Dec 10, 2010
6 Days 17 Hours 59 Minutes 50 Seconds
The tension mounts.
Here’s a short update on the preparations for our Peru trip. We have finalized most of our reservations including hotels, transfers, activities, and meals. The spreadsheet, as they say, is filled in.
The training is going great. My goal to replicate the Trek mileage for 4 straight weeks is 3 weeks in. I have motored South Mountain so many times that I feel like I know every rock and cactus. The drawback is that I might need to buy some new clothes before we leave. Today I was able to remove my favorite jeans without unzipping or unbuttoning them. I have dropped 2 inches in the waist and 2 inches in the hips. That’s okay. It’s the grief weight coming off. This weekend I’m doing my favorite 9 miler on Saturday and my favorite 4 miler on Sunday. I can’t wait!
Oh! And to brush up on my Spanish, I’m listening to Coffee Break Spanish podcasts as I hike. I really enjoy the lessons from profesor Mark and estudiante Kara, who broadcast their Spanish Learner’s show from Glasgow. It took a while for me to get used to their thick brogue, but I figure I’m learning Scottish and Spanish at the same time and how can that be bad.
Another preparation that is going great is working my way through some Peruvian authors. I have been a Mario Vargas Llosa fan for years, so I had already read The Bad Girl, Way to Paradise and Feast of the Goat. But John also picked up a lovely novel by another Peruvian author, Alfredo Bryce Echenique. I’m reading A World for Julius, and I love it! Julius is a bit Owen Meany meets Oskar Matzerath, but imagine this taking place in a changing Lima–where the aristocracy is losing its grip.
So. By now, it’s 6 Days 16 Hours 59 Minutes 50 Seconds to go. Peru, here we come!
