Photos from my U.S. visit

Andrew is one lucky, lucky, LUCKY man (Mel, Andrew, Martha, Estee, and yours truly).

After partying in NYC til the wee hours of the morning, we girls enjoy some tourist action in Times Square (Estee, Martha, yours truly, Mel).

This is one of the few moments my camera was functioning properly. I'm glad I caught it, but wish I could have gotten more key shots, like any of the times Jeff was sniffling, or perhaps the eerily large, very Cheshire-cat-like smile Eric had on his face while walking down the aisle.

Jeff celebrates how happily married he is. And perhaps this is a good time to point out that I had no idea how much the Sherer family likes to dance. I think the tables were empty and the dance floor full from the time they let us crazy dancing fools into the reception area until 1AM, when the buses started carting us home.

I wish nothing but all the best in happiness and love for Jeff and Liz. Many, many hugs and kisses to you both!

This semester is killing me

In the first four weeks of this semester, very bad things have happened to me. First, I got a computer virus that only attacked my (then) 40-page annotated bibliography that I had been working on for 2 months; then I got audited by the state of New York for my 2003 personal income tax returns; then a mosquito bit me and my eye swelled shut for 2 days; then I got sick with something very like strep throat but not; and THEN my dog ate the AC adapter to my computer. You could say, quite simply, that the past few weeks have not been good to me. And I can say that I finally got to use the excuse that my dog ate my homework.

But there have also been really wonderful things that have happened so far this semester. My semester started with the tail end of my friends Katie and William visiting me here in Lima, and then, only a few short weeks later, I visited the U.S. for two and a half weeks. I was there to attend my friends' Jeff and Liz's wedding, but I also managed to squeeze in the Presidential Management Fellowship assessment battery, the Foreign Service written exam, 3 weekends in New York City (one with a mini-Penn reunion), a few walks with Minky, a very lovely coffee and a round of ping-pong with one Ms. Chasity (oh yeah, Mo also played with us! He finally realizes I'm a little bit competitive), many sleepovers with Katie, a slightly ridiculous but altogether entertaining happy hour with my grad school peeps, a week with my mom in MA, and a Girl Scouts meeting with my fairy godchild, Sarol, and her rockin' Scout Leader mom, Christy (although I'm still disappointed that there wasn't any singing!).

Since returning to Lima, I started my internship with the State Department. I am working in the Consular Section, but, please, don't send me your visa and passport questions. I hear nothing, I know nothing, I say nothing. It has now been 3 weeks of the internship, and I cannot wait until it's over - if only because that means I'm graduating! FINALLY.

For those of you who are curious, I have already heard back from the State Department and OPM for the PMF. I once again passed the Foreign Service Written Exam and have been asked to fill out some essay questions to move on to the oral assessment. I'll let you know if I make it to the next stage in the process. On the down side, I just found out today that I did NOT make it to the Finalist round for the Presidential Management Fellowship. The letter they sent me said something about how I should feel good about getting as far in the process as I did, but it doesn't feel so good when you don't get all the way through, I'll tell you. But I suppose that will teach me for telling people that the "assessment battery" felt ridiculously easy. Shows what I know. Well, whatever, perhaps when I go out for my next degree, I can apply again (that's right, folks, you can only apply once per degree).

Finally, more good news. I am currently in the process of planning my first ever trip to Machu Picchu, with my good friends Eric, Marilyn and Celia, who are all descending upon Peru in May. The strange thing is that the Inca Trail permits for May are already gone, so that should serve as a warning to all of you who want to visit. If you want to hike the classic Inca Trail, plan in advance! Luckily, my friends are adventurers so we're planning an alternate hike, in which we plan to freeze our tushies off at night, eat well, walk all day, and be really impressed by our first glimpse of the ruins. I, for one, am completely psyched!

That leaves me with nothing else to tell for the time being. I am sorry it has taken me so long to post, but I haven't forgotten any of you, I promise.

New Year's, Arequipa, Katie and William

A lot has happened since my last post, but I am finding it difficult to find the time to write. We recently had a flurry of activity here, starting with the Thanksgiving holiday, then both Anthony's and my birthday celebrations, and ending with the 12 Days of Christmas and the culmination of 2008 with our New Year's Eve van celebation (which includes me, Ali, Anthony and a Nalgene bottle full of wine in a rented van, cruising through Lima on the way to the airport to pick up Katie and William).

