Contendor for Winner of the Same-Clothes-Worn-Continuously Award

So, I formally embarked on my big trip beginning in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon. It is now Saturday evening in Peru, and I am still wearing the same clothes that i put on Tuesday morning... No, i´m not intentionally trying to break Adam Farron´s record for continuous wearing of the same clothes (the entire month of August, 1996). In fact, the first several days of my trip have been shockingly full of logistical difficulties, including lost luggage, thereby explaining my dubious honor to be a contender for breaking the record.

In addition to the lost luggage and same-clothes worn continuously, additional logistical difficulties have included 19 hours spent in Washington Dulles airport, multiple nights spent anywhere but in a bed, the failure of my new "World Edition" Verizon Blackberry to work in the "World" (aka, outside of the US), spending small fortunes on phone calls to United and LAN Peru baggage claim departments just trying to get someone to answer the phone, and finally running out of gas and having to push my rented dirt bike to nearby gas station. Then, to top it all off, the zipper on my pants called it quits. Granted, the pants did undergo the strain of constant wear for several days, but having a fully open zipper at the airline counter did not strengthen my credibility as i was demanding help in tracking down my lost luggage this morning.

That said, things are certainly on the up-swing and i am having fun. I have now been in Peru for 3 days, including a day in Lima and two days in Cusco. Lima, with its unparralled levels of automobile exhaust and grime, is not exactly a beautiful city, so it makes it easy to use it as a transit point without that "i wish i could have stayed longer" feeling. That said, it does have at least one Dunkin Donuts with bavarian cream filled Munchkins, so it is not all bad. Cusco, on the other hand, filled with old churches, buildings from Inca times and cobble stone roads is quite remarkable and beautiful. Not to be mispronounced as ¨Costco¨ or ¨Cous cous¨ so that you look like a sloppy, stupid American gringo when you try to tell the ticketing agent where you are trying to go on June 29th (uh, certainly not me...), Cusco is a cornerstone of South American archeological importance (it is the gateway to Machu Picchu). That said, i have to say that i have never seen worse basketball talent than what i saw in an apparent inter-city basketball tournament and i have pictures to prove it. Perched up high in the mountains, it reminds me a lot of Tibet, where altitude sickness is common and there are large swings between hot and cold so you never really know what to wear.

I came to Peru thinking that 4 years of high school Spanish were about to pay off, but found myself mixing in Japanese left and right. My "yes" has been coming out as "hai" instead of "si" and my "thank you" has been coming out as "arigato" or "domo" instead of "gracias". Ironically, i have never felt more fluent in Japanese or less capable of Spanish.

The highlight for me so far, apart from amusing Peruvians with my odd and unique Spanish-Japanese (aka, "Spanese") and my remarkable stories about how long i have worn the same clothes, was my solo motobike ride to the top of a mountain where a large Inca ruin still stands. Oh, and jamming to "She's got Bette Davis eyes" with a taxi driver this morning was a close second. Tomorrow, i will begin a 4 day trek across a bunch of Andes mountains that ends in Machu Picchu. Fortunately, i was able to purchase some new clothes including new boxer briefs with the word "Stripper" written in large letters across the front. I think these will be invaluable on my trek.