We´re in Arequipa!!!

Hey everybody, sorry about the earlier difficulties with commenting. Hopefully this site is more user friendly. So yes, where were we on our crazy peruvian adventures... (note to father: lima citizens are called limeros - not really sure on the spelling). Our second day in Lima was not quite as thrilling as our first night. after a leisurely desayuno (breakfast), we hopped on a microbus heading to lima centro, supposedly the city centre where all the museums and galleries are located. The microbuses are a lot of fun! There is a driver and then a guy who stands by the doors to let everyone know where the bus is going. This is not really useful if you have no clue where you are going, but entertaining none the less, as he speaks incredibly fast and always seems on the verge of tumbling out of the bus. Eventually we got to central lima, only to discover that none of the roads have street signs, which lead to a whole lot of being lost for the majority of the afternoon. The traffic is as crazy as Ghana, and so crossing the street was always an adrenaline rush.
We eventually stumbled into a tiny hole in the wall restaurant where we had jugo de fresca (strawberry juice)- so good!!!! So far, neither Emily nor I have gotten sick from the food, however, we feel that it is just a matter of time :) We stopped in a park- which was very strange. The park is in the middle of the main road basically, completely fenced off except for two entrances. At one end of the park, there is a beautiful fountain with these super well groomed gardens, and then at the other end, there is a jungle-gym, a soccer field, and a blow up Shrek family. "Wow" was the only appropriate term. After being surrounded by the never ending noise and chaos of downtown Lima, Emily and I decided to call it quits and head back to our hostel for a well-deserved nap. The amount of sleeping I´ve done on this trip is bordering on ridiculous, but oh well, I suppose I am finally on holiday- sorta.
After spending a little more time exploring Lima, we decided it was time to move on. So we hopped on a Cruz del Sur bus that would take us to Arequipa overnight. I am not sure how to describe these buses. Hm, okay first of all, the music, which is played loudly for your enjoyment, consists of the worst re-makes of popular american songs I have ever heard. Imagine a breathy sounding woman singing Hey Jude and Rock with You along with pan flutes and bad spanish guitar. It was irritating to say the least. Then they decided to play movies for us. Again there are no head phones, so you are forced to listen. So first we watched Monster in Law, which is NOT better the second time, followed by Oceans 13, which might have been good if I had seen Oceans 11 or 12, followed by the Polar Express. Christmas anyone? All in all, I probably got four hours of sleep on the 16 hour bus ride- good times. Emily and I are contemplating flying from Arequipa to Lima on the way home.
Arequipa is absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous mountains in the background, charming buildings painted bright oranges, blues, and reds, plazas filled with lovely monuments and, more importantly, ice cream vendors. We decided to go visit the Monestaria De Santa Catalina, a beautiful building built some time in the 1500s for a group of nuns. Did you know they used to be called "mistresses" instead of "sisters"? I thought this was interesting. Some bishop-or-other decided that title was unacceptable and changed it at some point. Anywhoo, I won´t bore you with the details- but if you are ever in Arequipa I definitely recommend it. We then finished the day on top of a restaurant terrace drinking pisco sours and eating chocolate cake. Does life get any better than this?
Tomorrow we are going to see the Petroglyphs, possibly do some rafting down the Chile river. Monday, we are planning a 3-day trek into the valley of the Cotuhuasi canyon- the deepest canyon in the world!!! When I get the chance, I will try and post some pictures, although I must say Emily and I are very bad at rememering to take any at all.
Lots of love,
Toni