2009 already began with a bang, not to mention a totally deserved hangover (read the aforementioned bit about that Nalgene bottle full of wine), and a whirlwind tour of Arequipa. We had friends from the U.S. in Peru for 2 weeks, while I diligently tried to get SOME grad school work done, and now it's time to become a hermit once again, and work my tail off until I finish this annotated bibliography that's kicking my tush. There is a lot of work to do, but when it's done, I'm celebrating by traveling to the U.S. to see family, friends, and doctors, to take a few potentially career-altering tests, and to attend Jeff and Liz's wedding.

In the meantime (i.e. while I continue to ignore this blog), I've posted a couple pictures of what you've missed...

(Yeah, that would be me, attempting to make hot chocolate on New Year's Eve and failing miserably to get it into the cups.)

Katie has this thing about posing for pictures. This would be us skipping (like dorks) through the Santa-whatever Monastery in Arequipa.

Me, Katie and William somewhere in the desert that is Arequipa, with a lonely vicuna in the background.

How I LOVE the baby animals! Chivay is in the background...

I made Katie and William help paint a school as part of their penance for visiting me. Their reward was to watch me and Ali play frisbee on the beach (Punta Rocas).

They're just happy because they were finally going paragliding.

Maggie is now less of a woman

We are the cruel, inhumane parents that took our little baby to the vet to get her spayed. Luckily the hardcore drugs have now worn off and she is able to smile again. She just can't quite walk through doors without slamming into the door frame... (Oh yes, we are laughing.)

Something funny happened on the way to the kitchen

Anthony and I were in the living room, and I was on my way to the kitchen, when we noticed something slightly bizarre. Usually our afternoons are full of the dulcet tones of Grace and Monster Dog (aka Maggie) wrestling, while Pookie the Jungle Kitty sits calmly under the plants in the backyard and surveys his jungle kingdom. Or sometimes, to shake things up, we listen to the dulcet tones of Pookie the Pansy as he whines about the fact that Monster Dog has pinned him to the floor again and is chewing on his ear.

Yet on this particular afternoon, we noticed something awry. Monster Dog was running in pointless circles around the backyard, her uncontrollable puppy tongue slapping the side of her face. Not more than two paces behind her was Pookie the Jungle Kitty, tearing up the lawn at breakneck speed. Our cat was chasing our puppy. CHASING. OUR. PUPPY.

Kudos to you, Master P. Way to grow some.

Birthday wishes do come true

Even though we've had quite an interesting financial go of Peru, we still found a few pennies in the coffers to treat ourselves to a fish lunch for our birthdays. Pescados Capitales is one of the premier restaurants in Lima, known for its top-quality ceviche and economic prices. So this is where we turned our gaze when we wanted to celebrate the fact that we're getting old.

Cheers to raw fish! (That's right, mom. RAW fish.)

Just your typical expat

Many of my friends here in Lima are pretty impressed by the fact that I drive here. I feel that my Massachusetts driving skills have not altered since I first received my license at 16 (which statement, I am sure, is scaring the bejeezus out of my parents right now), but many people find themselves overwhelmed by the traffic here.

There are so many problems with the commute here that it's difficult to find a starting point, but I will try - I will make a list:

1) Many cars here in Lima would never pass a car inspection - the biggest problem for other drivers on the road is nonfunctional tail and brake lights;
2) The dotted lines demarcating lanes mean nothing - a three-lane highway can and usually will hold five lanes of traffic;
3) Many Peruvian drivers do not believe that traffic laws or common courtesy applies - blocking the box, taking a righthand turn from the left-most lane, gunning it through stop signs, and driving straight through an intersection from the turning lane, among a number of other obnoxious (and frankly dangerous) driving behaviors, are common;
4) Traffic police - many people complain, for example, about the traffic police in DC, but Peruvian traffic police take the cake; they stop traffic at green lights, allow lanes of traffic to fill up to the point that cars are fully blocking the box and causing a four-way traffic jam, and, from personal experience, have a nasty habit of pulling over perfectly appropriate drivers who take lefthand turns when the lefthand arrow turns green and telling them to drive more carefully.

I'm sure this list doesn't accurately explain just how quickly one's blood pressure rises when driving around Lima, but I assure you that when you come to visit, you will understand very quickly that traffic here is like nothing you've ever experienced before.

Thank goodness my quaint New England driving skills prepared me to be the most aggressive SOB on the road!