I had a very social weekend. The highlights included:
My coworker had a baby shower on Saturday that was well attended with Peruvians and ex-pats alike (as well as stocked with delicious Belgian beer, since the hosts were Belgian!). The godmother had recommended a recycled toy store near my apartment for gift shopping, where I found an adorable stuffed book named "Don Cuadrado". I showed up an hour "late", which apparently was quite early. Most people started to show up about 3 hours after the time on the invitation. It's amazing how much more I feel like a type A personality here than I do in the US.
On Sunday, I was invited to a practice for the Peruvian Ultimate team. Which was a TON of fun, but also I am super out of shape (and, you know, recovering from my latest silly ankle injury). The lexicon is still really dominated with English, but I'm learning some relevant spanish words (mantiene la fuerza!). And it's taking me a while to get used to stalling in Spanish. They play twice a week, so I'm looking forward to having a regular activity to do here!
I also finally had time and was healthy enough to run on the bike path along the coast for the first time, which was breathtaking.
My coworker also says he might have an extra bike I can use for a month, so hopefully soon I can take coastal bike rides too!
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| Foggy skyscrapers |
I also ran through the Parque del Amor, which is designed to mimic Gaudi's style.
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| A pic of me on my first visit to the park a week earlier! |
It features huge statue of a couple kissing that is supposed to glow orange when the sun sets (at least in the summers when there is sun).
Like all parks here, it is a popular spot for couples. Peruvian couples LOVE parks. In Guatemala couples would escape to public parks because they could, ahem, express emotion without their families overseeing anything.
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| Yup, I'm a creeper... |
Further down they had a park that had flower bed replicas of the Nasca Line designs.
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| Said park in the summer sunshine |
Beyond the lush green and the sight of the cliffs, my favorite feature is the ubiquitous bougainvillea flowers that overhung the cliffs. You really can see why my neighborhood is called Miraflores (get it??? mira + flores??).
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| Look at them. |
At the office this morning, I went through my first sizable Peruvian earthquake! It was a 4.5 that originated in Chile. So it was a lot weaker when it hit here, but you could definitely feel it and everyone made a run for the doorways as the shocks hit. Everyone spent most of lunch talking about the earthquake in 2007, in which one girl literally saw waves move down the major road she was standing on when it hit.
The biggest excitement (other than natural disasters) is that I leave for Cusco tomorrow! Namely, I am 3 days away from THIS:
I hope blogger can handle the impending slew of photos that are going to be posted upon my return.
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