Fun Facts and Findings of the Trip...and an editorial note

First, let me just say sorry for all the misspellings. I failed high school english aparently. The spell check on this thing is set to Spanish as is the MS Word...what do you want me to do??

Secondally, please sign up as a ´follower´ for the blog. I love knowing who is reading, and it keeps me writing knowing that people are actually reading it!

Now for FUN FACTS and FINDINGS

I will keep adding to this list as I go on, but generally these are small things that I think are worth sharing, but maybe not worth a whole entry!

1. I look like the unibomber.

2. I fantisize and romatisize about the life I left in Chicago nightly. ...mmmm.....Gibson´s.....

3. Everytime I see a knife for sale, I buy it. I´m up to three now. (one for my foot??)

4. I sleep every night in a fleece sleeping bag that I found ona Canadian canoe trip....sweet find.

5. Ironically, I bought a new pair of unassuming grey cross-trainers before I left, in order to be inconspicuious and not draw attention to myself. (not that that is possible here looking like I do) But the funny part is that, Peruvans are actually very fashion forward, and wear a lot of bright flashy cloths! So by wearing earth tones...I´m a wierdo...so, I recently purchased a white belt and hat to spruce up the wardrobe....I´m sure I´m fitting in now :)

6. The culture of the indegineous people is very much alive and well. Not only do you see the really, really old ladies carring sacks of coca and other plants down from the mountains everyday, but you also see younger women, even in their 30´s and 20´s doing the same thing. The other day, some 15 year old girls were performing a traditional dance ceremony in the street, they were carrying around todlers with their teeth!

7. I´m reading ¨The Odyessy¨by Homer at night. ....thats right...it was the only english book in the house...but I must admit I am enjoying it.

8. I´m not taking near enough pictures. (sorry)

9. Ayacucho is just over 9,000 ft. in altitude. And it literally, never snows here! (no skiing???)

10. Peruvians are not the most attractive people in the world.

11. Every mother wants to feed me. I thought this was just an American thing. Nope, turns out that the need to feed is cross cultural. Better finish my plate!

12. Other travelers say Cuba is a really cool place....I guess we´ll never know.

13. There are dogs everywhere here! They rule the street, and hang out on the rooftops of houses, and bark at you when you walk by....its great.

14. There is a neighborhood in Lima that they call `chicago chico`....literally translates to chicago boy. Since many Limoneons know only about the mob....or mob that once was in Chicago. They named the ruff neighborhood in town after us.....isn`t that sweet?

15. The guide books say that you need to boil the water for a minute in Lima before its drinkiable, and boil it for 3 minutes in the mountain regions (like ayacucho). My question is, what type of bad ass bugs exists in this water, that can survive for 3 minutes in boiling hot water?

16. The toilet paper here is almost always colored. Pink, Yellow, Brown. Do you see the potential problem here of having brown toilet paper???

17. The only llamas I have seen in Peru have been in the visitor burueas. Where are all the llamas? Its on the flag for god sake.

18. The unintended consiquence of having a mustache- you can't feel it when your nose drips

19. There are people dressed up in giant Zebra costumes in La Paz, at almost every major intersection. They direct the pedestrian traffic- and they are very zealous about their roles in this society...they are hilarious to watch!

20. I mountain biked down the worlds most dangerous road...and didn't even get a scratch. Now I want to organize a race down it!! Who's in??

21. There are German Shepards everywhere in Chile. Apparantly some German imigrant brought them over quasi-recently, and the trend took off. There are some strong ties between Chile and Germany....kind of strange.