Well today marks the beginning of our 5th week in El Peru.  Seems crazy that we've been here for nearly a month.  Nevertheless, it's good to be in Cusco.

Yesterday, we got a bit of an early start to head into the historical center of Cusco and find a hostel that is closer and cheaper than the one we were staying out.  We made reservations for the Wild Rover Hostel for tonight, but had to spend last night in Hospedaje Oasis again.

Afterwards, we walked around the Plaza de Armas, the central square surrounded by restaurants, bars, shops, pushy vendors, and a grand cathedral.  We were in search of a mystical tamale lady that our friend Daniel told us about, but our search was unfortunately in vain.  We decided to walk up a hill to some near by Inca ruins called Saqsayhuaman, but after learning that the entrance fee would be $30 we opted to get some cheap food instead.  We found a nice looking home restaurant that only really had one tiny table on the back deck.  Fortunately, we were the only customers there and it had an amazing view of the entire city.  We enjoyed our $2 meals with a nice tall beer and allowed ourselves a moment of relaxation.  After paying, we walked back down the hill and went to the San Pedro market.  There you can find anything you could ever need: clothes, food, veggies, fruit, meat, herbs, spices, the list goes on.  We also encountered Cuy (Roasted Guinea Pig) for the first time on the street.  For those of you that don't know, they roast the poor creatures whole, teeth, hair and all.  In fact, you can practically see the expression on its face.  At the market I picked up some delicious Peruvian chocolate and some local bee pollen as well.

Afterwards, we walked back to our hotel to take a quick rest, then decided to hike up one of the nearby hills that had a giant statue of an Inca built on top.  The walk up was short, yet steep, and it was at this point that we started feeling the affects of the altitude (Cusco sits at 11,000 feet).  As we climbed higher up the stairs, the lack of oxygen in the air made us feel lightheaded and made our lungs burn.  We took a long rest once we got to the top we took a long rest and talked about how we'd like to paraglide off the top of a mountain and soar over the city.

Later we hiked back down and got a nice bowl of Caldo de Gallina, a caldron of chicken noodle soup with an entire drumstick and hard boiled egg floating inside.  We went back to the hostel to rest a bit more and get ready to go out to the clubs.  The clubs here are alright, not as happening as Lima far better than Ayacucho.  We ended up meeting a lot of international people, like the drunk irishman trying to practice his Spanish, or the woman from Australia, or the guy from New York.  The club atmosphere was way too hot for us, so we decided to head outside.  Once outside, we met a large group of young Columbians that were traveling throughout Peru as well.  They were some really cool dudes and we got to speak our Spanish with them, talk about the world, and have a beatboxing/rapping session.  We hung out until about 3 A.M., then decided to head back to the hostel.  On the way back, we met an Argentinean who had lost a friend, and later an off-duty tourist police man from Cusco.  Everyone we have met here so far has been very friendly!

Today we switched hostels to the the Wild Rover, got some food at the San Pedro market.  Now were just going to relax a bit, try and get our laundry done, and possibly hit up the 7a Rock Climbing School here.

Rebecca Garcia comes tomorrow at 7 AM, we so psyched!!!

¡Chao1 

Saturday, June 28th, 2014

Thoughts on Ayacucho

Wednesday, June 25th, was our first full day in the city of Ayacucho.  We got there the previous night after a 9-hour scenic bus ride through the mountains.  Ayacucho itself is about 2,750 meters above sea level, and has grown very big in the past decade or so with a population of around 300,000.  This might be due to the decline of the El Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path), a Maoist guerilla insurgence group that began their revolution in Ayacucho in 1980.  They were around for almost 20 years, and effectively isolated Ayacucho from the rest of Peru and the world.  They were also responsible for about half of the deaths and dissapearances during the armed conflict in Peru lasting from 1980-2000.  The isolation wreaked havoc on Ayacucho's economy, but after the disappearance of El Sendero Luminoso, their economy has been growing steadily.  It's pretty neat that we were able to travel through somewhere were no one would have even thought of going 20 years ago.  Perhaps in the future all "forbidden cities" will become open to all.

