"What do we want?! - LUNCH!" "When do we want it?! - NOW!"

During our morning classes we heard chanting and megaphones in the streets outside. On our lunchbreak, we went for a walk and discovered the source. The teachers of Arequipa were marching down the main street of Ejercito and across the bridge into the downtown. They are apparently upset with their wages and were demonstrating to attract attention for better pay. We were told that they have been on strike for 27 days. They were happy to see the gringo with his camera documenting their struggle, hoping I was a credible source in the world of photojournalism there to amplify their voice.

Two protestors with the cut out faces of the Peruvian President and his wife.

Traffic police have the best uniforms. 

Lunch spot menu on Calle Misti with Chachani in the distance

Afterwards we went to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant full of construction workers and painters. I had a rice and chicken dish and Alex had a minestrone soup with potatoes, pasta and stewed beef. They served us juice that was like a sketchy version of lemonade in a massive pitcher. I drank enough of it not to be rude. The picture above shows the menu which didn't have prices shown (and there was no menu inside) so we were excited to hear that the delicious food only cost us $2 total. The lunch specials in this town make it silly to go through the trouble of making your own lunch to bring to class/work. Alex and I are already developing a reputation amongst the locals we've met as having adventurous if not risky choices of lunch spots. So far so good!

You can often see the nearby volcanoes from the street and this spot was no exception. In this case the volcano in the background is Chachani. You'll also notice the trees are planted in the street protected by concrete. I can only assume that trees were an afterthought with the city's planning.

Day 2

Another long day. We had a lot of errands to run before our certification classes start tomorrow. We walked the city for 5 hours finding the things we needed. It turns out that it is very uncommon to use lined or blank paper in Arequipa. All of the notebooks we found were filled with graph paper. We finally were guided to a place that had what we were looking for. All this shop had for lined paper was rather obscure. I called dibs on Melissa. 

Most things are pretty cheap so far. This morning I got a "cafe con leche" (coffee with some chocolate, cinnamon and milk) with an empanada for $1.50. We can take a cab across the city to the outdoor farmers market (that spans a city block) for $2. The market is incredible with every kind of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, etc. We stopped at a small stand and got some delicious Ceviche Pescado (a raw fish dish that Peru is known for) with lime, onions, hot peppers, and various fish including squid and a white fish. It was a pretty sizeable snack for the two of us for under $2. Barato (cheap)!

The roads are pretty dangerous and drivers are crazy. You really need to be on your toes crossing a street as cars do not obey a crosswalk unless they have a red light. I've only seen 3 bikers and they were kids riding bmx bikes on the sidewalk. I don't think biking is going to happen unfortunately. 

The weather is pretty amazing. It gets to around 73 during the day but the sun makes it feel a lot hotter. We had to grab sunscreen yesterday because we felt like we were roasting. Today we grabbed some $8 sunglasses as we realized we were the only people squinting. At night it drops down quickly once the sun sets to around 45-50. 

We also grabbed burner cell phones yesterday where we can add minutes onto so we can make local calls (each other, housemates, cabs, etc.). I no longer have internet on my phone and it feels kind of like vacation. 

We just finished unpacking and we have to find some food. I don't know what we're having yet but I'm hungry and I bet it's going to be both delicious and cheap. 

Estamos en Arequipa, Peru!

We made it!

View of El Misti volcano from our roofdeck our first night

All My Bags Are Packed...

Departure Day! By this time tomorrow I'll be in Arequipa, Peru searching for home remedies for altitude sickness in the farmers market. My phone will be shut off and we'll be in an elevated dessert in the southern hemisphere at the foot of a volcano. The disconnect is going to be an interesting transition without texts, mobile internet and email, processed foods, bi-partisan democratic campaigning and The Daily Show's coverage of it all, drinkable tap water, english speakers, shorts, grills, Kardashians... I couldn't be more excited.

Adios Amigos!

Last Weekend In Boston

It's our last weekend in Boston! Let's party! I've lived in Boston for a total of 26 years now and it will always be home. Don't worry mom, I'll be back! Let's hope the sun will come out for our last Boston BBQ later today. Here's a few shots of Boston from a beautiful day this summer. Time to go chop some vegetables! 

f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 200, Shutter 1/500

f/3.5, 23mm, ISO 200, Shutter 1/400

f/5.6, 30mm, ISO 200, Shutter 1/250

Moving to Peru!

My sister, Robyn, and her flashlight paintbrush at the beach

Alex and I will be moving to Peru Sept 30th to teach English and learn Spanish! We'll be living in Southern Peru in the 3rd most populous city, Arequipa. We chose this city because we know people who have visited it and loved it. Arequipa is called the "white city" because of the white volcanic stone that makes up much of the architecture. The spanish is supposedly pretty clear there and the climate is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts. It is around 70 degrees everyday with an average rainfall of 4" a year; tennis anyone?

We wanted a South American cultural experience that wasn't in a large international city that attracts high numbers of foreigners. We are hoping this will be an easier environment for us to learn Spanish than in a city full of expats. This thinking should also help us find work teaching English as less native English speakers hopefully means a larger demand for English teachers. Arequipa is also a city that's full of students with many universities and has a fast growing economy.

We hear that the people in Arequipa are laid back and welcoming and it seems that everyone from Peru can cook. We are definitely looking forward to becoming regulars at the fresh markets and taking part in the cuisine once we get settled. We are enrolled in a TEFL program that starts October 3rd (We arrive Monday Oct 1st). It's almost time and we couldn't be more excited for our adventure! Come visit!

Magic!

This took quite a while. Please appreciate the effort and enjoy the outcome.

Ryu

Hermione

Scorpion

Carlito

Temily's little man heads out for a Sunday stroll in Riverside Park, NYC!

West Side!

Waiting in line for a Bagel with Lox 

Uncle Mike

3 Sport Athletes

Photo Credit: Jason Gorsky

New York State

Alex and I went to upstate NY a couple weeks ago to visit her dad for a couple days and enjoy the beautiful nature. A lot of fun pictures to take of the cliffs, reflections on water and of course the sunset out in the country. It took a while to narrow them down!

Bugs!

Rural New York is wild:

55mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, Shutter 1/80

50mm, f/2.2, ISO 200, Shutter 1/1250

55mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, Shutter 1/400

24mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, Shutter 1/160

55mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, Shutter 1/160

55mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, Shutter 1/320

Blue Moon

We went down to the beach to check out the blue moon Friday Aug 31st. A lot will happen before the next one. Enjoy it.

50mm, f/1.8, ISO 400, shutter speed 2.5 seconds

50mm, f/9, ISO 400, shutter speed 20 seconds

50mm, f/1.8, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/2 second

50mm, f/1.8, ISO 200, shutter speed 3.2 seconds

Cape Cod Sunset

24mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/125

35mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/160

35mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/160

18mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/6

29mm, f/5.6, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/15