Peru, here I come

Well, not so fast.  My American flight was cancelled at the last minute but I did get on a LAN (Peruvian) flight and arrived only four hours late.

Now that I'm here I love Peru.  The people are great and they have a wonderful life style.  I'm staying in Miraflores in a homey colonial called Hostal Torreblanca. That's our neighborhood bird to the left.   Miraflores is a section of Lima that is right on the ocean - very nice.  It's winter in Peru now and a little chilly.  No one has heat (or air conditioning) in their buildings and  I froze by butt off until I could find a space heater.  That little guy is on night and day.
The accommodations are doable and the hotel staff is great.  I have a huge bottle of water in my room which I refill so you know I'm happy about that.  Have to have my water.   I forgot my hairbrush and blew out my hairdryer so I've had some interesting hair days.  To make matters worse I got a haircut before I left from someone new (not John!) and it's a little iffy.  As soon as I can buy my hat with the long tails from the Andes I'll wear that all the time and look just fine.
There are fifteen of us here from Global Volunteers - families and people by themselves.  Most of them are working at the orphanage and four of us are teaching English at the University at La Molina.  La Molina is an hour away from the hotel and we take a wild ride every morning and evening.  The traffic in Lima is the worst I have ever seen.  They fit as many cars as possible between the curbs (the lines mean nothing) and drive bumper to bumper with their hands on the horn.  If you are a pedestrian you take your life in your hands - the cars stop for no one.  We were a little worried  (freaked) the first few days; now we just don't look.
I'm working at La Molina with three women.  Maryann is a retired teacher from Baltimore.  She's really sweet but never stops talking.  And Mary is a retired school psychologist who wants to put a sexual tone on every topic.  She doesn't hear well and speaks softly - all slightly annoying.  I team teach with Diane, a young accountant from Wisconsin.  We've had a rough start learning to work together but we called a truce and now make do.  So you can see we are a strange group.  Minor start up problems until I can be more accepting - need more meditating!