My Interweb is broken..

Doh.

Woke up and the magical broadband wireless router seems sick. I found a little note somewhere in Spanish that has a bunch of info on what the three lights on the thing mean but it didn't really help.

I did see something about not putting the modem within 60 meters (60!!) of a computer with wifi, so maybe my wifi router snuggled next to it caused some issues.

I rebooted it a bunch and it didn't seem to help, but every time I'd leave it unplugged it would get slightly better, seemingly getting closer to working the longer I left it unplugged. I do not really understand the mechanism in electronics that would make that so.

So I wandered out to find an internet cafe. I'm in a quarter size cubicle right now, but at least I have connectivity.

Next I need to find someplace that will sell me a prepaid sim so I can call the interweb people and find out what's up. (if it hasn't magically fixored itself this afternoon)

Found the Ocean

 

Decided to go wander west to the ocean to find something to eat. This seemed like a fun idea when the sun was still out, but it ended up being quite a ways. Lima is atop a cliff band right on the ocean. They've built parks along the very edge of most of the cliffs that give an amazing view of the water beyond.

These also seem to be the go-to spot for a little Latin-lovin' making out, and who can blame them, it's pretty romantic any way you cut it.

 

Afterwards I started wandering back to my place and quickly realized I wasn't exactly sure how I came. See, I had this brilliant idea that I'd just bring my trusty Suunto along with it's compass, head SW to get to the ocean then head NE to get back. Who needs a map? (answer: of all people, me!) Of course, the roads don't really run SW and NE and I know a grand total of three streets, so for a bit there I was getting nervous. Thankfully my dead reckoning navigation got me to the grocery store I went to earlier today so it all turned out ok.

I hunted around a bit for a local joint to eat, but the little place I had scoped out earlier is apparently lunch only. I eventually passed a place called "Danica" which rung a bell as Ms Tony Romas from the plane had mentioned it as a good restaurant for 'Peruvian' food.

Turned out to be pretty ritzy but absolutely delicious. They were definitely more nuevo peruvian rather than the traditional fare I was originally seeking out, but were fantastic nonetheless. I had some risotto with grilled red peppers and onions and the most melt in your mouth beef tenderloin I've ever had. That along with the Peruvian drink of a Pisco Sour beforehand and a double espresso afterwards and I was one happy gringo. Grand total on the bill? With a very generous tip, 70 soles, so around $23. I would have gladly paid twice that for the risotto alone however, it was seriously top notch.

Ok, now I'm going to actually do some work before Eric starts Bileet Inc. ;)

I feel at home..

 

Look what I found not two blocks away! I actually knew there was one nearby, but wandering across it randomly was still mildly shocking. I wandered in (nicely air conditioned.. oooh) to check out the prices and they are exactly the same as the US. IE, 10.50 soles (about $3.50 US dollars) for a grande mocha. To put this in perspective, I spent 27 soles on groceries this morning, which included a box of cereal, two huge bottles of water, two big containers of gogurt and some TP.

No I did not partake in the *$s, though an iced drink sure was alluring.

 

Ali and I were checking out Google maps of Lima the other day. They don't actually have any road data for Peru, but they do still have the satellite view. As we were virtually wandering around the blocks around my apartment, we saw a really odd looking building from the top. Well, that's it from the side, I guess it's a big church.

Speaking of churches, everybody here is obviously Catholic, and it's Easter, so everybody has the rest of the week off. That's cool except that it kills me starting the language school until Monday. Bummer.

I did find the language school though and enrolled in a one month course of 5 2 hours classes a week. Trying to communicate in Spanish has been kind of entertaining really. I first ask whether they speak English, which hardly anybody does (even at the language school!) then try saying things in French with a spanish accent. Often the latter gets me kind of close, or at least on the right track. A few 'dondez' and 'commos' thrown in and eventually some form of communication occurs.

Grocery Store Found

 

I had to hang out at the apartment until noonish waiting for the mother of the owner to show up to pay for the month's rent. Everybody gives me these crazy looks when I tell them I don't know any Spanish and am just hanging out for a month. Hrmm..

Anyways, afterwards I found the local grocery store which was nicely stocked. Except I couldn't find anything that really looked like milk to go along with my rations of Captain Crunch. Instead I found lots and lots of bottles of varying flavors of yogurt. I love drinkgurt though, so I grabbed a bottle of the thick stuff in strawberry and one of the thinner varieties in plain. Captain Crunch never tasted so good.

Also found myself a bottle of Kola Real, one of the local Cola variants. Sadly I can't say it tastes very different than Coke or Pepsi, only really differing in that it seems mostly flat. I'm still on the hunt for the Inca Kola though which sounds more exciting.

Now to find that language school.

Impressions from my first night..

1) Being on the top floor is cool, except when you are exhausted and people are partying above you on the roof deck until 3:00 AM.

2) The walls here are very thin.

3) I have very amorous neighbors who stay up till 4:00.

4) Add earplugs to the list of forgotten items. :)

In Lima

Well one glaring anomoly right off the bat is Blogger is showing me everything in Spanish and I'm not seeing any obvious way to revert to English. I suppose this will be a good way to build my vocabulary. 'Titulo'->'Title'. Check.

Well about 12 hours after leaving Seattle I've arrived in Lima. My first exposure to Lima really came before arriving though, as a girl sitting next to me was coming back from her Summer break. (my mind still hurt a bit when trying to realize it's summer here) She had spent three months in the US in various places, her favorite by far being Vegas and was quite surprised I'd never been there. I asked her what some good places to eat in Lima were and her first reply was Tony Romas! I kid you not! :) Ahh.. youth and their love for all things American. She also taught me how to say a few things in Spanish, increasing my vocabulary of phrases to.. uh.. three?

Upon arriving I was greeted by Rochi and her husband, the brother of Michael who I am renting the apartment from. Rochi's English was excellent and they were both incredibly friendly and helpful. The drive from the airport to Miraflores was about as depressing as I'd read. You really do drive through some amazingly poor areas, and these didn't even look as bad as some we flew over before landing. There's no doubt this is a 3rd world country, and probably the poorest city and country I've ever been in, even seemingly compared to Tunisia.

I know everybody waxes poetic about different countries and their crazy drivers.. but.. they really ARE crazy here. I mean it! I couldn't believe some of the merging that took place, and lanes in general didn't seem to actually serve any purpose. Needless to say, I was glad I had a ride from the airport, trying to drive in this traffic would be an adventure of a whole different scale.

 

The apartment itself is fantastic. Very cozy, clean and comfortable, and decent enough broadband. (~600Kbps down/~200Kbps up) I think it'll serve as a fine homebase, especially once I plug in the wireless router.

Tomorrow's tasks include finding a grocery store (potable tap water sure is a luxury we don't realize) and a language school. For now, I'm going to watch some Spanish music videos, unpack and catch some zzz's.

Adios Amigos!
 

Packing for a Month

 

I've never really packed for an entire month. And never really traveled except in backpacking mode where I'd only take what I could easily lug around. So this is a bit of a new experience. In the end, I think I packed pretty much all the clothes I regularly wear, and then enough gear and outdoor stuff to maybe do a few treks.

The good news is nothing is too permanent, as Ali comes to join me in two weeks and she can bring whatever essential item I will no doubt forget.