Miraflores

Alright, I have arrived safely (but not altogether soundly) in Peru and am ready to sink my teeth into...oh, who am I kidding, I'm just trying to keep my head straight for the time being. That said, I have a meeting tomorrow and am heading up into the mountains this weekend to scope out and hopefully land on a specific field site. I'll spend a week up there, then return to Lima for a few days before heading down to Cuzco to see my wonderful friend D. and hike Salkantay, one of the Incan trails leading to Machu Picchu. After the trek, D. and I will travel to Arequipa where she has been staying with a wonderful host family. I will spend a few days there with her, then head back up to the mountains and begin the real work...whatever that is.

I realize that I should take advantage of being in Lima because, while I wouldn't say blend exactly, the presence of a gringa is hardly news and I don't constantly feel like a sore thumb. This morning I braved the smog, the terrible music (currently listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun blaring outside my window) and the constant honking to run a few miles along the ocean. Fortunately, Miraflores has a wonderful park all along the cliffs with running and biking lanes, as well as a serious skate park, dirt biking loop, tennis courts and plenty of green space. This is all complete with occasional signs from Coke reminding us to eat healthy and exercize which in turn reminds me of the commercial that high-fructose corn syrup just came out with to battle their bad reputation. Has anyone seen it? Other than getting lost in my neighborhood trying to get to the park (all of two blocks away) and being asked if I was freezing (its 67 degrees outside), it was a pleasant morning run which will be repeated.

My base camp here is interesting. A family run apartment in a complex that feels a bit like Melrose Place (lots of young, hip professionals and students). My particular apartment has several other travelers (from Italy, the US and India) and a lazy dog. I sleep under a poster of Che next to one of Snoopy as a toy soldier (and another of a young girl reading in a nightgown across the room), which makes complete sense...somewhere. I am becoming more accostomed to my new situation by the moment, although there have been a few relapses, and am fighting off homesickness rather well (mostly because I haven't had a home in several months). I have to admit, however, that I do daydream about the sweet little apartment I'll find back in Athens...