It's autumn here, though what that really means is that it feels like spring. The days are not as hot, but the 6-months of endless fog have not yet rolled in, so the sun shines nicely. Less nice is the return to the crazy traffic that can make taking Carter to school (2 miles as the condor flies) take as long as 45 minutes. I think I may have to devote a whole blog post just on driving here.We've squeezed couple of beach trips out of the end of the season. A night at a hotel at San Bartolo beach south of Lima cost us all of $40; this was not high-end, of course (there was a Britney Spears poster in the main hallway), but the room had a kitchenette and a terrace from which to enjoy a beer while watching the sun set. There are better strands, I suppose, but it was an easy overnight with great cebiche available beachside. Just recently, Carter and I went for a day to a different beach north of Lima with Marcela and her husband Beto. Ancon is similar to San Bartolo, except it is a fishing village so the cebiche was possibly even better and it was a 19th century destination for wealthy Limeños that has been largely forgotten, so a long walk to the bathroom is peppered with elegant, drooping buildings from the era, with wraparound balconies and ornate wood frills and pigeons living in the eaves.
The Sporting Life
Back in January, Peace Corps participated in a sporting competition hosted by the embassy marines with their team "Black-eyed Peace". Of course, the various athletic events were in line with the marine skill-set (strength and speed, not a lot of coordination of balance), so no medals for Peace Corps. Jen is training to do the Lima Marathon on her birthday again and I found the courage to go out twice a week to pickup soccer games at the embassy. Considering I am 45 and last played soccer 30 years ago, it's been going OK. After playing for a month or so, I finally made a goal. Not sure if it is coincidence that the same night I made a goal, for the first time a couple of the Peruvians came up and introduced themselves to me. Meanwhile, I'm an alternate on the team Peace Corps has fielded to compete at the embassy "Olympics". Carter too has started going out to a soccer club a couple times per week. Jumping in with some of the Peace Corps practice, Carter was told he has good technique...high praise coming from a Peruvian. |  |
TRAVELS
| Antigua, Guatemala (Jennifer) Jennifer's annual work conference took place in Antigua, Guatemala. Back in the 16th century, this was one of the 3 Spanish capitals in the New World (along with Mexico City and Lima). Unlike the other two, Antigua's role diminished and it is now a picturesque town nestled against volcanoes, with plenty of tourists but not at the cost of its tranquility or soul. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the volcano's smoke wisping up from the peak on the left. |  |
| Bay Area & Seattle (me) A profoundly sad, unexpected trip took me to the San Francisco Bay Area for the funeral of Tommy Phillips, the 28yr old little brother to our very good friend Leslie. I can't go into all the ways this was heartbreaking, nor all the ways that Leslie and her family were able to affirm love and life from the depth of their grief. I was able to get a wonderful dose of life by jetting up to Seattle afterwards to meet my new nephew, Weston, and enjoy a bit of Seattle with his big sister and the family. Weston is a compulsive smiler; it's like he never tires of catching sight of somebody and saying by expression "Oh hey! It's you! Good to see you!" On my return flight, I had 4 hours in Mexico City, so I took the opportunity and jumped into a taxi. I had enough time to walk around the bohemian neighborhood of Coyoacán, erstwhile home to the likes of Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky. A street vendor poured the water of a fresh coconut into a bag for me and I sipped it from straw as he scooped out the flesh and served it up with chili and lime. It's a neighborhood of pastel houses and tree-lined streets, definitely a pleasant layover. Back at the airport, I bought three excellent tacos and stuffed them in my carry-on to take back to Jen in Lima. |  Weston  Coconut |
| Washington, D.C. We are reaching the end of a 4-week stint during which Jen has been working back at the Peace Corps headquarters in DC. Carter and I had enough miles to go up and visit midway, taking a little sting out of the long time apart. The cold and wet was a bit of a shock (at least Jen got a nice snowfall early on), but that didn't stop us from taking some nice long walks. To our distress, we discovered it is almost as hard to find tacos in DC as in Lima, but we found a great little spot and had fun forcing Carter to go up and order for us in Spanish. One day we walked from our hotel in Georgetown along the Potomac, past the Watergate Towers to the Lincoln Memorial and along the Mall ending up a the very cool Air & Space Museum. The highlight might have actually been a merry-go-around on which Carter and I nearly puked going crazy on a spinning tea-cup. |   A metaphor for our divided loyalties? (at the WW2 Memorial) |
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