First thing we did when we arrived was to find a cheap hostel.  Conveniently, all the hostels here advertise their prices on the signs, and most don’t cost more than 20 soles (7 dollars) per person.  We got an all right room for 30 soles a night, with our own private bathroom.  Then, we walked around a bit and found a Chifa, a Peruvian Chinese food restaurant, and got some delicious yet cheap food.  Then we hit an Internet café, watched a movie in our room, and fell asleep.

We awoke Wednesday morning, and made our way down to the Plaza de Armas, or the main square in the city center.  We walked around for a while, soaking in the atmosphere of our most recent destination.  We noticed that Ayacucho is a lot calmer than Lima and the people move around at a slower pace, which we honestly appreciate after spending 3 weeks in the big city.  It also seems more historical and cultural than the sprawling modernity of Lima.  For one, there are many old buildings and churches.  In fact there are 33 colonial churches, one for each year of Jesus' life, including one constructed in 1540! There are also more people here that are dressed in the traditional clothing, usually the elderly farmer type.  The people here are very friendly, although I don’t believe they see many tourists coming through so we’re a bit of an oddity. 

After asking around, we figured out were we could get some good, cheap breakfast.  Then we found a librería and bought 3 books by Gabriel García Márquez: Cien Años de Soledad, El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba, and his autobiography Vivir para Contarla.  We are excitied to get some reading done en Español.  Next, we found a traditional looking woman selling coca leaves as well as stevia, so we decided to pick some up to try it out.  Chewing on the coca leaves gives one a nice alertness, and the stevia tastes like pure sugar.  We walked around some more and encountered some elementary school girls who wanted to interview us Gringos, and take our pictures of course.  Then we came upon a bootlegged movie store and picked up Elysium and Divergent, which we watched that night rather than the crap they put on the television (Although the bootleg quality was pretty bad).  We picked up some maracuya flavored shaved ice and walked back to the Plaza de Armas.  

We were sitting and enjoying our treats when a man selling sunglasses walked up to us.  We quickly declined his offer, but instead of leaving he struck up a conversation with us.  He began by guessing where we were from: First Germany, then France, Canada, then finally the U.S.  He proceeded with the usual questions, like where we were traveling from, how long we were staying, where we were going, what we planned on doing, etc.  He even tried speaking a little English, and asked us to correct his pronunciation.  Then he said that Simon reminded him of Val Kilmer, to which we all laughed about.  After talking with this guy for a while, we learned that his name was Antonio and that he had lived in Cuzco for five years where he met many tourists.  He seemed to have an interest in world politics, and asked us our opinions on big questions such as the conflict in Ukraine or the U.S. detainees in Guantanamo Bay.  We talked for about 45 minutes, than he asked for a picture of “Val Kilmer” and of the both of us.  He showed us a good restaurant to eat at, and even told us that he would take us to a place tomorrow where there may be some potential rock climbing.  It just goes to show, you’ll never know what opportunities you’ll come across once you open up to people.

We spent Thursday and Friday just relaxing.  Honestly, there wasn't much to see or do in Ayacucho, but we were happy for the downtime.  We never got around to climbing with Antonio, but we did buy some sunglasses from him.

Friday night, we boarded our 18 hour bus ride to Cusco after a nice Chifa meal.  The ride was a bit long for our liking, but at least we got to sleep through half of it.  The whole journey was on these insane mountain roads, switching back and forth like a snake winding it's way upwards.  Then we'd head back down into a valley, then along a river, then back up into a mountain, until finally we crossed the Urubamba river and up into the sacred valley of the old Inca capital.  We are very happy to be here, and are spending our day relaxing in a hostel (so much nicer than the one in Ayacucho) and exploring a bit.  We have a very exciting month ahead of us, so check back soon for some more exciting updates!

Chao!

Tuesday, June 24th, 2013

Dear friends and family, this is a brief update to let you all know what´s going on with us.  We left Lima this morning at around 9 in the morning, and took a 9 hour bus ride to Ayacucho, a mipoint between Lima and Cuzco.  We will be here til friday night, then we take a 16 hour bus ride to Cuzco!  Our internet access will be limited for the next few days, but well try to keep in contact at least once a day.

