Lazy days of summer… well, almost summer. I can’t really tell by the weather down here. Except for the wind, of course… there’s this awful wind that starts at around 10 and gives up around 6, or pretty much the entire time the sun is blasting. The kite surfers love it, the surfers hate it, and I’m definately leaning towards the latter. I’ve been surfing the past two days on nice rolling breaks between a meter and 2 meters tall. Great for beginners like me. I’ve gotten over the steep learning curve of being able to catch the waves and stand up pretty consistently- now I’m working on riding the smooth face up and down as it breaks to the left. It’s terribly fun, and at around 10 dollars a day for a nice board and wet suit, it doesn’t require spending too much time justifying the expense.

We had our first ceviche on the beach yesterday. Ohhh… it was tasty. Raw rish, squid, calamari, and shrimp mixed together in the staple lemon sauce, garnished with a strange type of potato and chile peppers, made a delicious treat. Aside from the fact that my intestines are not in the best shape today, it was well worth the four dollars we paid for it. For five they might leave out the parasites.

But I did find the cure to travelers’ raw-anus condition that can result from a couple days of diarreha. It’s usually made worse by sitting down for long periods (busses), and maybe swimming in the ocean. You’ll know you’ve got in when wiping your butt feels like you’re using sandpaper, even with the softest of tissue. So here’s the trick: alcohol wipes and Gold Bond baby powder. Walla! Keep it clean and dry and you’re well on your way to anal relief. If you plan on traveling, don’t forget to bring these essentials! Note: it does help to have someone willing to apply the baby powder- it takes a steady aim at a hard to see spot.

We’ve really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere around here- just the kind you’d expect from a beach community. We are itching to move on, though. There’s too much else to see in this massive continent. Besides, we’re getting very tired of having money in bills too large for anyone to accept. I think it’s a conspiracy, or a scam to get more out of the waves of tourists that made this place what it is. You take money out of the ATM, and you get 50s and 100s (3 Soles = 1 dollar), but store owners, hostals, restaurants, and everyone else complains when you pay with anything bigger than 10! Ridiculous. We end up spending less because we don’t want to go through the hassle of finding someone with cambio. So much for their evil plan.

I’ve got get go, though. It’s feed the Poo time, and I’d like to maybe ride some waves this afternoon for a bit. Tomorrow we’re headed to Puerto Chacama, which supposedly has the longest left break in the world- under perfect conditions one could ride a single 2m wave for 2km!! Sweeeet.