Huanchaco

Greetings from Huanchaco, Peru! We arrived in this quiet beach town on Saterday after spending 3 days in Lima visiting museums, dodging traffic, and trying to decipher Spanish language newspapers (things are not looking good for Pinochet´s family). Among the more unusual museums we visited was El Monestario de los Dezcalsos (monestary of the barefooted monks). It has an enourmous collection of Peruvian religious art decorating the monks´quarters, preserved from the 17th century. We toured the rooms where the monks slept, ate, prayed, made wine, and mixed medecines. The monestary was, and still is, an oasis in the midst of a pretty overwhelming city, made more so by the remarkable amount of diesel in the air. After 3 days we felt glad to board a bus for the 10 hr. overnight ride north which began with a viewing of ¨Die Hard 4 ¨ that made the journey through the endless outskirts of Lima all the more riveting.

Although Lima was stimulating, it feels great to be in a more tranquil town where a person can hear the ocean and breath clean air, smell the ceviche! We spent some time in the water yesterday, I laying on my surf board and paddling around more than standing on it. The surfers here share the waves with men dressed in blue pants and white shirts, a sash around their waste paddling slender and pointed boats made of reeds. Traditionally a fisherman´s sport, they paddle out in unison and seem to share a ride on the same wave back into shore--no competition for waves there.

Pues, we´re heading into the neighboring town of Trujillo today to check out language schools now. So, look for the next EMM in Spanish!

Hasta luego,

Rosa