Feliz Navidad.

Where to begin? I suppose by wishing you all happy holidays. Personally, I feel like I´ve kind of skipped them. My Christmas was the most uneventful ever, consisting of Macaroni and Cheese on Christmas eve and the sad discovery on Christmas day that the champagne I had bought was accidently drunk by someone else. But I´m actually very happy. While I must admit the season has got me thinking about Juneau a fair amount, I´ve pretty much become content traveling alone. I´m still in Trujillo actually, in a lovely hospedaje that until today only housed myself, a french girl, and a man from Denmark. We sat around on Christmas eve waiting for midnight, where in Peru everyone lights firecrackers. Other then there being hardly anyone on the streets on Christmas, it seemed like a pretty average day to me. All I did was buy a strawberry daquiri and a dessert which I decided to give to a homeless lady and her kids because they needed it more than me.

The picture you see above is of ceviche - raw fish and onions - which I ate at this little beach town 20 minutes from here. I also took a surfing lesson which quickly shattered my dreams of being a natural when I was pummeled by waves and never managed to stand up on the board. What else since I last wrote? I suppose I´ll just give you a quick rundown. Lev, a friend from Juneau who is traveling South met up with me in Huanchaco, the beach town right next door. We crashed a local party one night and ended up in a bar with live music drinking sangria and having a grand old time. I also saw some more ruins (Chan-Chan), went dancing, experienced what it´s like to work out in a Peruvian gym, made friends with a local tour guide and then ended that relationship a few days later by slapping him across the face after he seriously insulted me. I´ve sort of had it with these Peruvian men.

Hmm, the truth is that throughout the week I´ve had all kinds of great ideas for blog entries but at the moment I´m feeling like I have so many observations to make that instead I´m making none at all. I think it´s more effective if I write smaller entries but more often.

So sorry this is a bit boring, but stay tuned for the next entry where I will recount the spirit quest I´m about to go on with shamans in Huancabamba. Tonight I leave on a 16-hour bus ride to make it to this region famed for its healers and witch doctors. After that I´ll be in Mancora, another beach town that looks to be a good place to party on New Year´s.

Peruvian hairless dogs, which are protected. Yes, they are rather creepy looking.