Back to Normal, Somewhat

After a few days back in the Los Angeles sunshine, a reunion with my charming Pennsylvanian and approximately three days straight of flu-induced sleep, I am back at work on my thesis in my pjs, well on my way to recuperating from my Peruvian adventure.

Lima's winter sky is overcast and throat-chokingly dingy. The city is huge, and I found it humbling to be unable to navigate even marginally in Spanish. Even the simplest sentence involved many hand gestures. Italian may be a close relative, but my Italian left me in the unhappy position of being able to comprehend, but not communicate.

Luckily, our fantastic hosts were delighted to plan most of our days in the city, showing us the Peruvian seat of government, a park full of eighty gorgeous fountains and a performance of traditional dances. We also got to dance a bit ourselves, as you see. The next few days were taken up nearly completely with wedding preparations and celebrations, then off to Cusco and Machu Picchu. More pictures to come. In the meantime, there's a collection of photos building from my fellow travelers on Flickr.

In an effort to actually prepare for my meeting with my advisor tomorrow, I will postpone the rest of my story until later. Suffice it to say, the trip was very memorable.