Highlights and Tidbits

First, take this:

Then, Frank recommends a valuable website as well:

Now some hot recap action in bullet point form:

* Because northern, coastal Peru is pretty much a desert with a few beaches, it lends itself quite well to the game ´Condor or Vulture´. That´s the game (patent pending) where you try to discern if those giant black birds with ugly pink heads, hovering over carcasses, are condors or vultures. So far the vultures are winning, a lot to none. I´m still holding out hope to see one of these, the Andean Condor, which is the largest flying land bird (whatever that means) in the Western Hemisphere. Check it out.



* More strange bedfellows: first Jesus, now the loudest cricket in Peru finds its way into our bedroom and into our hearts. More specifically it lived in Ben´s backpack for three days. We took turns moving the back pack farther and farther away on the terrace, but the effect was minimal. UPDATE: Ben tells me that the cricket again found its way into his backpack from a t-shirt. Ben tried to let it free, so that it could find its smile, then a staff member saw it on the terrace and promptly stepped on it. RIP, little fella.

* Lastly, you probably already know this, just by looking through our pictures, but I am possibly the biggest gringo in the world. Not physically of course, but in terms of sheer gringosity, I am a force to be reckoned with. I had a sneaking suspicion that this might be the case already, but today, when I walked into a dirty Peruvian gas station in a bright yellow gymglish t-shirt, an enormous, ugly fishing hat (I lost my previous fishing hat on a bus) , and shorts that only colonists like Cecil Rhodes would sport, and asked for change for 100 soles, I began to see the light. I´m working on it...

* Now, we have 8 hours of bus to look forward to. Wish us luck on our way to Mancora, where there had better be sea lions, or... I´ll complain bitterly. What an empty threat that was. I should tell you that we are experiencing a bit of a time crunch that promises to be on the lame side. We have to be in Quito by Wednesday to meet two little friends we like to call Adrien, and Daphnee, and Quito my friends, is a long way away. See you soonish.

Note: Check out the links in this post!