Sunday Pisco day

So Pisco is not only a place but a drink - made at a winery. Where we went for lunch. And took a tour. And had some samples. Couple of reds. Couple of whites. Warming us to Pisco - 48% alcohol. Eye watering good and useful for sanitizing hospital equipment as well as drinking.

Ole! We go home now.

Sunday SAND day

After the beach we went to some of the vast mounds of sand that make up this country.




Here we rode in dune buggies. The clue to the daring of the driver should have been the harnesses - not seat belts.  This was an adolescent male with a open air buggy who had NO FEAR and a buddy taking videos of all of us screaming our heads off.


The young in the group went sand boarding but that looked like I should try it at home in my own sand box before I do it in public.

Sand in the hair, face, teeth, arms, feet, eyes - and places I did not know I had places. Huge fun!

Sandy gram

Sunday SUN day!

We took a trip south of aLima to a place where the sun shines! Pisco is 3 hours south, on the beach and a world way from my work site. It is all about the tourists - we know when all the toilets have seats and paper that it is a tourist zone. But the sun was shining and it was 80 degrees! We left at 6 am and were in paradise by 9.





From Pisco we took a boat tour to 2 islands whose only occupant is birds and sea loins and only product is...um...guano. Mounds. Tons. An olfactory sensation! It is "harvested" every 3-5 years and used for fertilizer. So the inhabitants are protected and encouraged! We did get wonderfully close in The boat (think Chicago Sea  Dog without any safety restrictions).

Fridays for 4s

We feed the children breakfast, snack and lunch. Friday as we sat them down to tuna on a tiny bun and a cup of hot quonina, the lawn service started up the weed whacker. No way anyone can eat with a week whacker - and the worker was in full body garb and a mask!

Then just as started the days of the week, there was drill of some kind. Everyone went to the central yard and brought a bag of supplies. Not a fire or tornado - earthquake drill.

It took new play dough for everyone to get things quiet again.

The sweet life

Good day at preschool and another Spanish lesson. To celebrate almost the end of the first week we went to Wongs emporium of fine foods. But after that in search of a chocolate store we heard was around here somewhere we were drawn to the charro stand. Oh, my. 33 cents of delight! Deep fried bread rolled in sugar and stuffed with Carmel. Several of the major food groups....

Then we found the chocolate shop and got a lemon filling wrapped in the peel which had been sugared and the whole thing dipped in chocolate.

Suddenly there is an housewide sugar high and I found my self on Instagram. I have no idea how. Or how to get back.

It is a fun and wacky group who are very accepting of antiquity. In persons.

Look! Up in the sky!

It's the sun! First time to see the Peruvian sun since we got here. Think: one random warm day in March. It made all the difference. Kids walked around with hands in the air and people took their hands out of sleeves. Good day!

So to top that off we went to the Temple of the sun, an Inca ruin here in Lima. It is on top of a high hill overlooking the sea and it is completely understandable that the world would end where the edge is. It is part of a sacred area dating back to 5000BC. Claimed to be the earliest in the world. Covered many times over with sand - which most of the coast of Peru is.

What's for dinner?

Apparently wild Guinea Pigs are popular over here. For dinner. Not Fluffy you make a pet - big rat like ones. But they breed them and keep them in the house for eating like farmers raise chickens. The difference is that chickens rarely are served with the head still attached. More like duck and fish. But furry. Not on my list to intentionally consume.....