come Tuesday. I was awakened Tuesday morning by Jason at 10am asking me to be ready in 30 minutes so we could share a cab with 3 Aussies for our day's adventure; bungee jumping! Don't worry- I knew I wasn't going to participate as it hasn't even been a year since my back surgery so I volunteered to document everyone's experience with their designated cameras. The 5 of us took the 15 minute taxi ride to Poroy where a facility had been set up for various extreme sporting activities including bungee jumping. Jason, Leigh, Monica, and Andy all had made reservations for this exciting excursion and we were the only occupants of the park at the time. Everyone was given paperwork to sign including providing a fingerprint and we walked along the grassy area to prepare for the event. The park had a farm next to it where cows and sheep were grazing the fields under the perfectly blue sky doused with a few clouds. The temperature was perfect as the sun was strong but the air was cool. The jump was 120 meters (384 feet) and Leigh was the only one of the group who had bungee jumped before- in new Zealand, where his jump was manipulated so his head was dunked into the river below him. Each jump was successfully smooth and no one died or got hurt! The participants received free shirts and we hopped onto a bus that would take us back into the main square of Cusco. The ride back was magnificent in that the views of the mountains decorated with shanty towns were serene and a very different change of scenery from the gray sky and smelly streets of Lima. We were dropped off at a bus terminal and being the only Spanish speaker of the group, I managed to get directions to the main plaza. We stopped along the way in various markets doused with parts and organs sitting on tables, fully intact dead chickens, and even a case of guinea pigs ready for preparation. We made our way into a more pleasant-smelling market with both familiar and exotic fruit where Jason and I bought 2 mandarins, 3 star fruits, and a bunch of sugar bananas for 5 Soles ($1.88). We found our way to more dead animals including whole pigs and llama parts. After browsing this large open market set up in a warehouse type building, the 5 of us wandered down a busy street looking for a place to stop for lunch. I saw a sign for 'menu' , a popular way to eat lunch in Peru which allows the customer to choose an appetizer and an entree from a list of options for just 7 Soles per person. We capped off our delicious and cheap lunches with a few Peruvian beers and decided to walk around the main plaza. Andy, Leigh and Monica went their separate ways for the afternoon finalizing a scheduled hike and Jason and I window shopped and bargained for some present he's bringing home for some important ladies in his life. We went back to the hostal just before 4pm to rest up before meeting back up with Aussies for dinner at 8pm. The 5 of us walked to Nuna Raymi, a restaurant recommended to us by a woman in reception which is well known for serving guinea pig- a delicacy that the Aussies eagerly wanted to try. Andy and Monica ordered guinea pig which was brought out whole with a pepper in its mouth so that we could take pictures. It was then brought back to our table cut into 4 pieces making it easier to consume. Jason ordered alpaca, Leigh had lomo saltado, and I had seco de res. Because we mentioned we were staying at The Point (something the receptionist said to do) we had 5 complimentary pisco sours AND got 10% off of our meal. After all of our discounts our bill came to 284 Soles which we were happy to pay for our delicious meal, bottle of red wine, appetizers, and 5 pisco sours. We walked back to the hostal in the cool air where we permanently parted ways with the Aussies, packed our bag for our departure for Machu Picchu (in 30 minutes) and went to bed at 11pm. I really like Cusco for its natural beauty and indigenous people who take pride in their culture. Jason and I will be at Machu Picchu for 2 days and I look forward to reporting back about our adventures in this wonder of the world!

Jason's Here!

