huanchaco
sunday night, we went out to dinner at a pizza place with nicole and her coworker flo from france. flo brought his friend vicente, and we´ve never met two funnier guys. they sang and joked their way through dinner and our hot chocolate that we had afterwards. it was a great night and a great way to say goodbye to nicole. yesterday morning, we took a taxi ride to nicole´s clinic, it was a bleak trip through a dusty scratchy neighborhood of crumbling adobe homes. however, her clinic was a bright oasis, with blue walls, a central garden and many children running around. we were able to see her pharmacy, examination rooms, reception area, and snack bar. as before, with leah´s school, it was definitely a place of love and hope. there are lamaze(spelling?) classes and lots of preventative medicine. there is a sweet man that works there who lost his hearing to a poorly administered tb treatment. tb is a rampant problem here as is teen pregnancy. still, the clinic is the heart of the neighborhood and serves nearly 9,000 patients in circulation. after visiting with nicole, she put is into a taxi for huanchaco. we were able to see the melting adobe ruins of chan chan, the largest adobe city, out the windows of the cab. we stayed at the casa suiza, which was also the casa suicio as the floors were gritty with dirt, but not a surprise in a beach town. it was thrilling to see the ocean again, even though it was very overcast. the hostel was several stories with incredible tiny gardens and a very homelike feeling. once we had settled our things in our surprisingly charming hostel, we headed out to see the town. i had a good time talking to a surfer and an old artist in the market that fringes town. it was strange how much surfers seem the same the world over. i guess all beach people are created equal. as we were walking, we met a tall surfer dude named jen paul who walked with us and allowed us to practice our spanish. his father is an oklahoman, thus the height. he took us to a restaurant by the boardwalk, where i tried his ceviche and ate a garlic fish dish of my own. cass was very excited to have some vegetables in a tortilla of sorts. we also tried the trujillo pilsen beer. afterwards, we settled into the sand and just enjoyed the views of the long pier and the reed caballitos, or little horses, used by the local fisherman. they ride out on them like surfboards that they straddle between their legs. the little boats have depressions in the back for fish or ?? and are the same style of boards used by incans thousands of years ago. after enjoying the sand, we ran into nicole´s friend leah again and were excited to see her. after relaxing, we went up to the house of carlos, a friend of both nicole´s and jean paul´s to do some more hanging out. we passed the night joking and talking with the guys, and were later joined by two other american girls and carlos´brother. they have similar musical tastes and we all danced a bit too. today, cass and i enjoyed a breakfast of bread, butter, pineapple jam, fresh, cold juice, tea, and scrambled eggs at the hotel, while a puma faced gray cat circled our legs. cass took a nap while i read in the sun, and then it was off to shop again. we found some pants we loved and had a great time talking to the young surfer who ran the shop. i also bought a purse and some other goodies. the purse store guy was very fun, and i taught him the word for purse in english and he gave me a little black leather bracelet. we then walked down the beach in the sun that was finally shining until we reached a towering restaurant called big ben. it was very upscale, but had an open patio that afforded a view of the sea, the beach, the pier, the reed boats, and the colorful expanse of coke signs, pastel buildings, and street vendors. we returned to the market as the pants guy had promised more colors in the afternoon. to try them on, the dude dropped a curtain that divided his tiny stall, and had to stand outside while we tried the pants. while there, we met his friend, abel, who recommended a place for us to stay when we reach mancora, and even called his friend to help us make the reservation. he reminded me exactly of shane horning, a friend from back home, except peruano. the vendor next to the pants guy admired some rings i had purchased in cuzco and examined them to discover they had been made by a friend. we are now back in trujillo awaiting our bus to mancora. talk to you all soon!
Tags: Travel
July 26th, 2005 at 8:24 pm
Darcy,
These days sound a lot more relaxed than previous reports. Are the street venders for tourists or do locales frequent them? That place must be the size of Ramona to have so many people served by the clinic. Mom and Laura are working at their lifes passion…Wallmart, etc. Nothing exciting, just trying to beat the heat. Might go to California Speedway Sat. to watch Lennie’s car race. I haven’t been to a race in almost three years. Champions to chumps in the blink of an eye! See ya later.
Love, dad
July 27th, 2005 at 12:55 am
I am so disappointed. I wrote you a really long and good letter this afternoon and it has not shown up on the comment page so I guess it went to the moon. I had told you that while I was reading about your visit to the ocean that I could invision it because I had looked up the places on the web the night before. I even printed out two pictures so I could put them with your letter. I know where there are some good pictures of Machu Picchu and Cuzco so I will go back and copy them to put in with your messages. I’m not sure which way to spell Cuzco. Some use an s and some use a z. I got a nice surprise call from Ardith this morning. She is in Oregon with her oldest son. She will then visit her daughter in OR and then stop near Frisco to see her stepfather and then HOME. I have heard nothing about Charlie. No one answers at their house. Tomorrow Lu will take me to the P.O. so I can mail the last of my paper work. Then I should only have little problems to fix, I hope. The next big hurdle is the license renewal. I must take care of that soon. Lindsey went camping this last weekend for the first time in years and it did nothing but rain on them. She said she forgot to fix the top of her tent correctly so it rained on her sleeping bag and on her so she finally had to get in with someone who had a trailer. But she said they had fun. Lona still has to stick pretty close to home, but we talk a lot on the phone. Do you think you will be able to remember all the people you have met and their names ? Do you keep a small log ? I got a nice letter from Meemo today. It had a picture of her by, I think, Linda’s pool. She also named all the Disney places she saw and rides she did. I am surprised she is still able to get around. Thank you for writing. It means a lot. The time is going slow until you get home. Maybe we can have a nice talk on the bed before you go back to work. Maureen was 26 yesterday. I got to talk to her. She goes to New Orleans on business soon. Hi to Mama Cass and love to you from G and G.
July 27th, 2005 at 12:46 pm
Loved reading your recent blog. I am so impressed with Nicole’s work at the clinic. I remember the positive energy Nicole had when I met her, and she must bring a lot care and love to the “bright oasis.” I really enjoyed reading about the beach area and the surfer dudes. Those reed caballitos sound interesting. Hope you got some pictures. I think the best thing about your trip has been all the people you have met. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. We love you, but selfishly we want you home. Be careful, but have fun! Love, Mom *I have sent Bob A. a copy of your blogs… and he is thoroughly enjoying reading about your trip… even his daughter called to thank me.
July 30th, 2005 at 11:43 am
hola! sorry i haven’t responded in awhile. today is saturday and my first day home so am enjoying - yes enjoying - doing laundry, puttering around the house and yard, catching up on emails and bills, etc. miss everyone in san diego but good to be home too. flew in sunday night after a long delay in phoenix. our plane’s de-icer wasn’t working so they had to get us a new plane. we all got a good laugh over that as it was over 100 in phoenix and high 90s on okc. of course, the de-icer is needed due to altitude temps - freezing at just 15,000 feet. monday it was back to work and gosh, the same thing all week long… ugh! i’m not in shape for that! love my job but a job is a job and i missed my flexible schedule, partying, disneyland, being with family, shopping, etc as usual, we excelled at amusing each other and ourselves without even trying… your trip has sounded great! look forward to hearing more once i see you. i’ve told lots of people the bare bones about our experiences. probably more bones than some wanted… where we went, what we saw and did, but it’s the interactions, conversations, sharing of experiences witih the people you encounter along the way that are the true gems… you will be forever changed by those things more than anything! that’s what i love about traveling the most! ooh, but that beach sounded great too! luv u! aunt t