Catching up...

Hola.

It's pushing 10:00 pm on Wednesday night. I just got showered up and getting ready to hit the sack. I started this post yesterday evening. Yesterday, I got up early and left the Ariosto Hotel in Miraflores and made my way south through the cerras (hills) and desierto (desert) to the project site. I spent Saturday evening and all day Sunday in Lima. More about my Lima visit later on. Over the last few days, though, whether it be during one of the drives into work or when I'm tapping my pencil to oldies music in the office, I've put together a mental list of things to post here. I'll start out with my new driver and friend, Eder.

Eder (kinda pronounced like "Heather") is a cool cat. He's got a suave mystique about him at one moment and then at the drop of a hat, the smooth hombre seems to turn into a joker, with just a hint of mischief in his laugh. Eder is 24 and has seen half of the world. He worked on a cruise ship for four years after high school and sailed his way all through the Caribbean and then across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. He has friends from all over the place. His easygoing and jovial presence makes introductions automatic. The first time I heard Eder talk, he reminded me of someone...then when I heard him laugh, the lights immediately came on...everyone's favorite Winnie the Pooh character...Tigger! I know, but he's spot on all the way. When that hit me, I started laughing to myself. We get along well and make our way to that little gym down the street together most of the time; chatting in Spanglish as we dodge the three-wheeled demons scurrying down the road or squint through the misty air trying to miss the craters lurking in the darkened sidewalk. Like all the fellas who have helped me get around town, Eder and I are becoming friends. I've really lucked out thus far.

So...the pile work at the beach just can't get the momentum it's supposed to have by now. Once things seem to get going, the engine stalls. So was the case this last weekend. After micky-mousin with a few things in effort to stay on top of things, I threw the bag in the car and Eder and I made our way to Lima Saturday afternoon. We left the site not long after lunch and arrived in Lima at around 4:00 pm or so. After dozing for a few minutes while reading about Kesslering's staunch defensive resistance north of Rome in the summer of 1944, I found myself eager to get away from Chincha, if only for a day, and enjoy the leisure of the Ariosto hotel. When we arrived into town, though, I found out quickly that many of the hotels were booked...including the Ariosto. I found a musty room, void of pillowcases and hot water, for my Saturday night slumber. Luckily the Ariosto was open Sunday night. After getting situated, Saturday, Eder, his brother and I made our way to a restaurant/bar to watch Peru and Venezuela play in an America Cup soccer game. Peru lost 2-0...but a blown call really hosed the Peruvian team.


Sunday morning, I got up, shot the bull with the Lord for a bit, then tinkered around the artsy part of town, looking for that little wanker Pepe...that joker that scammed me out of 10 soles back in May. I never found him, but along the way, I found out that the fella he said was his brother, barely knows him! What a circus. After that, I met up with my friend from Fugro, Tim. I'm not sure if our getting together to check out town and grab a bite was against the project contract's code of conduct, but it was worth risking "getting caught" to meet up with an old friend. Tim and I jumped into a cab and by just dumb luck, we found ourselves outside the weathered gates of the presidential palace (I think) during the changing of the guard ceremony. Pretty cool sight to see. I took a few pictures and uploaded them to the link below. After a few blocks of moseying around, my belly was aching for some lunch and after getting swarmed by every may-tra-dee standing outside their open air restaurants, we found a corner place that looked to offer good grub and a view to people watch. I went with a good old fashioned Peruvian dish, while Tim ordered some fish...a nice crispy catch, huh?!?. Tim scarfed it down, so it must have been tasty. We made our way back to Miraflores, narrowly missing a few shady neighborhoods along the way, to where Tim was able to satisfy his craving for a $3.00 coffee at none other than Starbucks. Several hours of good chat and dinny closed the day of rest.

A ways back before my first trip back home, I met a fella outside of church. His name is Luis and he's an English teacher in town. I was waiting for my ride and we started shooting the bull about this and that and after a few minutes my ride showed up. Well, just a few days ago we almost literally ran into each other, probably both of us trying to miss the same pothole in the sidewalk. He was heading to church to teach an RE class, and I was headed from church to go hit the gym. Turns out that Luis' office is right next to the gym. So over the past few days I've stopped by to say hey and after exercising, we've grabbed a bite to eat. I don't' think you could find two people with more different interests, but we get along well and enjoy what each other has to say.


I jumped into my first spin class in a long long time tonight. It was completely trial and error finding a bike that had 1.) adjustment knobs that actually worked and 2.) a saddle that wasn't pointing practically straight up the wahoo...I found a ride, but when I went to change the fly-wheel resistance...ping...the tension cable snapped. Shucks. I eventually found a winner and got into a groove pretty quickly. The instructor was a knock off of Mussolini if you ask me...barking out this and that and acting tough, while he didn't ride for half the class himself. The barking isn't that bad, but some of the things he was trying to make us do would have had Eddy Mercxx or Lance Armstrong opting for motorized transport. My goals were to keep my breathing completely through the schnozz and the heart rate in check...so while the other person in the class was floating on the pedals at some hypersonic cadence, I was either soft pedaling or lightly "climbing" out of the saddle. Nonetheless, it was great to get the ticker ticking again and I'm looking forward to the go-around.


Now it's bedtime. Tomorrow is the 4th of July back home. I'll be working, so you all have a little extra fun for me. Till next time, keep it real with both hands on the wheel.


Scotty