Jason's flight landed at 10:32pm on Friday and based on my research into how many international flights were arriving at the same time, I figured it would take a while in baggage claim and customs so I planned to leave The Point at 11pm for the 30 minute ride to the airport. Traffic was pretty bad and I arrived just before midnight. Whilst standing amongst the anxious crowd doused with signs containing last names, I excitedly browsed the incoming travelers. I was taken aback when someone hugged me from behind and it turned out to be Jason! The first words out of his mouth were 'you look great!' which pretty much made my day. He had been ready for 45 minutes so I felt bad for making him wait but he didn't seem phased. We took the 30 minute cab ride back to The Point, checked Jason in, and headed to the bar for his first Peruvian beer; Cuzqueña. At first Jason wasn't placed in the same room as me because Thursday night we were bombarded with fifteen 20 year old Argentinians on Summer break. Because of this, Rob was even kicked our of our staff room! I'm not sure why they let me stay but I'm guessing it was because I had too much crap to shlep. After 2 large beers Jason went to bed and I stayed up a bit chatting with some friends. I was finally sleepy enough by 3am which was still a pretty early night for me considering my bartending schedule the last few weeks and going to bed at 6am. I woke up at 9:30am and greeted Jason outside in the garden reading a book. I grabbed a coffee included in free breakfast and sat down to chat. I already had the day planned out for us and couldn't wait to play tour guide! We planned to leave at 10:30am and hopped on a bus for 1 Sole each to head into Miraflores. We window shopped for a bit, took Jason to meet Sarah, the middle aged Peruvian woman with a store of chachkees who I met when I first arrived, and at 12:30pm we were ready for lunch. Jason and I went to El Parquetito where I knew he could try alpaca. We sat outside, people watched, and enjoyed our yummy lunch. I had tacu tacu con seco de res; a rice and bean dish (stir fried together) with tender beef in a cilantro sauce. After lunch we walked into Larcomar where I had scheduled Jason's surprise birthday/Channukah present; paragliding over the cliffs of Lima! I was told to find the booth at the end of Larcomar and to ask for Cato. Because I am an employee at The Point in Lima, I could go for free so I only had to pay for Jason. We got to the booth at 2:30pm with no Cato to be found but had the young woman sitting in the booth call Cato to approve our price adjustment. Unfortunately, the day was too hot (28 degree Celsius) and there wasn't enough wind so we were asked to come back at 3:15pm. We sat in the park in the shade for about 15 minutes until a security officer asked us to get off the grass. When we returned to the booth, the wind still wasn't sufficient so we were asked to wait another 30 minutes. In the meantime, we sat on a bench and observed a man with his paragliding gear disarming so I decided to go up and ask him how the wind conditions were. When I said 'como esta el viento?' he responded 'you sound like an American!' Sean was in the Canadian armed forces for 20 years, had been deployed to Qatar, and his favorite sport in the world is paragliding. We chatted for about 15 minutes, got some great advice, and decided to give paragliding another try on the back end of our trip. We walked to an outdoor mall for ice cream to cool us down, took pictures of things that reminded us of our family; TGI Fridays (Hariel worked at Fridays!) & Tony Romas (Stan's favorite place to get beef ribs), and grabbed a cab back to the hostel to freshen up. Upon returning to the hostel and looking at myself in the mirror, I realized I had made a huge mistake; I didn't put on sunscreen while walking outside and could see the formation of a chest burn, an outline of my sunglasses, and a strip from where my across-the-body purse was laying. Welp- I wasn't going to let this little hiccup ruin my night so I rubbed myself down with some aloe curtesy of one of our new bartenders and we headed to dinner; sushi! For 98 Soles, Jason and I ate 40 (total) pieces of delicious/mystery sushi and tuna wontons for an appetizer- delish! We went back to The Point, took a cold shower and went straight to bed. I woke up at 1pm yesterday (thanks to Jason for letting me sleep in!) and at first decided to take Jason to the beach. I figured the cool water of the Pacific Ocean would feel nice on our lobster-red skin but because of the lack of time I have to show Jason around, I decided to take him to Central Lima to see the architecture and do the other touristy stuff there is to do in this busy capital. We took the Metropolitana bus for 1.5 Soles each and arrived in the city's center by 2pm. The scorching sun didn't feel so nice on our already hot skin so we tried to walk in the shade as much as possible. Jason had alreayd eaten lunch while I was still sleeping but I was hungry. We stopped for pollo a la brasa and ice cream for Jason but I was too hot to eat most of my lunch. We browsed the buildings of Central Lima, asked families to take our pictures figuring they'd be less likely to run away with my digital camera and took a bus tour for 5 Soles up the San Martin Mountain. I was told that the tour was in both English and Spanish but it turns out that was a load of crap but it was worth it to sit on a bus with fans and to see the view from the top of a mountain. At 6 we went to a café for Jason's first pisco sour- the designated alcoholic beverage of Peru and munched on canchitas. A group of 13 white kids came into the outdoor seating area to sit and sip on pisco sours and on our way out I asked where they were from. Two girls were from Rockville, go to the University of Maryland, and live in Oakland; the brand new dorm they built on North Campus. Small world! We hopped in a cab to go to the Parque de Aguas to show Jason the light/laser show of the fountains. We had a lot of fun and felt more comfortable as the sun was setting and the air around us was cooling down. Jason and I took the Metropolitana bus back to Barranco and browsed the artisan tables looking for crafty bracelets to wear and remind us of his visit. After Jason's 1 Sole bracelet purchase we went to Javier, one of my favorite restaurants in Barranco because there is rooftop seating perfect for watching sunsets. I ordered us an array of dishes so Jason could try some food that Peru is famous for; Causa de Pollo, Cebiche, and Guinea Pig! We shared the first two and Jason finished every last bite of his no longer furry rodent friend. We went back to the hostel, shared stories from the day, packed our bags and went to sleep to prepare for our 4:30am wake up to head to the airport for Cusco! We're sitting at The Point in Cusco which is a really nice facility. It's 9:25 am and check in isn't until 2pm. We'll be taking naps!