¡Gracias a todos y Chao!

Saturday June 21st, 2014, The Winter Solstice (or Summer Solstice if you're South of the equator like us)

Yesterday, like I mentioned in yesterday's post, Simon and I went out on our grand adventure of the week.  I'll start from where I left off..

After packing our essentials, Simon and I embarked on our journey to Canchacalla, but first Simon had to get his last shot.  He chose to get it in the left cheek this time, to save his right one from the compounded soreness of 3 consecutive shots.  Then we hit up the local supermarket and bought all the food and water we needed for the night and the following day.  Our transportation consisted of a taxi ride to Lima Central, then a two hour long bus ride through thick traffic to Chosica.  Once in Chosica, we had to find a cab that would take us up into the mountains to the remote village of Canchacalla.  We split a fare with with 4 other passengers and we were on our way.  The road to Chosica, once we got of  the Carraterra Central, became a precarious one-lane dirt path that wound its way up through the switchbacks.  Whenever we came head first at a vehicle going the opposite direction, either us or them would have to back up into a small pull off to let the other one through.  As the sun began to set and darkness settled in the valley, more often than not I feared that the driver might accidentally take us tumbling off the cliff.  Luckily, that never happened.  Our stop was the last in a long string of tiny pueblos located further and further back into the mountains.  Along the way, we picked up a 7th passenger, a small woman dressed in traditional clothing, and she and her large bags of produce were put into the hatchback of the cab.  After about an hour of this, we finally reached our destination:  Canchacalla, a small village of about 30 or so tin-roofed houses built into a terrace on the side of a mountain.

We exited our coach, payed our fair, and began to walk a ways more down the road past the village.  We crosses a bridge that went over the raging river that cut its way through the valley, and decided to set up camp for our first time in Peru.  We put up our tent, made our sleeping arrangements, lit a small fire, and ate our gourmet meal of salami and cheese sandwiches with apples and granadillas.  We talked a bit about home and how we missed our friends and families, but also how lucky we felt to be living our lives in such an amazing place on such a fantastic adventure.  We concluded our night by gazing up at the stars.  It was our first night in Peru that we had a clear sky due to Lima's fogginess, and the view was amazing.  With no light pollution to spoil our view, we were able to see a dazzling quantity of brilliant objects in the sky, including the Milky Way!  Satisfied with our day, we decided to retire early and get a surprisingly excellent night's sleep for our big upcoming day.

We woke up today with the sun, at about 7.  We quickly packed down our tent and gear, and began our hike up to the summit of a mountain where the rock lay.  I have to mention the the view in the day light was startling.  We were able to look down into the valley from where we had came, out upon the various mountain peaks of the Andes that finally led into the Pacific Ocean.  It's always a great experience coming to a place during the night, and waking up to see you surrounding for what it truly is.  We began our hike at around 7:45, making our way up and up on extremely thin trails.  I'm not sure whether it was it was the altitude or the strenuous nature of the approach, but my stomach was not able to handle it.  About a quarter of the way up I told Simon I needed a break, and then promptly regurgitated all the contents of my breakfast (which at the time was only water).  After taking a moment to relax and catch my breathe, we continued onwards.  We came to a point where the trail flattened out and ran along the aqueducts that were built into the side of the mountain carrying water from the glacial springs down the villages and farms below.  We followed it for a ways, a hundred foot drop on our other side, until we came to its source: a cascading waterfall spewing from a whole in the mountain side.  Afterwards, the trail began to thin out even more and the going became extra sketchy.

Somewhere along the way we must have taken a wrong turn, because after walking many miles and several hundred vertical feet we realized we were getting no closer to our destination.  In fact, we seemed to be walking further and further into the heart of the valley.  We soon had an important decision to make: Continue and try to scramble/bushwhack up the mountain to our climbing destination and be completely exhausted by the time we get there, turn back and head down the sketchy path we came up, or go a little further and descend through a nearby farmstead.  We chose the ladder because the other two seemed like to much effort with two high of a risk of getting hurt/dying.  We made our way down to the farm and encountered a young girl who was kind enough to lead through the maze of barbed wire and crops, and to the road that would take us back to the village of Canchacalla.

