My first week in Peru:

Roomies- Sarah, my sister who I traveled here with! Giselle, Sarah´s friend from Brazil, who is here visiting her bf, Erik. Giselle is super sweet and I can already call her a hoochie mamma! Love it! We are all at Erik and Paulo, his father´s house. Erik is very funny and loves the Cranberries. And when I say love I mean he sings their songs every day while dancing around the house in his boxers! Paulo... I love a man that cooks for me. Too bad he´s 65 and doesn’t speak a word of English! KIANA… Erik’s pit-bull... Love her! She will wait outside of the grocery store until we are finished! She never wears a leash and is trained like I have never seen… Oliver when I get home… you are gonna have to shape up!

Weather-HOT! And not like hot in North Carolina… I mean a walked around Miraflores (a nice district of Lima) for about an hour and thank God I left my long hair down or I´d look like Sarah... crispy bacon shoulders! Haha!

Exchanging $$- Well Mom if you are worried about my safety…don´t! I think I´ll be fine walking around with my little purse containing $50 because there are people on every corner wearing green money vest. YES…people wearing bright green vest waving around fists full of money ready to exchange with any travelers. I guess I should also mention, there are about 2 cops on every corner as well.

Food- My new favorite is Ahi de Gallina... which I believe happens to be rooster... but none the less... it’s DELICOUS! Ceviche on the other hand... not my fav…. Its raw fish cooked in lemon?? mixed with about a whole onion sliced up. Erik… loves it even drink the juice when he finishes it… brave sole!

Beaches- OMG.. BEAUTIFUL! And you can camp right on the beach... yes in the sand by the waves! Everyone does it here! So cool… minus the sand venturing into my tent and on my air bed through the night! Haha! In Miraflores the beach starts out with tan sand… but as it closer to the waves its black with pebbles like it was in Italy. The beach we camped on was completely sandy and the waves were manageable, unlike the big rough waves on most beaches in this area.

Things you NOT supposed to do- Put toilet paper in the toilet… please don’t tell Paulo I forget about every other day! Oops! Smiling also not acceptable… not sure but no one here naturally smiles on the streets and Sarah has asked me to stop since people apparently don’t… sorry Sarah… it’s a habit and I love smiling! :o)