A Little Recap

Ok, so I've been a little bad about posting, but as one of my students (who checks the blog regularly) said to me the other week, "If I don't see a new post from you in a while I'm just assuming you're having too good a time to write!" True, true, Michelle. But I really do promise to get better about posting.

A couple of fun things to recap on. First, there was a car race that took place throughout all of Peru called Caminos del Inca. A bunch of stock cars decked out like they just drove off the tracks of the Peruvian Indy 500 race through all of Peru and have pitstops in various cities. Now, keep in mind that Peru is the third largest country in South America so the race takes about 2 weeks to complete as most of the journey goes through the Andes Mountains. We got to see them arrive in Cusco and the crowd went wild. As the drivers pulled into the main square they were showered with champagne by busty girls outfitted in one of the sponsor's (rather tight-fitting) unifroms. Ah, race cars and busty girls. My favorite.

The first car on this leg of the race coming round the bend...



Halloween also came and went. It was a fun night of parties, fashion shows and general merriment. Jess painted a cool spiderweb on my neck in addition to the funky make-up she applied so effortlessly (that kind of creativity is unfathomable to me, but it's great having someone so talented in the house). And with my little black dress, fishnet stockings, some fangs and a cheap vampire cape I bought on the street earlier that day, my costume turned out quite nice. Torrential rains kind of washed us out later that night, but it was fun nonetheless.



And then Gab turned 22! While I wasn't there on her birthday (I was already in transit to go back to the U.S.), we celebrated with a big party on the Sunday before I left. My gift to her was to cook whatever she wanted -- and she requested eggplant parmesean and cheesecake. I enlisted our other friend, Selena (an amazing baker), to do the cake and she and I spent the Saturday before the party cooking. The meal turned out fabulous and Gab let Jess dress her up (crazy make-up and all) for the big day. She looked beautiful and stuffed herself silly (as did the rest of us!)

The ladies of the house on Gab's birthday

Meditation Mondays at the house have really taken off and it's grown to be quite a large group. We practice a different meditation each time and then sing, chant or do whatever calls us. What started as a small group a couple of months ago has grown into something bigger that we all look forward to every week. The Monday before I left for my trip to the U.S., Amber brought her didgeridoo and performed some sound healing on each of us and Denise continued to lead us in song at the end. You never know what the night will bring, which is part of the fun.

And just before flying to the U.S., I spent a couple of days soaking in Lima. I'd heard such horror stories about visiting there, but our stay was beautiful. We were in Barranco, the bohemian-style neighborhood next to Miraflores (a very upscale 'hood) and it was gorgeous. Good restaurants, beautiful views of the ocean and an overall sense of "I could live here if I had to live in Lima." Our hotel was actually the mansion of Victor Delfin, a local sculptor and artist still living on the grounds. The house has 5 guest rooms and the entire property is laid out like his personal gallery (and every piece is for sale). It was pretty damn cool.

The sculpture garden at our "hotel"

Out on the town in Lima


Our neighborhood in Lima (Barranco)

We found some cool bars and restaurants (Hum had his first Starbucks), ate some delicious sushi and took in a movie (there are no movie theaters in Cusco so this was a rare treat). Yes, I might have dragged Hum to see "Eat, Pray, Love," and yes, he might have compared my life to that of Liz Gilbert, which I vehemently denied. Aside from that, it was a great send off before traveling back to the U.S.

Ok, I think we're all caught up. Stay tuned for more punctual postings!