Peru - Ayacucho

I still find myself impressed by the convenience of recent technology, i.e. Email. It´s incredible that I can be in a small town way up in the mountains of Peru and have a better connection than at home. Incredible!

We finally made it out of Lima. Our stay there was relaxing and we caught up on rest. The Cornejo-Lanao family treated us as their own, it was very nice to just have our own space for a little while. They are good people, I´d like to see them again (such a big family, we stayed with one of the seven children! there are some 18 grandchildren, most our age!).

But we haven´t parted completely from the Lanao family (in fact Lanao is Scott´s middle name ... it all makes sense now). We´re at the heart, staying with the grandparents Aquiles and Lucinda (Wiracocha "wise old man" in Quechua, and Morena are what everyone calls them). They´ve adopted Scott as their "nieto blanco" (white grandson) and treat me just as well. This couple reminds me so much of grandma and grandpa Genung (which reminds me, how are they?), A) because they´ve been married forever and B) because everyone with whom the come in contact adores them and vica versa. Once again we´ve lucked out in being welcomed like family. Aquiles is a well known figure in the local community, running cooperative farms and small banks to give nominal loans to those who otherwise wouldn´t qualify in larger banks. He was the former director of the Peace Corps in Peru, hence the Vandervoet connection, and is, just like his name, a wise old man. It is indeed a privilege to be staying with them (Morena is all the more the better half). Funny, yesterday as we were eating lunch, talking, listening to the radio in the background, when he tells us "quiet. listen" and we listen to the radio and it´s some news update, a man being interviewed about local progress and plans or something, and he says "that´s me." And it was! Just an example of what a figure he is here.

Ayacucho is not so much a town, as a small city, very busy, very dusty, but walkable. Again, we´re back in the altitude, some 9,000 feet, but it´s not as bad as before. Good excuse for a nap. The town is on the foothills of a mountain overlooking a grand valley. The vegetation is more abundant here, rather, there is vegetation because from Trujillo to Nasca, Peru is dry desert. The climate is very agreeable, fluctuating between 70 at night and 75 at day (I guesstimate). The sun is intense, yes I wear my sunscreen, especially on my forehead! My hair has bleached out and is very light (I too have not cut my hair) and my beard is almost ready for the cold weather of Bolivia.

Tomorrow morning we´re taking the early bus to Cuzco, which will take us through the short-cut through the Andes, only 20 hours! It will be a long ride, many switchbacks and mostly a dirt road. I´m looking forward to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Then again, I look forward to every day, because it´s always something very new.

Not much else to report. I wonder about the earthquake in Mexico, I´ll have to contact my friends there to see how they are.