1/29/08
2 hard lessons
After only 4 days in the country we learned two hard lessons about being a whitey. Lesson 1: Don't experiment with eating raw fish (ceviche) at a place not recommended by the guidebook...it tends to cause internal distress, creating the need to stick close to the bathroom.
Lesson 2: White guys should not lay out in the sun for longer than 5 min. (much less an hour) this close to the equator...especially if you have rolls (notice my stomach). I'm smiling in this picture (and Jen laughed so hard she almost peed her pants), but within two hours I was in bed with a fever and chills and the thought of doing anything else but lay in bed was painful. This is almost as bad as the time I burned myself in Agua Azules in Mexico...oh, the memories (that's for you, Joan).
I know Dr. Beachy warned us about the water-food, but I don't remember any warnings about the sun in our travel consult...I see a malpractice suit in the making...at least $10,000 for pain and suffering.
1/27/08
Islas Ballestas in Paracas National Park
After arriving in El Chaco last night, we took a boat tour this morning to the Ballestas Islands to see Penguins and Sea Lions and hundreds of different local bird species. The water was beatiful, as well as the wildlife. Today we lounged on the beach and walked the coast. Pisco and El Chaco were struck by the 8.3 earthquake we all saw on the international news last August. Much of the towns were destroyed, as well as the tourism industry that is crucial to their economy. 
Pray for the people of Pisco, hundreds of whom lost their homes, sanitation, schools, and churches. We saw many piles of brick and cement where structures used to be...people were sleeping when the earthquake hit, and our taxi driver said 800 were killed...very tragic for the people of this beautiful community. 
1/25/08
A day in Lima
So you thought your front door was big! Jen pushed it open with ease though...its the new diet she is on...or actually the new exercise program that Andrew put her on to accompany the diet. We spent the day in Lima touring a musuem and looking at a couple of churches along with the presidential palace...I tried to sit down near the front gates, but a guy with a machine gun motioned me to move on...he was convincing! Tomorrow we head south to a smaller town.
Letting Go
I know you want to see photos of Peru and not of me holding on to the hood of my car, ¨Mr. Emerson¨, but I had to post one last pre-departure photo. It was hard to give him up, but he has gone to a good family. He was the first car I ever owned and despite his long list of problems, he was very good to me. Jen also gave up ¨Sue¨, a car she had owned since high school...but she doesn´t get a picture.
1/24/08
photos from our chilly send off
On January 19th we jumped in Lake Chelan for the polar plunge with our friends Missy and Gary and Esther...it´s definitely colder getting out than in. It cooled down a bit tonight with a breeze, but our room was still a balmy 80 degrees. I´m headed for a massage tomorrow for 12 dollars! Saturday we´ll head down to Pisco following the Pan American Hwy south for your geography buffs.
Arrival in Lima
We arrived in Lima this morning at 1 am...and then proceeded to sleep till noon. At least Jen did - I for one got up before 10 to make sure I got my free breakfast! We somehow managed to get everything done before we left, but it was close...only managed about 3 hours of sleep a night for the three nights leading up to our departure. Thank you to all of you that helped us through all of our last minute details. The night before we were in Albert´s house in Seattle packing our bags until 3am. We have too much stuff but hard to know what to bring when we are planning to go from the muggy/hot Peruvian coast to 20,000 foot peaks in Bolivia (I hope anyway). We will try to post some photos soon that show our ¨send off ceremony¨in Chelan...a stark contrast in weather from the current very humid 80 degrees weather here in Lima....Jen says that it feels like an August day in Iowa.
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