We made it there after another several miles of walking, only to learn that the village is so small it neither had a restaurant nor a bus service to take us back to Chosica.  We ended up walking another two mile down to the next closest village.  At this point, we were both very exhausted from all the walking with our large packs full of heavy gear, but we kept in mind that the people who lived their did that sort of thing on a daily basis.  We finally reached a spot were we could get a good meal of fish, rice, and salad.  For dessert, we split a giant chirimoya that was as big as one of our heads. watch the world cup game between Argentina and Iran, and wait for a taxi.  We didn't have to wait long.  The ride back to Chosica went smoothly, relatively speaking, and we had no trouble getting back into Lima, and then into Surco.  We are glad to be home from our adventure, and we just enjoyed a meal of some hamburgers while we put our clothes through the wash.  There was a bit of disappointment for not being able to climb yet again, but not nearly as much as our previous mission.  All in all, we made it to where we wanted to go, had a good night camping, and got a very strenuous work out from all the hiking we did.  Perhaps we bit off more than we could chew or perhaps we were poorly informed, but it was a good experience nonetheless.

Tomorrow we plan on going to see a friend named Csaba Rojas play baseball for his first time on the Peruvian team, and then hang out with him afterwards.  Our days in Lima are drawing to a close as we prepare to embark on our journey to Cuzco to meet up with Rebecca and have some real adventures in the Sierra!  Hope all my readers our doing well, and know that I think about you a lot!

Miss y'all, Chao!

P.S. if any of you out there want some Skype time with me and Simon, shoot me a request!  My user is Jamilhendrix, and it would be best to do so before Tuesday, when we head out to Cuzco.  If you are unable to before then, some other time may work as long as we have some solid internet connection.

Friday June 20th, 2014

Most of you followers may know this already thanks to the miracle of Facebook, but as of yesterday I have turned in all my assignments for high school!  I got some really good grades on them too.  It does feel a bit weird now not having to feel any responsibility hovering over my head or lurking in the back of my mind, but the strangeness is coupled by an overwhelming feeling of good.  Trying to get through high school was nothing short of a struggle.  I don't mean that the work was difficult or anything, it's just that I lacked the proper motivation to go through with it (as many kids my age do).  I transferred out of public school towards the end of my Junior year and switched to online classes.  Taking classes online has been a strange experience, and one that requires much self-discipline.  I don't think that I would ever return to online classes in the future, but it did allow me to do some really cool things:  I got to take a semester abroad last Fall and study Arabic in Morocco, which was an amazing and unforgettable experience.  I got to learn the value of keeping one's word and following through with promises made, although it did take a bit of pushing and prodding on my parents part.  I also got to meet with a very cool guy, Ramsay Harik, over the course of the past 6 months.  He's been a mentor of sorts to me, and also a good friend in general.  All these things said and done, I'm glad to have it in the past now, but I believe the lessons learned (and not just the homework assignment) will benefit me for my entire life.

Last night, in honor of my graduation, Simon and I partied and went dancing at the discotecas.  We checked out Club Help in Barranco, a club open exclusively on Thursdays, and were able to get in with out having to pay (possibly because of our Gringo status).  We had a grand old time with lots of dancing and a few drinks (I love the fact that I don't get carded here).

Simon's health has been on the up and up.  On Wednesday, Berenixe finally convinced Simon to go to the doctor because his cough sounded like death.  The doctor, after taking one look at his mouth, immediately diagnosed Simon with a bacterial infection and promptly gave him a shot straight into the right butt-cheek.  Simon got another shot in the same spot yesterday, and will be going to get one today at 2:00 P.M.  The antibiotics seem to be working their magic, and I hope to see him make a full recovery in no time.

Today we plan on going to Canchacalla, I cool outdoor climbing spot spot about an hour or two inland of Lima.  Were going to camp out there and return tomorrow.  We'll let you know how it went once we get back, until then, Chao!

