Just a few random things

Driving here is loco. There are only a handful of stoplights in a city of a million people, and I have no idea what the police are doing, aside from blowing their whistles sporadically throughout the day. There are endless amounts of taxis (super cheap, luckily), and they all apparently have the right away. This morning, as we're approaching Arequipa on the giant double decker bus, the announcer says, good morning- welcome to Arescreeeeeeeech, thud, thud, thud! We passed a semi, and hit another semi truck that was going the same direction as us, but in the left lane with no lights (and it's dark out). Anyhoo, no one was hurt and both vehicles were so enormous that it barely did any damage, but it's crazy to me how few traffic laws they have, or enforce at least.

Wild dogs everywhere! Well, not really "wild", they are quite tame, just don't have homes. Some are adorable, and some it's quite clear why they're homeless. And as much as I'd like to, I'm not bringing any home with me- it's going to be hard enough smuggling all of these coca leaves in.

Tomorrow I'm going on a tour of Colca Canyon, which includes seeing the volcanos and condors- should be pretty cool. I'm not doing the trek this round, and will be going by bus. I'm not sure if I'll ever feel like hiking again in my life after Machu Picchu :p When I return in a couple of days, I'm catching a bus to Puno on Lake Titticaca. From there I hope to go out to the floating islands, though I hear they're ridiculously touristy. The next, and probably final hop before returning to Lima, will be Bolivia, and that's still uncertain since US citizens have to pay $140 just to get into the country, but it's also super cheap once you're there, so we'll see.

My Spanish is still crap, but I'm catching onto the crucial phrases. I've had a mix of really good food, and pretty bad. There are a lot of strange textured food. There's also over 2000 kinds of potatoes! My hostel is having a BBQ tonight, and I'm hoping to get some games of foosball in. I'm also hoping to get some photos uploaded this week, so you guys aren't just bored to tears reading my wandering thoughts.

Soaking up the evening sun- hope you are as well!