Recent Times/ or Nursing Burns and Hittin' the road

Well, the time has come to pack up and head for a new neck of the woods, and honestly I don't think I could feel more ready.

Arequipa is a beautiful city with its grandiose white volcanic rock architecture and green sweeping plazas, but it seems everyday the the streets get a little narrower, the taxis more congested, and the rain ever more predictable. Smiling is more a voluntary action than a state of being and so I'm taking it all as a sign that it's time to get a move on and get on out already.

It has been an overall pleasant experience here, and the Flying Dog hostel where I am staying has been cheap and awesome. (appox. 7.00 a night with breakfast incluyido) so yeah, really not complaining there. The room is dorm style with 8 beds, but it is sort of the low season now and some nights were only me and one other amiga. Privacy at times definitely feels like a godsend. Or, ya know, however that saying goes.

Despite the inexpenisve nature of things here, I sometimes catch myself getting a little bit uptight or hesitant about money (yeah okay, a little like a cheap ass) but then I realize what I'm actually paying in US and I can breathe a little easier once again. For example,in the bus station last night as I was buying my ticket for today I was momentarily taken aback, "80 soles! To go where!?" and then remembered the time I spent $40 US just to get from Minneapolis to Fergus (less than 3 hours) and that this ticket was $35 for a 12 hour overnight with food, "bedlike" seating, and movies. So yeah...money, just gota breathe easy and let that money thing go... Ill probably find more tomorrow anyways, right? or however that saying goes...

Oh boy, even as I write this it is still raining. The computer is in the courtyard, so even though I am inside I am actually practically outside. I have no choice but to listen to it, and I think amidst its dropping and drizzling it is trying to say something to me. Whispering a sort of motherly nudge out the door... get going girl, theres no more here for you..no more

It hasnt been complete rain...well kind of, but I met a girl the other day who was equally disturbed by the rain and agreed that for health of the body and mind, it was necessary to make the trek..well, take the bus, to find the sun in Mollendo, the local (3 hr) beach. There was not much space to move, but boy did we find some sun.. I've now got a fresh red belly burn, (primer coat for more beach ventures) a new bottle of spf 75 sunscreen (para ninos con piel sensitivo), and sure fire belief that the sun does still exist and is still real hot and that I'll see it again soon.

So yes, byebye Arequipa. Its been real, and wet, and I'll be sure come back when you decide to dry out. For now its onward bound to new places where new summer means summer and new adventures await. As some of you may know, my plan at one time was to travel south into Chile with a couple of native skaters I had met in Cusco, crashing at their friends' places along the way. I was looking forward to getting some beach in, and doing lots of skateboading, but things fell through for them in a big way and they had to get back home early.
So aha! An opportunity for a new plan..new twists and encounters...I'm feeling sure that this change is for the best, and I've decided to do the next obvious thing and head in the completely opposite direction.

Yes, north it is..keeping it legit in Peru, traveling up the coast until I almost hit smack into Ecuador. And if/when I'm beached out I may have time to head east and hit up the selva after all. Doesn't look too far on the map, but then again, nowhere does...till you're on the bus.

I'd ideally love to find a little beach town off the tourist trail (is it possible, I've no idea) with cheap housing a 15 minutes stroll from the beach. With bikes for rent! yes, bikes and hammocks, and fresh brewed coffee every morning *sigh. I do so enjoy traveling place to place and seeing as much as I can, but all I feel like doing now is making a bit of a quest and then nestling in for a good while ito a new temporary home to meditate, write, and climb some trees. Maybe even root around until I find a winery or a horse or two...

All this tranquility talk sounds like a lovely lullaby, but now it is time to move. Next stop Huaachina Oasis to see what all the hype is about desert dunes and sandboarding, and then the Islas Ballestas or " the poor mans gallopogas" beacuse why not?

Itll be a minute or two till I'm able to post again, but once again thanks for reading, I am sure if you're taking the time you are in some way very near and dear to my heart

Con mucho amor
Kait