June 16th, 2014

Well we've been in Lima for a total of two weeks now, and it is safe to say that we are both sick of it (or sick in it in Simon's case).  Don't get me wrong, we both very much appreciate having a good family to live with, and the city has its interests, but it is any wonder that the boys wish to flee their city surroundings and find adventures in the mountains?  So far, we've hit just about everything on our check list:

-We've reconnected with Simon's god family
-Gone out clubbing a couple of time
-Met some cool people
-Improved our spanish
-Cooked our meals every day
-Gone climbing indoors, and discovered some climbing outdoors
-Gone to the beach
-Gotten to know the city better

Now only have a few more things we really wish to do here before we head out

-Go to the fish market (to make sushi!)
-Finish my classwork
-Go to Lima's city center (possibly)
-Find more climbing (possibly)
-Go see our friend, Csaba Rojas, play in his baseball game (This Sunday)

After doing these things, we plan on making our way South to Cuzco.  The direct bus ride takes a total of 22 hours, if you're lucky.  We both think this sounds a bit hellish, so we will try to split up the journey a bit and take our time.  So the first day we may travel to Pisco, a coastal city in the South, and stay there for the night.  From there, we will head into the mountains to Ayacucho, a nice city we could stay at for one-two day(s).  Then from there, we make the final trek to Cuzco, the fabled capital city of the ancient Incan empire.  Once we get there, we'll have a few days to get acclimated and learn our way around, then our bff Rebecca will come to meet us there July 1st!


Sidenote:  We tried mailing post cards for the first time today.  We discovered a small post office by the local Wong (Peruvian version of Wal-Mart ).  In this office, there was barely enough room for the desk, the two ladies behind it, and the both of us.  We also used their entire stamp inventory on 4 postcards and were told to come back tomorrow, when they have more stamps.  For those of you expecting postcards, just be patient, they'll find their way to you in a couple weeks, with a bit of luck.

Ok that's all for now, Chao!

Friday June 13th, 2014

Those that know me know I'm pretty tall.  I mean I don't like to brag about it or anything, but it's a fact.  At 6'4" tall, I am by no means some giant freak of nature.  However, sometimes when traveling in Central or South America one does get the feeling.  I'm not saying that Peruvians are overly short either, but I'm definitely the tallest person I've seen here so far.  Being tall in a country where the infrastructure has been designed for a population whose height average is significantly less that of our own comes with its challenges (and advantages).  For one, getting on those tiny buses that transport far more people than recommended, called combis, means either having to fold in half and sit or lay on the ground.  Also, the  quarter-stuffed Oreos here are bit disappointing to say the least.  Yet, despite my struggles I still manage to get by, and have shown my usefulness time and time again to reach items on the top shelf.

Today we went on a route scouting mission down to Playa Herra Dura, a local surfing beach to the South of us in the district of Chorrillos, Lima.  After having a bus drop us off at the coast we walked down Camino de la Araña, which was a beautiful seaside drive along the Pacific coast.  Along the way we met fishermen, an ice cream vendor, bird enthusiasts, and a lot of surfers.  We gained some beautiful views of the waves crashing into rock, cutting wedges and arches into the cliff.  Then we heard the beautiful clattering sounds of stones being drawn back be the receding wave, slowly pulverizing each other into sand.  As we passed under a large statue of Jesus Christ a top a large hill, we finally caught glimpse of the Playa Herra Dura and the several hundred foot sea cliffs looming above.  We were at first very excited to come across such a find, but after a bit of inspecting it slowly became clear that these cliffs were Choss City.  By that I mean that the quality of the rock was very low due to its tendency to crumble and break under any stress.  We also noted that had we found any workable lines to ascend, the top-out looked hellish and there weren't any decent spots to rappel; that means leaving gear behind and neither of us were willing to make that sacrifice, or sacrifice our safety for the first chossy ascent on some random sea cliffs.  Despite our disappointment, we both resolved that we had achieved what we came to do, which was to scout the area and determine whether or not there are climbable routes.  We also got in a good hike during the process.  On the way home we picked up some curry powder and chorizo from a super market, and a whole coconut from a vendor on the street. Now we are ready to make some delicious curry!

