Andre’s in Peru!

This week has gone by in a blur! Early on Monday morning our close friends Will and Antoinette arrived from the airport. Although I felt torn between wanting to do a good job at work this week and wanting to catch up with my friends, I opted not to go to the hospital on Monday and instead volunteer as a Lima tour guide :) We decided to visit the buffet restaurant Jeff and I had really liked back in September to introduce our newcomers to some of the greatest hits of Peruvian cuisine. Jeff and I have sometimes chuckled at most Peruvians' over-zealous insistence that their food is the best in the world (we don't agree), but really it is quite good and I was excited to tell my friends about some of the dishes we've come to appreciate. To work up our appetite, first we walked around the historic center which is an area I almost never visit because it's busy and far from Surco. We admired the colonial architecture and did a tour of a beautiful 16th century church/monastery ...

Felt like I lucked out on Friday! Rochester published student schedules for 4th year and I got the schedule I was hoping for. Right after I found that out, Emily called telling me she’d seen an apartment that turned out to be a great fit for us, and now we’re super excited to move into a cool new place in one of our favorite neighborhoods. On top of that, Em’s 4th year schedule aligns great with mine so that we both have blocks of electives at the same, which means we could do a good amount of camping this fall! So lots of good news for when I go back to Rochester :) Meanwhile in Lima things are cooling down, which Jeff and I are thankful for. It may seem blasphemous, but hurray for the return of cloudy mornings! We’re continuing to split our time between the two hospitals we’ve developed the closest ties with. This week Jeff was in the infectious disease ward at Dos de Mayo, following up with patients in the HIV study we’re helping with there, and looking to recruit new participant...

It's Sunday, and I'm sitting in Parque Roosevelt with Jeff, laying on a couple blankets in the cool, breezy shade. We thought there would be a yoga class but apparently they’re not meeting this week, so instead we’re admiring the birds and watching kids play, talking about adulthood. At one point two little ones hurried past us with sticks pointing at a tree and jumping up and down while shouting “un ardilla!” Because squirrels are so rare here, a sighting generates much excitement. Meanwhile,  a pair of tiny dogs walked by with hats on, one of them with a dazzling, glittery NY Yankees symbol - I guess they need sun protection too :p Between the yoga classes and the foofy pups, you can probably get sense that this park is located in an upper-class neighborhood. Afterwards we wandered around unsuccessfully looking for a low-key place to eat, and decided to head home, feeling somewhat defeated. Luckily we spotted a new-to-us ceviche stand in our neighborhood, which by itself mad...