1/11/2006 Yay, happy 2006! I spent new year's watching some movie with my brother in a hotel room in Lima, Peru, yes South America's Peru...12:05, we were out! as in sound asleep out! haha and that's me right now: I'm now a juror -lucky me - for a domestic violence case - lucky me - thus causing work to unreasonably pile up at work - lucky me -, so after spending countless useless hours performing my citizen duty, I dutifully go to work at 4:30pm. At least there is absolutely nobody in the office, so I can crank up la musica~ I will talk about my jury experience once we, the jury, send the defendant to the electric cha...er, I mean, when we come to a carefully weighed and debated decision. hah
Now, I wanted to share some pictures of Peru, oddities and whatnot...ready for some sexy ladies? A typical airport (in the middle of nowhere Burbank style) and political canvassing, another typical weekly tradition of Peruvians, and INKA COLA...a typical peruvian drink, very uplifting and speaking of uplifting..the ultra popular coca leaf tea, from which good ole Coca-Cola and the '80s drug of choice are derived; and this odd rabbit/gopher critter ...and oh these are THE real rabbits! Ah yes, the safest way to get to our hotel on Lake Titicaca...Llama Xing and, well an alpaca...yumm, I must have eaten this litle guy in all possible ways, fried, broiled, in pasta, in roulades, pot pies, sausage, dry...versatile, eh! and these are the monkeys! in Lima...on the highest toilet in the world...and in the Amazon! the ancient Inca culture is fully alive and well despite the spaniard colonization...most Peruvians are mixed, but many are still considered indigenous, and these still identify themselves in different tribes, recognizable by language inflexions, their women's hats, persistent social structures and architecture... Inca ceremonial architecture was so perfect that it was never topped nor copied by the Spanish, and original structures still survive, supporting modern buildings too. Like Machu Picchu, most Inca constructions were unfinished, the Incas did not have an "end date" as westerners perceive it...oh boy, they did get royally screwed at the end though.. the food was overall really good, and cute little furry critters were often very appreciated The Amazon was a world apart..everything is inaccessible if you do not have a plane, or a boat or a machete or nuclear powered bug spray...those boats were quite a challenge for our fat asses, but toppling over was not an option due to the abundance of caymans and piranhas.. nuclear powered bug spray may not work against these monsters...flying, yes, FLYING scorpion - nocturnal, of course - and a huge spider that jumps on its mammal preys, and a borg-like collective of caterpillars.... mmmm, almost delicious, eh?
morale of the story? take them 7 vaccination shots I took before going there! (oh, and Peru is pretty cool too!)
12:17 AM