Tuesday June 10th, 2014

Here are some loose vids that we imported onto my computer from Simon's phone, before it was stolen.  We had intended to splice them together into another video, however that is not possible at this point.  Anyhow, you all should enjoy these clips that give a glimpse into the glamor of our lives here in Lima:

So, things in the big city are good, more or less, although we'd much rather be in the mountains right now.  Nevertheless, we are having a relaxing time here getting to know our way around.  We have been familiarizing ourselves with the hectic bus system here, and the many strange and/or practical rules of the house instated by Melissa.  Trying our hands as chefs has been good fun. Last night we made a delicious pizza, better than Dominos!  The fresh fruit and veg here are amazing, especially the Maracuya and the Grenadinas!

And just about everything else as well.  One thing that we are becoming more and more wary of is the tendancy for the locals to view us as walking money bags ripe for getting ripped off.  Though this is not true of everyone (and they are certainly mistaken about our financial status) it is still something to be cautious about.  Luckily, we have out Spanish skills and aren't afraid to negotiate for a better price (Or just find another vendor all together).  This trip is truly a learning experience for both of us, covering all aspects of life.  I can say without a doubt that we will both step away from this adventure the wiser, and have some awesome times while we are at it!

Until next time, Chao!

Sunday, June 8th, 2014

Well it has been exactly one week since Simon and I had left Bloomington, IN, kicking off our incredible adventure.  This past week has been filled with new sights, sounds, smells, and experiences both good and bad.  Yesterday was perhaps our most roller-coaster day yet.  We started the day off early, around 8 AM, in preparation to go climbing in the foothills of the Andes near Pachacamac, an excavation sight of a pre-Incan culture near about 20 miles out of Lima.  We discovered this place on a website called Topos Peru, and after a bit of discussion with Melissa, we figured out how to get there.  It involved taking two tiny buses and a taxi cab getting there.  Once we arrived, we found the park called Lomas de Lucumo.  We paid our entrance fee, and walked up an approach trail to a bit of cliff that we could make out first real-rock ascents in Peru.  The climbing was solid and a bit tiring, though it felt good to finally use our trad gear.  After we finished climbing, the psych was high and so we decided to hike around the mountain path that formed a loop.  The fog that came up from the coast gave the mountain a very mystical look, and we ended up getting lost a couple of times.  When the fog lifted, we were able to see the trail again and bushwhacked over to it.

After our day of climbing and adventuring, we hiked back down to return home.  Everything went smoothly (as smooth as one of those bus rides can be) until we got off the bus that had returned us to the city.  As we were walking away, Simon reached into his pocket and realized that his phone was no longer there.  That's right, the phone which we have been using to take and post pictures and videos was gone-stolen from right underneath our noses.  The shocking thing about this was not that Simon had his smart phone stolen in a foreign country, but rather the speed at which this act occurred.  He had had his hand on his phone the entire bus ride, yet it only the 30 seconds that Simon went from sitting to standing to getting off the bus for his phone to get pick-pocketed.  Needless to say, we were both very disappointed, and Simon was very stressed out.  We filed a formal police report at the local station, but the chances of finding our phone in a city of nearly 8.5 million inhabitants is slim to none.  Nonetheless, we are still trying to get it back, or receive some sort of consolation.  Lesson learned: Keep all valuables, money, passports and papers, and expensive technologies secured in either a money belt hidden in a bag, losing stuff from pants pockets is all too easy.

After filing our report, the police were kind enough to give us a ride home.  Once we returned, Simon got to work trying to track his phone, but to no avail.  He then had to break the unfortunate news to his family.  The conclusion: The loss might be covered by its insurance, but were not sure.  More importantly, though, is that we are both safe and unharmed.  Technology and material goods come and go, and its best not to become too attached to such things.  A hard lesson, but a lesson nonetheless.

After we had dinner, Melissa's cousin, Greccia, and her friend, Barbara, came to the house to meet us.  They are some pretty neat gals, about the same age as us, and after some introductions and conversing, we went out to the Discotecas together.  All in all, it was a fun night dancing, and trying to forget our troubles.  We returned home around 3 after having our ears blasted out by the big speakers in the clubs, and went straight to bed.  We slept in late today, and decided to take a rest this afternoon from all our adventuring.  Currently, Simon is with Melissa at the Wong (local supermarket) to buy filo dough for the spanakopitas that we are making tonight.  I am trying to get some work done at the computer.

