Miraflores for a day

        Just wanted to let people know that we are alive and well! This is my first time blogging so bear with me.  Spending the day in Miraflores taught Jenny and I some valuable lessons that we will carry with us for the remainder of this trip (and life)! First, road safety is vital.  I did not realize the potential danger of traffic in a foreign country. People were whipping their tiny little vans/ambulances/cars around sharp corners, through busy intersections and crosswalks.  Jenny and I eventually developed a system that helped ensure a safe passage through the streets.  Ready? GO! 
    We started the day off hungry, and were pleased to find that our hostel provided tasty orange juice, bread, coffee and eggs. We were able to get some great directions and tips from our hostel attendant man, who was so sweet and eager to help us.  I even felt comfortable to practice broken Spanish-English with him. He was a good sport.  We walked through the beautiful sunshine to a section of ruins right in the middle of the area. It was so strange to see such an old thing among a modern city. We walked through this beautiful park which reminded me of the waterfront in Burlington almost.  Jenny and I were really impressed with how well the parks and coast lines where kept up- I guess Lima is known to be almost desert-like with it´s rocky coast line and beaches. One of my goals is to see a white Jesus statue up close, and we got to see one from afar today.  The hostel man said it would be a twenty minute taxi drive, but there is another one in Cusco that is easier to get to.  While gazing at the statue from a gorgeous lookout point we were approached by a pushy salesman. He eventually swindled me into buying this cute little set of earrings and necklace. Jenny later told me that I was ripped off, and I was pissed! I thought I was getting some sort of a bargain from the way he was talking! But it´s a good lesson. Ha. It won´t happen again. His name was Tupac, which was very interesting to Jenny and I.
We basically walked around all day taking in the scenery and snapping great photos.  I can´t wait to share them. It´s so surreal to actually be here.
Another important thing I´d like to share are the persistent catcalls. If you ever feel down about life or your self-esteem I suggest walking through the streets of Lima Peru on a nice day. We estimated there to be at least 80 catcalls/whistles. It was never scary or intimidating, they kept their distance and we mostly just laughed it off.  I actually felt pretty safe and never scared about being robbed or harassed.  The only sketchy time was when we were invited to a party by a couple surfer boys by the beach where we explained we couldn´t make it due to a plane ride tomorrow am. They were fine with it, but when we walked back, one of the guys practically held/manhandled Jenny´s hand-wrist inviting himself to dinner. It was very annoying for Jenny but I´m pretty sure she wasn´t afraid of this little Peruvian surfer dude.  We laughed after we walked away.
The walk back to our hostel was a little sketchy as well, for it was starting to get dark and the map was slightly confusing to read.  We stuck together close and acted as confident as we possibly could. We avoided looking completely lost to the best of our ability.  I was a little nervous after Jenny´s response to my report of feeling confident.  She swiftly replied ¨We could be jumped and stabbed at any moment¨ It was funny after we finally realized we were doing circles around our hostel.
But anyways, we made it back tired, safe, and happy with our experience today.  We are so excited to fly into Cusco tomorrow morning bright and early.  Hope to write again soon.