Beginning of Peru Travels and First Blog Post

I guess now is just as good a time as any to write my first blog post. I feel like I'm going to have to add a bunch of back-dated stuff, but that can come later.

Right now I'm in Huanchaco, Peru, which is about 8 hours north of Lima. It's a quiet little beach town and a nice place to get some rest. I've been go-go-going for [all of my life?] the past week or so and I need some peace and quiet before my body starts to shut down. Miraculously, I'm still not sick (knock on wood).

I'll go back about a week to New Year's Eve:

My good friend Colleen managed to win some tickets to the Michael Franti concert so we thankfully didn't have to come up with any other plans. Things like that are always so much better when you don't know what to expect, but it was a really fun night. The crowd had a really great vibe and they even had some circus performers throughout the evening. Colleen had never seen Michael Franti before (I think it was probably my 3rd or 4th time) and she was definitely impressed. Colleen also got a little "merch package" with a tshirt, toque and some sort of media stick with music on it as part of her prize. After the show we had access to the "afterparty" which was in the basement of the Vogue and where all of the performers were gathering for drinks and snacks. We chatted a bit with the bass player and drummer (I think?) of Spearhead, Michael Franti's band, as well as chatted with the lead singer of the opening band Ghost Brothers. Eventually Michael Franti came out and thoroughly and thoughtfully went around and thanked all of the other performers as well as the few other "fans" who were gathered in the room. A very sweet man. Of course Colleen and I couldn't be satisfied with going home at 3 in the am and had to make a stop at the Roxy.... When we arrived home at 5 am I had just enough time to pack and get to the airport for my 8:45 flight to Peru!

Arriving in Lima

What seemed like days later, with very little sleep, we arrived in Lima. I met Gean Carlo and his friend Aude in the Miami airport so we could all arrive together at 5:00 am on January 2nd. The day had just begun! We went to Gean Carlo's parent's house where his daughter Emily, his sister Nina and her son Aaron, his brother Gean Marco and GM's girlfriend Kathy also live. Cozy!

By 9 am we had already showered, gotten settled, gone to the market, had breakfast and visited the family. Time to tour the city. Gean Carlo took us around to Lima Antigua, Jr. de la Union and La Plaza de Armas where the Palacio de Gobierno is located, then over to Miraflores and Barranco, a visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia and Arqueologia (with an amazing collection of ancient artifacts). All of that and we still had time to go grocery shopping and be home in time for dinner! It's definitely advantageous to have a local for a tour guide, to say the least. I've added a few pictures below (to tease you) and will hopefully post something more extensive on Flickr in the next few days.

Fish at the Market

Foggy Miraflores View

Aude, Emily and myself at the Puente de los Suspiros

"Hombre con Llama" at the Museo de Antropologia and Arqueologia

Museo de Antropologia e Arqueologia

Myself with Aaron, Gean Carlo and Aude

La Boda

The next day, Saturday, was Gean Carlo's cousin's wedding. We rented a minibus for the day and all 10 of us managed to be ready and pile into the van by about 12 pm (the wedding was supposed to start at 12:30 "en punto"). We drove about an hour south of Lima to a very pretty hacienda (ranch) where the wedding was being held and arrived just in time to see the very end of the ceremony and start the party! The whole family was very friendly and nice to visit with. Some of the uncles were a little more difficult to communicate with, but did like to dance! There was one other very tall white girl there. Turns out she was from Boston and her husband was Peruvian. I think we were subject to an equal amount of stares. Wine and Pisco Sours were flowing until about 8:00 pm, when the party wound down and we still made it home in time to go out on the town with some of Gean Carlo's friends. Go, go, go.

With Gean Carlo & Emily at the wedding

Being attacked by ninos

Gean Carlo and his parents

Hanging out on the street with the boys

Out on the town in Miraflores

The next few days we took a little trip down to Nazca, Ica and Paracas- which justified a whole blog post in itself. I'm starting to feel guilty about being inside and should probably get to the beach and enjoy it while I can!