That's all for now, until next time! Chao!

P.S. Here is link to topos peru:< http://toposperu.com/>.

And here is picture of a wall that we climbed (We did route 6, it was a low 5.11 chimney with a cruxy off-width section)

Wednesday, June 5th, 2014

Today was a day of "C"s, for example:

Climbing gym

This was a really neat place called Pirqa.  Good 15 m walls that are open air, and friendly staff with lots of advice.  In fact we met a guy who likes to go climbing at local craigs during the weekend, so we're hoping to join him one of those days.

Cebiche

Peru is well known for its ceviche, among other things.  For those who don't know, ceviche (cebiche en espanol) is a dish that consists of raw fish, octopus, calamari, shrimps, and scallops that are served raw, marinated in citric acid (lime juice).  This meal was excellent and cost under 20 USD for the both of us.  The food is one thing that I am very impressed by hear. It's inexpensive, locally produced, healthy, and most importantly, it's muy delicioso.

The coast

Miraflores is a nice distric that over looks the Pacific Coast.  The waves are a nice sight, but the water itself is quite cold and the costal weather is always foggy.  At least it is a nice, constant 70 degrees here!

Here is another view of the coast from a boardwalk.  If you look closely, you can see people surfing in the water.  

The fourth and final C stands for Camera, which we used to make our very first video blog entry (or vlog for those that are tech savvy.)  Check it out, I guarantee you will be entertained!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TclYxbJIS3k

Gracias y adios!

June 3rd, 2014

When last we left off our heroes, Simon and Jah, they were awakening at the Hostel in MiraFlores, trying to contact Tina's family is Surco...

"Ok, I just got off the phone with her and I got the address, you ready to head out?" Inquired Simon.

"Let's do it." Replied Jah.  "I hope the taxi will know where to take us."

So our heroes used their powers of taxi-flagging and negotiation to get a ride to their next residence.  After some crazy taxi driving, conversations in Spanish, and some asking for directions, they finally arrived at their destination.  The flat was located in the midst of a colorful neighborhood of government subsidized housing complexes.  They rang the door bell, and were promptly greeted by Tina's sister, Berenixa.

"Hola chicos, que tal? Como estan?" Bere asked.

"Muy bien, gracias. Y tu?" They replied.

"Estoy bien, gracia. Ellos son mis hijos, Micaela y Christian."  She said as she introduced her children.

"Mucho Gustos."

Simon and Jah were given a quick tour around the house, then they proceeded to lay down there goods and take a quick rest.  Then the heroes accompanied Bere to the market to pick up some vainitas (green beans) and ahi.  Afterwards they went home, and Bere prepared our heroes and excellent meal.

Suddenly, an earthquake shook the house.  The heroes jumped to their feet, and dashed outside to assist those in desperate need.  After several hours of rescuing people, extinguishing fires, and preventing buildings from collapse, Simon and Jah finally prevented would could have been a terrible disaster.

In the night, some more family came by after work and introduced themselves, and conversations were held over many drinks.  The heroes were prepared a surprise meal at 2 A.M. in the morning, finished it, then fell asleep right away.

The heroes felt they had accomplished their goals of the day, and felt secure in their new home.

The world was safe, but for how long...

Heroes Simon, Bebe Christian, y Jah.

Here I am sitting in the hostel that Simon and I stayed in last night.  I am very grateful that we were able to find it!

Our flight got into Lima airport at 10 P.M. Eastern Time, then commenced the struggle of getting our bags, hailing a taxi, and finding a place to stay.  The first two objectives were no problem, however the third gave us a bit of trouble considering we had made no reservations.  In the airport, we met an American named Andy who was from Louisiana.  Andy told us about a nice, cheap hostel that he had booked, so we decided to split a cab-fare and try our luck.  The cab driver, named Caesar, took us to MiraFlores were the hostel was located.  Along the way we chatted and practiced our Spanish.  Unfortunately, when we reached the hostel it was completely booked.  We happened to run into two young English ladies who had been backpacking and traveling throughout Peru and Bolivia for the past month.  They too had been turned down the room, so we decided to stick together and find another place to stay.  We walked to two different hostels, both full, until they gave us the contact for a third that had space.  In the meantime, we walked around MiraFlores with our heavy backpacks and talked about Peru.  Finally, we arrived to a hostel with a nice room and two bunk-beds.  It was also equipped with hot showers, flush toilets, and Internet.

