Made it!

Three weeks of traveling up and down the east coast, one pack-out, and one fourteen-hour layover in Miami later, and we're in Lima!

We're also both sick (sore throats, boo!), and just barely cognizant enough of the fact that we just moved to a foreign country.

First impressions:

1) Peru is, like most other places I've visited, very dark at 4AM. But the timing worked to our advantage, as apparently we "flew" through immigration and customs. What took us under an hour (stamping our passports, verifying that we weren't smuggling drugs in our pets' bladders, and picking up our luggage) normally takes multiple hours - like four.

2) Our temporary accomodations (some Master Seargent is currently enjoying our digs, as he waits for his own house to be ready) are GINORMOUS. Living overseas may become very addictive, what with our four-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom apartment as a shining example of State Dept. accomodations.

3) Peruvians like to smoke. A LOT. (Even while they're eating.) This is going to take some getting used to.

4) Peruvian men like to stare. I've been told that it's a machismo thing. Good thing I'm taller than all of them.

5) Peruvians can't drive. We received a bulletin from the embassy, stating something to the effect of, "Peruvians don't follow any traffic laws." They blow through red lights, take right-hand turns from the far left lane, drive the wrong way into oncoming traffic, and often have cars that don't meet standards. This means that accidents involving head-on collisions at night are common, because many cars don't have working headlights. Note to self: don't drive if at all possible.

6) Mel, this one is for you: the supermarket in my neighborhood is called Wong's. Yeah, baby! Oh, and this is where you can get your very own BIMBO bread. I kid you not. (See image below.)