Saturday, February 21

It's about a quarter to 7 Saturday night. Tomorrow morning I leave for Cusco with that crazy driver again. It's weird but this Hostel in Loki has some how become my home for the last 4 days. I'm comfortable here, I know everyone, and I really like my new roommates. When I was living in New York people would always say that friends are like drifters in the night or something to that affect... the point is people would come for one reason or another, some for money, some for passion, fame, career, or just for the mere "I live in New York" response that came around in casual conversation. But I have to say I never really understood it until now, I never really missed anyone I would meet in New York or if I did I would find a way to see them again.. It was a 2 by 7 mile Island. It can't be that hard to reconnect. But here, on the tropic of cancer, in South America where people from all over the world look for that safe haven, that familiar face in a foreign land, the hostel. Here nobody is the same, nobody and everybody is alone, and fear is a mutual understanding that we somehow are able to mold together and dilute. We all dove into this from fearing the unknown, the untamed, and different. But at the end of every person's chapter, here, in South America, the biggest fear of all ends up having to go back home.

During my 4 days in Lima I've met many characters. The only way to describe them is in 3 categories, some sane, some slightly insane, and some completely insane! There's John Potter who loves to introduce each of his conversations as my uncle is Harry Potter and I grew up on a farm in Grand Rapids Michigan. He's the most hated guy in the hostel but his sarcasm and cynisism makes him funny as hell. He takes nothing seriously but knows enough about almost every subject to make fun of it and hence piss people off. It's quiet extraordinary how he does it... I must tip my hat to him. He's been living in South America for about a year and traveled the whole west coast stopping at towns along the way to write his book which is based on political sci-fi or something... His goal is to get on the American "banned book list" so he can cash out and live off the proceed forever. Apparently every banned book becomes a best seller... hmmm. anyways, continuing on... I don't know if I told you about Tobi. He's from Canada and was just about scared and freaked out as me. We became friends on my first night here in Lima and he hung out with me and Alberto. In a matter of 4 days he's become a coke addict feen addicted monkey. Sorry if you're reading this Tobi. But I'm pretty sure he didn't do it as much in Canada. A lot of the hostel crashers here will party all night, bring local girls over to the hostel, and snort coke till about 7 or 8 in the morning. Actually, I think Mr. Potter is still sleeping. Then there's the Alaskan fisherman whose been traveling for about 2 months and he loves it. As a matter fact I was just talking to him today and he said he's gonna go back to Alaska soon but definitely do it again. Then there's Brandon the bar tender who secretly sells dope from behind the bar, Irish Emily and her boyfriend who have been traveling for 7 or so months and who was extremely upset with Potter the other day for making fun of Ireland. John the Australian traveler who now works and lives at Loki Hostel and for some reason had a part of his ear bit off in a bar fight which I awkardly asked about the other night... put my foot in my mouth but I was able to recover.

Then there's my new roommates, Andrea and Marrette. They have been traveling for 2 months together and they're TOTALLY sane. A little too sane for a Hostel but none-the-less great girls. I love talking to all the crazy boys in this house but in the morning there's no one to hang out because everyone's knocked out sleeping or dead. jk. So today Me, Andrea, and Marrette went to an old Inca ruin outside the city. The tour started at 10:00am and we all packed up our bags and headed out. As we made our way out of the city of Lima neighborhoods and streets got progressivly poor. We started to see the real Lima as soon as we passed the cliff with the big cross and Plaza de Aramas.

There were shanties and shilling, children walking around dirty from head to toe. Everyone wants to sell you flowers or candy. The border of the city has new slums popping up all the time and you can see the neighborhoods like a shelf of books stacked upon one another. Farmers, truck drivers and construction workers doing what they can to feed their families. Everyone loves to wave and at times I felt like Cinderella on a parade float... had the the wave down pat. One farmer blew a kiss so I blew one back and he grabbed his heart and fell over. haha It was cute.

Pass the slums and into the outback we went and the farther we would drive the more peaceful we would feel under the blazin peruvian sun. It was getting sandy and dessert like we had been driving days. The city of Lima looked like a cloud of smog behind us and all the colorful shanties decorated its perimeter. I look forward as we approach Pachacamac, the old Inca ruin which is still under excavation. The bus pulls in and we all tumble out, excited to climb the pile of rocks and accept our gift, the view from above.

As we go through Pachacamac, the sweltering sun burning our backs, but despite the discomfort it's peaceful and serene. I could fall asleep atop one of their watering holes and probably have the best sleep of my life. There's no reason to talk to one another we just listen to the silence. The guards stand on top of one big mound and follows our group as we go up and around... finally we reach the top of Pachacamac and looking around I notice this weird climatic difference. On one side of the ruins is green hills with farmers, crops, and irrigation tunnels, on the other side desert and dust like we landed on the sun. The climate in Lima was weird to begin with and this just confirmed my belief... very eerie. Climbing down the ruin and around the maze we see our bus in the background, everything about it looks out of place. And I think to myself, it's sad, because in a couple years all this character and flawlessness that makes Peru so majestic is going to be taken over by western travel and tourism and just as that thought crosses my mind a big Mercedeas bus pulls in with a bunch of elderly gringos ready to get their money's worth... which if in Solas is probably $4.00.

As we get back on the bus most of the people who sat on top now sit on the bottom. The heat has made the majority of the red as prunes. I on the other hand stay on top... it'd be nice to have a tan for once. And we shall revisit this mistake later....

Driving back to Lima was relaxing... the hustle and bustle of Plaza de Armas and Larcomar made its way to my ear. The great thing about Loki Hostel is your always happy to be back and there's always something to do... As soon as we got in Carlos (front desk guy) reminded me about our lunch date. He had been talking to me about this amazing restaurant called Punto Azul since I arrived on Thursday. Today was perfect timing too because he got off in 10 minutes. I asked Andrea and Marrette to go with and given that we were all perched I knew that was gonna be a yes.

Punta Azul was a 5 minute walk down the street and it was PACKED. The line wrapped round the corner and the whole place was filled with people from all over the world. We were ticked 110 and they were only on 86 when we arrived. Was it worth the wait??? yes, yes, yes. The food was amazing! Top 5 places I've eaten at for sure... Ceviche Pescada, ay AMORE! It's raw fish, lightly fired over the stove, but basically raw, surrounded with this lemon juice sauce and just amazing. Carlos lit up as we all devoured the four dishes he chose and I couldn't stop eating. Luckily the plates were big enough to fill each of us up and we shared everything.

The WWF was in Peru tonight and Carlos promised his little brother that he would take him. It started at 8:00pm and we finished eating at about 3:00pm. That's when his little brother started calling him in a panic to come pick him up. His little brother had never been to a wrestling match but he loved the WWF. Carlos got tickets for him a while back but his brother was soo nervous someone would take their seats he wanted to get there as early as possible, four hours early if need be. He was soo excited, he made 16 signs, one for each wrestler, and was now at home with all his signs waiting for Carlos. We excused DC (Don Carlos) from the table seeing as we didn't think his brother would let him off. Tonight he'll be back at the hostel for a few drinks and tomorrow morning we say goodbye.

Oh and before I forget -- that sweltering equatorial sun has done me in this time. I just got out of the shower now and I'm burnt to a crisp. It hurts like hell when anything or anyone touches my shoulders, back, or chest. I'm two toned with all kinds of farmer tans and weird patterns. Tomorrow I purchase sunblock and can someone please send me a lonely planet on South America (the traveling on a shoestring edition). They're all out here but I'll check the airport tomorrow.

Time to go up to the roof top for some drinks... I'm beat. Later!