After checking in and putting down our bags, we went back out to find a bite to eat and a drink.  We ate some half-decent sandwiches at a small shop before it closed; it was nice to put some food in our bellies, regardless of the quality.  Afterwards, we retired to our beds and slept until 9 A.M.  Now, we are showered, packed, and ready to go stay at Simon's godmother

Adventura Peruana: June 2^nd

3:00 A.M.- Wake up at my uncle Ali’s house to shower and gather our belongings

3:45 A.M.- Cab driver arrives, we load in, say good-bye to Ali and thank him letting us stay the night

4:15 A.M.- Arrive at O’Hare Intl. Airport, check-in, go through security

5:00 A.M.- Arrive at our gate for our 7:30 departure.

7:00 A.M.- Flight is delayed.  I drink a large McDonalds coffee and read as Simon takes a nap in his sleeping bag

9:00 A.M.- Our names are called to the boarding gate, as we are the last passengers to enter.

9:30 A.M.- Plane takes off, spent the entire 4 hour flight sleeping as we were exhausted.

12:00 P.M.- Arrive at Fort Lauderdale airport for a 5 hour layover

1:00 P.M.- We eat an airport lunch as we search desperately for an open electrical outlet.

1:30 P.M.- Finally discover an outlet, proceed to check in on the computer and inform our parents where we are.

2:30 P.M.- Make a call to Rebecca, let her know what’s up; excited for her to join us in Cuzco come July!

3:00 P.M.- Strike up a conversation with a man named Scott after Simon acts as his interpreter to help him reserve a hotel room.  We learn that he too is going to Peru, and that he has traveled there many times.  Gain some valuable advice, including the name of a nice hotel for a good price.

4:30 P.M.- Finally board our plane to Lima!

6:00 P.M.-  Simon notices the passenger seated in front of us is wearing a small, red climbing hex as a necklace.  After talking with him and his friends, we learn that they too have come  from Boulder, CO to Peru to climb, primarily in Las Cordilleras near Huaraz.  Excited to meet others with a similar passion and goal to ours.

9:00 P.M. (Current time)- After trying to wind down the 5 hours of flight by a mixture of conversing, sleeping, reading, listening to music, and now blogging about our experiences.  We should be landing within the hour, and then our adventure will truly begin!

Yesterday, Sunday June 1^st: we woke up after our party and drove with my parents up to Chicago.  Along the way we stopped in Lafayette to meet my dad’s parents for lunch, and Simon’s grandma was able to join us as well.  In Chicago, we had a nice visit with my mom’s parents, including a great dinner fixed by Bushra’s tenant, Amina (Thank-you!).

Observations:  Spirit Airlines really takes frugality to the next level.  Not only do they charge for bags, reserving seats, and many other optional fees along the way, they also do not offer anything in terms of a meal (or ever free water).  It is somewhat understandable though, considering the almost unheard of cheapness of the tickets.  The flight attendants also have an ironic sense of humor about the whole thing, and seem to relish the fact that they only have to give us half-assed service.  It’s all in good fun though, right?   Anyway, none of that really matters now as this travel day is coming to an end and will soon be behind us.

Note:  I really wish to make an effort to keep in contact with all our friends and family back home, and so will attempt to create a few blog entries each week.  Simon and I will be taking photos and videos to supplement the writings.  That being said, if you ever want to find out what’s going on with us, just send a message through Facebook, or set up a Skype session with us.  We’d be more than willing to see your beautiful faces whenever we have connection to the Internet.  Also, if you give me your address, I’d be happy to send you a beautiful postcard.  Anyway, that’s all for now, but you can be assured the best is yet to come!