Blogging From South America

I'm in Lima, Peru, where I've been a few times before, but not since I started blogging. So I figured a shout out from beneath the equator would be fun.

Someone must have confused me for somebody important. I'm staying in a suite that until now had only existed as legend and myth. Too bad iPad doesn't have a camera. Picture wrap around windows on three walls, a large jacuzzi, separate shower, private balcony and a sauna!

Too bad I'm only here one night. Really that's okay. Once you've seen one large city they all look alike. Lima is big, among the largest, most crowded cities in the world. And always busy. Any day of the week the streets are crowded, day or night. But, like other large cities, Lima has it's share of problems. Perpetual grime cakes every surface. It doesn't help that a semmingly never ending fog shrouds the coast. It was my third time here before I experienced sunshine and realized there were large mountains surrounding the city. Of course, Peru is in the Andes, the second highest mountains in the world. How I would like to see them.

"But Matt," you say. "you must see them from the air, right?"

If only. We always fly at night. It is cool to see lights frm villages tens of thousands of feet up though.

Many of the buildings here are in a constant state of construction. It looks like a war zone in some places. Just across from the hotel is a building with unfinished floors, looking like they were bombed, above which people live in finished apartments.

Plenty of history abounds. I last visited a church built atop ancient catacombs used as burial grounds for centuries. There are bones strewn throughout.

A popular stop for airline crews is the blue market. I'm not convinced this is the correct translation. With my limited Spanish, I've had minimal success persuading cab drivers to take me to 'el mercado azul.' cheap stuff galore. $8 Lacoste shirts, $1 DVDs, the Rosetta Stone language software for $5. When I say cheap, I mean cheap.

So, that's Lima as I see it. I'd like to see more, like say, the mountains and the rain forest. If I were convinced I could hire someone to drive me out that way, and bring me back alive I'd do it. Until then, I'll stick to my fancy suite.