21.50

    $21.50 is the amount we paid (per person) for a 16 hour bus ride which turned into be a great deal! On this bus ride from Lima to Arequipa we got super comfortable seats, FOOT rests, to watch 3 movies, served two meals (dinner and breakfast since we traveled 7 pm to 11 am) and friendly passengers to chat with about life. Karlene got some snap shots along the way. I missed most of the view since it was night time and I was sleeping.

    After getting picked up by the secretary, we saw our beautiful house. (pictures to come later) We got settled in and went wandering around our 6 floor house and Karlene found a deck out another bedroom. She decided to open to door to see what was out there. I was still in the other room when all the sudden I hear screaming and "THERE'S A DOG IN OUR HOUSE!" I laughed not believing until I see a large white bull dog charging. Next thing I know he lifts his leg and pees on our wall. "Karlene! He's peeing!" She encouraged me to help get the thing back into its outdoor deck area. We finally do after trying English and Spanish commands. While looking for solution to clean up the pee, we realize he peed two other times as well. Lovely. What a nice welcome home. After finally cleaning up and getting him away, we go to tell the school there's a dog in our house. The assure us it's ok because its the director's dog, Sargent.

    Next we were taken out to a nice lunch and then got a great tour of the city. There's a lot to see and do. While walking across one bridge, Karlene took a picture of part of the city with Volcan Misti (volcano misti) in the background. Pretty! 

Tonight we're off to a goodbye dinner with some of the teachers from the school. 

More fun adventures and stories to come. 

Until then, take care.

Lima

   After a few delays we finally arrived in Lima Peru around 1 am. We went to Karlene's friends house where we were warmly welcomed, as in most any Latino family home. We chatted for a while and then went to sleep exhausted from the travel. The next day we went to the local shopping mall with Carmen (pictured below). We went home to eat and later went to Pirates of the Carribean 4 with the younger daughter. I was given some grief for falling asleep - as I think I've done in all the Pirates movies. We returned home and talked more with Gabriel.

    

     The next day we went to "La Punta" or "the point" with Carmen. It was a rocky beach a few miles from their house. This was nice to see the ocean but it was not the right temperature to swim, not to mention it being a bit dirty. Hopefully we'll get to another sandy beach closer to where we live now to swim or sun.

   We also wandered around town a bit. (two pretty buildings. plus all the walls are all soo colorful! beautiful) ps... I'm still working on the layout, sorry I can't get them to line up in a row, just one on top of another.

       Later, after hanging out with Gabriel for a while, he sent us off at the bus station.

The beginning

      The adventure started Sunday night leaving St. Paul with Mom and Grandma. We drove into Eau Claire to have a delicious good bye dinner at the Wagners and head towards Chicago on Monday. We picked up Karlene along the way and the finally arrived in Chicago early afternoon. Our lovely tour guides and gracious hosts showed us around the city, convinced Karlene of her future city to live, and treated us to a nice dinner.
      Tuesday morning we got dropped off in the airport and arrived in Florida without problems. Unfortunately, but really not surprisingly, our flight was delayed. By the end of the day, we hope to be in Peru where our real adventure will begin!

The bean in Millennium Park