Friday night & Valdivieso time on Saturday

After a family dinner with Luis, Cecilia and Juan we got ready for a night out. Juan Pablo's cousin (well, he is really his uncle, even though they are 27 and 28 years old, respectively) Gary Leggett met us at the house, here, and we sat up on the lovely rooftop terrace and enjoyed some wine and great conversation. I am definitely not in the roughing it stage of my adventure! It was really special to have some time to chat with Luis Valdivieso about his new role as the Minister of Finance & the Economy. Huge! He had a meeting with the President of Peru on Friday evening, Alan Garcia. Then he came home and had dinner with Juan, me and Cecilia. Crazy! So we enjoyed the evening breeze and chatted a little about a lot. Luis just passed the budget in Peru and is all over the maganizes, newspapers and TV about his 'Anti-crisis' plan...he is on the cover of Economic America (a Latin American magazine). Whoa. Gary is doing some awesome research for Harvard on the challenges of land use/ownership in the Peruvian Amazon. He is an architect and is also into planning - Juan and him bumped into each other at Princeton and they figured out that they were related! And then they bumped into each other again at Harvard while Gary was doing his advanced degree in (law or business) and Juan in Law. Small world...and the Peru connection makes it even smaller. So after chatting until 1am, Juan, Gary and I decided to go out! Time does not run the same in Peru as it does in the US. I love it! I have always been a night owl. So Gary drove us to this super cool bar called Ayahuasca -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayahuasca -- that was in an old colonial building in the Barranco neighborhood - not far from the museum we had seen earlier in the day... had a yummy maracuja sour (passion fruit) made with pisco, of course. Pisco is the national alcohol, made from corn. It is yummy! I have had Pisco Sours before, but it just isn't the same as when you have one in the native land. The three of us had a great night...Juan is super fun, one semester left to get his law degree from Harvard, training for an Ironman in Australia in April, and Gary is doing this awesome research in the jungle and just successfully published a book on Urban Architecture themes in Peru. Damn. I gotta get my groove on when I get back to the states, eh? They pretty much had to ask us to leave at 3:45am and I think we got home around 4am?

Saturday 12/20 : I was super tired today...duh. Basically woke up late, went for a walk on the Miraflores boardwalk with the whole Valdivieso family, then Cecilia had a family lunch around 1:30pm/2pm for sisters of Luis, her sister and children, Gary, Cecilia's mother, and of course, me the adopted daughter! It was nice to sit and chat with everyone, and we enjoyed 'chifa' which is this widely discussed Peruvian influenced Chinese food. Very tasty! There are the Peruvian influences of seasonings and ingredients, and yet, it is distinctly chinese with fried rice, stir fry, shrimp dishes, and even lemon chicken and roast duck. We all chit chatted throughout the afternoon, and then I just gave in to a nap. Later in the evening Veronica and her parents and I hit the Larcomar - this huge outdoor mall on the ocean. Very nice! It is the Lima version of some of those swanky LA malls that are all outdoors, with restaurants facing the water, etc. Picked up some music - NovaLima is a band Juan recommended, and then we headed back to get ready for dinner at one of V's fave spots. Again, time is not the same here...we headed out for dinner at 9:45pm! Ate at this adorable place in San Isidro called 'Tanta' with Juan, Gary & V. So fun to chit chat and catch up... all four of us went to Princeton, so it was a little mini reunion. We were all exhausted (Veronica arrived today at 6am from the US) so we headed home, and here I am typing it up. I won't be posting this much come Monday...so don't get use to it! I have a 10pm flight from Lima to La Paz tomorrow, Sunday 12/21 and then I get picked up by this cute hostel I found...Loki La Paz. It is apparently where the crazy young travelers go...wait, I am one of them (perhaps not so young, but def fun and crazy!) Then I will acclimate most of Monday in La Paz (super high altitude...one of the highest altitude airports in the world at 13,323 feet - NUTS! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Alto_International_Airport ...they have a super long runway b/c planes take longer to descend and need more space!) I hope to be off to Uyuni and the Salt Flats on Weds am at the latest. I want to explore La Paz somewhat...it is supposed to be a great city, full of color and life. Well, off to bed. Having a blast already...the Valdivieso's have made me feel so much at home - I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends all over the world. That is what makes life so grand, isn't it? Our friends and family.