Dinos, cafe, and SUN!

Lima's pretty solid- but the best part is the ready-made ex-pat community that's totally got my back. For example, Ladan helped me turn pretend to be a dinosaur!

(Okay, really she just took me to a salon where they could remove the gel manicure from the wedding, but tinfoil fingers are *just like* dino claws.) She's also helped me get my footing with grocery shopping and invited me to a girls movie night. It's really nice to feel like I fit and that people want me to be part of their friend circle. Today she's helping me with more shopping- my meager wardrobe needs supplemented (and soon!) with nice pants shoes that are 'rainy season' appropriate.

Another friendly face- Sarah lives downstairs and she introduced me to Lima cafes and massages- two things greatly appreciated after such a full week. She also organized a trip to find the SUN this past weekend! Winter in Lima is miserable- it's constantly foggy and the sun really does disappear for MONTHS! Coming from a beautiful, hot summer in DC that was nice for maybe a day but after 5, I was eager to see the sun again and my new Lima friends were desperate! So we drove out of the city to Mesa de Piedra with a couple other (super friendly) families for the day- and yes, they do have stone tables! (Pics are on Dave's camera so I'll have to add some later.)