Hospedaje Caroline Piura

... fused and she wasn't able to lift her head. She has been keeping a towel over her head and holds it below the chin so you can't see her scars but today she ran around laughing and was clearly less self conscious. It was really beautiful to see! She also drew me my own balloon face and wrote "Anna Bonita" on it just like I had written "Clementina Bonita" on hers. I am so thankful for ...

... to one of the discotecas...should be interesting! Tomorrow is our day off-we're taking a 2 hour bus ride to the beach for some much needed R&R.

Here are a few more pictures that Jenifer took, it's great having the photographer as a roommate when your camera is broken!

It's wild to hear from people who have come across this blog-I had no idea that my first blogging experience would make it outside of my immediate circle!

Today was the first full day of surgery and I did get some pictures from the OR from yesterday to put up. I tried to keep it clean so sorry if you get grossed out easily...the boy with the cleft lip said "Ay Yay Yay" when he first woke up from surgery - apparently he thought is wasn't the most pleasant experience.

the Sierra team is on their way back down from the mountains tonight, bouncing in their truck, from their first multi day excusion to provide ...

... them, she lives in the mountains so it's impossible to navigate the terrain without knowing how to use them. Mick is an orthopaedist so he found some crutches and showed her how to use them, by the time she left she was grinning and hopping up and over stairs like she'd been doing it forever. There is someone willing to fit her with a prosthetic so I'm going to work on getting the information so we can submit her case to First Hand for assistance.

Chulucanas, Piura, Peru annahennes

... our exit slips and whilst Christie and the children got back on to the bus, which had followed us like an obedient dog, I walked into the only other building opposite to register with the police. Registration involved a policeman stamping the reverse of our entry slips. I got on the bus and we were away, the whole process taking barely 15minutes. Christie changed $10 into 27 Peruvian soles with a local exchanger we didn’t change more because that was all he had.

For ...

... to be) however it means I can't see the road ahead of him and don't have time to react when he dodges something.

We arrived in Piura, which is the first really bustly place we've been since Guayaquil, just after lunch. I like the feel of it, although it's one of the few places we would not leave our bikes unattended for even a moment. We've been to the bus station to buy our bus tickets for tomorrow night (S/85 each) and we're hoping we don't have to pay ...

... happens when a dog is inches away from my heels, as if that makes me more difficult to see or something equally stupid. I also said the b*****d word A LOT.

We''ve eaten chicken for the second day in a row, which is fine because we've managed to avoid it for quite some time, but I can see a point in the very near future when we start to seek out other foods, namely Chinese.

Tomorrow we go down the road to Piura, just 40 kms away and from there we will take ...

We got out of the hotel early in the morning and rode out of Macara to the border. This was the friendlies and easiest border of the entire trip. The Ecuadorian border guards told us there was much more to see in Ecuador and that we should come back to live in Ecuador. The Peruvian Border guards were the nicest and most efficient of any we have encountered. Instead of doing our forms one by one, there were three guards doing our ...

... the wife and daughter that included screaming, hanging out the window screaming his name and standing in front of the bus, we departed and he was never to be seen again. All outstanding fun when you have front row seats.

Ecuador will now be our new home for a few weeks as we take in the Ecuadorian coast, the Galapagos Islands and finally head to the highlands of Quito for a spot of volcano trekking and mountain biking.

Paul & I arrived at Piura Peru somewhat late in the afternoon, after the border crossing in Maraca. We found a hostel, and shared a room. After refreshing, Paul and I went out grocery shopping, actually, for wine. We stopped at a ...