Arrival Adventures

We're having the BEST time already.

There were some initial adventures which are too long to relate here, involving new friends, much broken Spanish, and a sprinkle of luck, but suffice it to say that nothing went as planned and we survived anyway. After much giggling and whispering on the hostel couches, we went to bed at 4am and slept until 7am. As soon as the sun came up, we blew out of our mediocre hostel for the place we're meant to be staying. What a difference.

It is gorgeous old colonial home with white walls, wood trim, and surprising geometric skylights, and hidden winding staircases like they are in Jerushalayim. Open to the air in random geometric corners, with doves in the eaves laundry blowing in the wond. The elderly proprietor Olrando and his daughter are kind and warm and quick to laugh; the essence of hospitality. It seems that with so many bathrooms and bedrooms, the family makes an income renting it to wealthy international students. The group, as weve met so far is a young man from Montreal (Egyptian originally) who has worked in Peru for a year doing social and political research for the Peruvian embassy, a Brit working for months with Amnesty International, an Alaskan working in inner-city Lima public hospitals as a pharmacist, and a German here, like Lony and I, with a Spanish Immersion program. Smart and funny and well-travelled; and all our age, I would love to spend more than the few days we'll have with this group. We're going out for tea/coffee/beer tonight and hopefully we'll keep in touch throughout our stay.

We went to class late -- it took time getting our bearings in this city which is ungridded and set at an angle to the sea -- but we got there, and met our teacher Pilar who listened to our Spanish, gave us a written test, and put us in class 1A. :) Im actually really glad because I feel like I always fake things enough to advance to a later class, but then I actually miss the fundamentals and always regret it. And I learned things already, so its perfect. Lony and I are the only ones in our level, so we have a private teacher, but then during breaks we socialize in the open-air patio/courtyard, drink tea, and talk to the other students. Weve met Patrick from Phili who ran the Boston Marathon, a guy from the south of France, and Japanese fellow recently immigrated to the US, and an Italian, as well as the lovely staff there including Antonio (another teacher) and ours, Pilar. Classes run 9A-1pm, with little breaks, and the there are afternoon activities which Ill probably do in Cusco, but here were so busy exploring, we havent signed up for any yet. I keep meaning to take pictures of these fantastic ornate old building but have some rightful trepidation about carrying my camera, let alone taking it out, on the street, so we'll see -- the pics you see here are of the home we're staying in.

Off too class now.