A short game

We will start this post with a short game.

One of these statements is NOT true, can you guess which one?
A. A still active volcano rises above Arequipa.
B. Sara and I were ran over by a Taxi.
C. Old nuns based in Arequipa wore barb-wired underpants.
D. Our house has a pool in the backyard.
E. My camera is broken.
F. We just rode a mini bus with 22 people, 1 baby, and 3 dogs on it.

If you think you are getting the answer right off the get-go you are out of luck.

Arequipa is a city with some hustle and bustle. We just had to wait a good 10 minutes for a combie (a collective bus a little larger than a minivan) that had enough space to take us from our host house to the city center. About 15 or so full busses passed us. Our bus still had 22 people a baby and 3 dogs as passengers.

Arequipa is surrounded by mountains, several of them are +5,500 meters. One of them is a near 6,000 meter snow-capped volcano, El Misti, and yes it is still active with fumaroles around the crater rim.



Arequipa has taken us by surprise. After spending time in Lima, small mountain towns and Nazca, we were not prepared for the modern, coffee house filled city of Arequipa. We have visited several old churches and one really old Cloiseted monestary of Santa Catalina (SC). A convent is a better description. SC was started over 400 years ago and just became open to the public in 1970. It is described as a city within a city. Its 20,000 sq. meters! SC is complete with homes, shops, laundry area, gardens and barb-wired undergarments. Thats right, some of the nuns wore barb-wired underpants! Let me also say there are a lot of steps in this place...Sara was most impressed with these underpants.

Yesterday we had our first Pisco sours. (part pisco, lemon juice and sugar blended, add ice and egg white and blend again then top with cinnamon) We arrived at our host family´s house and discovered that they have a pool! No, it is not in the back yard either. It´s inside! I then wanted to take a picture of some peruvian money then my camera lens became all stubborn and will no longer open or close. This made me vary angry and I could not sleep because of it.

So all things on the questions list are covered right? Volcano, nuns, pool, camera, bus ride. Oh wait...Sara and I WERE ran over by a taxi. Yep they rolled right over our feet, hit my knee and Sara´s wrist. Not in Arequipa, but Abancay. I am sure some people are worried now, but we are stronger than steel and survived with barely any scratches.

Since my camera is broken...no more pictures, probably for a bit. (This photo was on the Internet, just to give you an idea of what things look like here.)

Matthew