Sunsets

Yesterday didn't start off too well. I ended up having to make a very costly purchase on my day off that was unexpected and I was in a bad mood. To relax I went to my favorite Peruvian restaurant (mostly because the food is amazing but also because there's a really cute waiter) with rooftop seating to watch the sunset and sip on frozen passionfruit alcoholic beverages. I had been contemplating what to order; a dish that I already knew was delicious, or something new. When Gustavo, my cute, curly-headed waiter came over to take my order for dinner, i let him know that I wanted to try something knew and asked for a recommendation. We narrowed it down to Pescado al Ajo (fish with garlic). While I sat back and enjoyed my cold tropical drink, I observed a young couple in front of me sharing a beer in the chairs they turned away from their table to watch the sun sink into the pink, orange, and blue-green sky. When the 3rd occupied table of a mother and her 20 something year old 2 children left, they each had half of their beer left in their glasses and I thought to myself 'I wish I had the balls to take their still-fresh drinks.' Before I thought twice about it, the man of the young couple stood up, grabbed all 3 glasses, and poured the remaining beer into his glass! I couldn't believe it! The non-waster in me was ecstatic. As the colors in the sky continued to get more beautiful, I offered to take a photo of the couple with the gorgeous sky in the background. After volunteering my services, I was invited to join the Argentinian couple Kristian & Cielo at their table for a beer on them! My food was served by Gustavo who seemed confused that I had switched tables and suddenly made friends. In front of me was a whole fish, eyes and all, doused in garlic and accompanied by rice. Kristian mentioned to me that he loves it when woman are traveling alone and try something new so he complimented my wanting to try a new dish. I was flattered that he had noticed! The Argentinian couple and I chatted the night away in Spanish sipping on our respective alcoholic drinks and my somewhat annoying day turned into something magical. We walked over to a nearby cliff to take in the view and headed to another bar. By 11pm we headed back to my hostel to put beers on my tab for a discount and played pool until 3am with Rob. I even beat him once! It seems like my not-so wonderful days end up turning into magnificently splendid experiences with marvelous people. I sure hope for more experiences like these!

Feliz Año Nuevo

First and foremost- Happy New Year, or as they say in Spanish- Feliz Año Nuevo! I worked in the bar last night as we had a masquerade party. In Peru, it's good luck to wear yellow on New Years so we decorated our bar in tacky yellow decorations and watched as the superstitious Peruvians flowed into our bar in hideous colored clothing. I wore shorts and a purple, blue and black snazzy top that I brought with me from the states. I wore a yellow masquerade mask so as to look like I was participating in the customs but I am not superstitious at all. I did let a drunk Peruvian put some kind of wood chips (or maybe it was potpourri) in my pockets which is supposed to give me lots of money in the year to come. I let her do it because I didn't feel like explaining that I didn't think my life would be any better if I was richer and that money can't buy happiness so I just went with it! We handed out free strawberry daiquiris (concocted by yours truly) and champagne upon entry. I was surprised with how small the attendance was considering the success of past parties but I suppose native Peruvians find places to celebrate the new year other than a backpacker's hostel. The only outsiders were friends of staff with very few new faces. At midnight we all went into the garden where we watched fireworks light up the sky for about 10 minutes. We then walked over to the park across the street to watch more fireworks over the ocean. It's strange to see fireworks on a holiday other than the 4th of July and even stranger to celebrate New Years in warm weather! No one has to worry about coat checks or whether their feet will be cold. Earlier in the day Robbie and I went to Surco to buy our yellow decorations, plastic cups, and strawberries. We had lunch for 7 Soles which included an appetizer and a main dish for each of us meaning our lunch cost about $2.64 per person! We returned to the hostel, took a cat nap, and decorated the bar. After my nap I played doubles in ping pong with 3 other guys, one of whom is 6 ft 7 and blew them away with my killer serve. I went to bed surprisingly early, slept all afternoon, and woke up without a hangover- mostly because I made sure to chug a lot of water before going to sleep. It's been low key at the hostel today as i'm pretty sure mostly everyone had a crazy night/morning. I'm working at 8:30 and confident it won't get too busy in the bar. I hope everyone reading this had a magnificent welcoming of the new year and is looking forward to what 2012 will bring (hopefully not the end of the world)!