Miraflores, Lima

      I arrived safely at my ¨Family House¨Hostel in Miralores to be very impressed by my accomodations- by far in my top 5 hostels ever visited.  When I arrived (last night) I set down my bags and met a British girl staying in my dorm who invited me to venture out to the supermercato with her and a German named Hans. I was somewhat disappointed when we entered ¨Vivandi,¨ a supermarket I´m sure only exists in upscale neighborhoods in Lima.  The place rivaled ¨Whole Foods.¨  I bought some staples¨- bananas, rice, lentils and boxed wine (though my tried and true Clos was available, I tried a new label called Gato).  Miraflores is clearly an upscale part of Lima, and the safest place or tourists.  I learned some from my shopping buddies- Lucinda is from England and just arrived in Peru from California, before that she was in Mexico and Cuba.  She is travelling after working a year as a teacher in England and before starting her Masters program.  Hans came to Peru to work for a Red Cross site in Pozuzo (sp?), a small village which was a German colony settled in 1875.   It sounds like quite an odd mixture of German and Peruvian influence, and Hans said many of the village´s inhabitants speak both Spanish and German, but are much less likely to speak English.  I have added this to my list of places to visit.
       After 2 full days of travelling I was thrilled to have a hot shower back at the hostel, and then I chatted with Lucinda and Hans and a few other travellers- Hans and his travelling companion explained they were both in medical school, and this sparked a conversation about the different education systems in various countries, though mainly Germany, England and the US.  The whole conversation made me extremely aware of how ridiculously expensive high education in my country is.  Hans explained that is Germany, he paid something like 50 dollars a semester for medical school, however the tradeoff comes when very large taxes are taken out of the doctor´s salary.  After quite a bit of conversation about meritocracies, communism, capitalism and the like, I escaped to bed.
          I slept nearly 12 hours, but unfortunately the cold that I felt MIGHT be coming before I left the US still hit me hard when I awoke.  I realized surfing in frigid waters would not be the best for my cold, and so arranged for a bus ticket South to Ica.  There I can relax in the desert sun and perhaps try sand-boarding or dune-buggying. 
         I tried to rest up today as much as possible, though I did explore Miraflores a bit.  The surf-envy I felt as soon as I walked a few blocks away from my hostel to park-adorned cliff above the Pacific made me feeling a bit bitter about my cold, so I have already resolved that I will have to return to Lima, perhaps in the summer when it´s a bit warmer. Will post photos from next hostel- more soon!