huaraz steals a heart

"i am in huaraz, as i have mentioned, and i am quickly and easily falling in love with this place. there is excellent coffee here, and chai tea that is as good as java moose in the days of lisa. incredible." [this must be something as W has not drank chai for seven or more years after realizing that most coffee shops pour it out of a box.] "the city itself is busy, somewhat crowded, and a bit dirty....but, there are pockets and gems throughout and the backdrop is stunning. the valleys stretch out and meander through the snow-capped peaks. i have been doing some maintenance and general errands and have not yet ventured into the greenery, but soon i shall." [one must ask, what errands could he possibly have to do? certainly not buy groceries or mow the lawn or pick up mail...I'm curious about these obligations.]

"did you know that yesterday was bob dylan´s 68th birthday? i only do because i attended a birthday party for him, with a latin bob dylan and friends playing his songs. they were good, and the latin ¨bob¨, actually resembled bob in the low-light. pretty awesome. i saved my ticket." [ah my brother...so aware of my esteem for mr. dylan...here I sit in the hills of old duluth, miles and miles from latin "bob" and my little brother...] "so this place, huaraz, is a bit of a climbers mecca, and has, from what i saw last night, a decent sized international/ex-pat community of climbers and livers. the place that i am staying, ¨jo´s place¨, is owned and run by an english ex-pat, jo, who stopped by here on a world trip about twenty years ago. he never left. looking out at the peaks in the mornings is drawing my interest and curiosity, bit by bit. this is a place where i could stay and live. there is so much to explore. anyhow, i have got to go meet up with simon, who runs motorbike tours here and his a ktm enthusiast."

For the record, I tried to get Woody into climbing. My dad bought him climbing shoes, which he did use in Joshua Tree. He took class in school, but it didn't seem to stick. I had a live-in climber he could have learned it all from. He did not. This would be the sort of move that would make me so green with envy I'd have to self-medicate. Again/more. Ridiculous brother. Ridiculous sister. Where oh where did I go wrong with my life choices? I will be returning the office tomorrow. Woody will be exploring the greenery...

Note: if we could get Woody to learn how to upload pictures from the road, we'd have some shots of this scenery. Anyone with ideas should post or email him.

-- luludilly