August 3rd - Arequipa and the road ahead

Hello blog fans. Yes, it's me again. I'm back in blog land. I took the night bus from Arequipa - a cushy double decker, and checked into my hotel near the plaza. It's comfy and convenient. I dropped off my stuff, organized briefly, and headed out to figure out my travel plans. First stop, the airline office to check on my ticket exchange. As it turned out, my ticket isn't changeable after all, so I'm back to my original plan to be here another two weeks. I'm fine with that - I was just thinking it would be nice to have a bit more time at home before school, but if forced to see amazing Peruvian sites, I guess I'll just have surrender and enjoy.

I finished me errands in the morning, visited some familiar haunts from last month, and had a late breakfast of eggs and bread and actual espresso. Joy! My afternoon was low key. I stayed in the room, took a nap, watched CNN for a while, and generally puttered until dinnertime.

I have to tell you, I have a new favorite restaurant. Not just a Peruvian favorite, it's definitely high on my list of all time favorite places. It's a cute little Morrocan place called Ras El Hanout, with a domed stone ceiling, muraled walls, tiled tabletops, and traditional moroccan food - beautifully presented, fabulously seasoned, and served on traditional ceramic morrocan plates. The salad plate was green and square and the entree plate round with a tall domed lid that's taken off with a flourish and reminded me of El Misti, the volcano that stands behind Arequipa. There were olives on the table in a miniature version of the dome lidded plate, and then there was the tea. The tea alone was enough to put the place on the favorites list. I had sweet minty tea scented with jasmine, served in an elaborately worked silver pot, with an accompanying tall, slim decanter for the jasmine essence. Along with this, I had a glass of fresh squeezed passionfruit juice, a salad of diced olives, cheese, marinated tomatoes and preserved lemon served in a whole artichoke heart with a vinagerette, and a chunky vegetable stew with a name I couldn't begin to spell. All this for 30 soles, less than $10. Amazing.

The stereo at the internet place is playing Pete Townsend's 'Face the Face'. I'm sorry, but I've never been able to multi task when that song's on. One moment please.....

Okay I'm back. Actually, though that just about wraps up my night. With my new plans, I'm expecting to be here tomorrow too and then bus down to Puno for my last week. And of course, I'll keep you posted.

Just two weeks to go. It's been amazing.

Karen