I had a treat today--wheat bread. Yes, that's right, after so many weeks here, I've finally eaten something made with whole grain. It seems like everything here is white--bread, rice, potatoes (okay, not all the potatoes are white, but you get the picture)--and I'm not getting any fiber because I don't eat their salads and fruits washed in their nasty tap water. So wheat bread seemed like a treat for me.

My clothes were so caked with dirt that I decided to take them to a laundromat instead of washing them by hand once again. I guess I didn't realize how incredibly dirty they were because my jeans looked like new again, they were so blue!

There was a big game on TV the other night, Mexico v. Argentina, so I went to a bar to watch it with the locals. Mexico lost, unfortunately, but I still had a good time rooting for them along with everyone else in the bar.

I was sick a lot of last week, so I didn't feel like doing too much. One day I went to a movie, Ocean's 13. This time it was in an actual theater, not a crappy pirated version like that other one I saw. They showed a preview for a Die Hard movie and in Spanish it translated to "It's Hard to Die", which I thought was funny. Sometimes they have the worst translations here. The best one I saw was on a menu for crema de tomate (creamy tomato soup). The translation was "it cremates of tomato." Nice work, guys.

The last three days I've been hiking in the (arguably) deepest canyon in the world, the Colca Canyon. It's more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and just as majestic and beautiful. The first day we hiked all the way to the bottom where we slept in little huts with many layers of alpaca blankets because it was so cold. The next day we hiked to a little village known as "the oasis" where there were palm trees and a pool. So we enjoyed that and then, when the sun went behind the mountain at 3pm, we just sat around talking. We had a good group and really got along well. It was me and seven Europeans--from Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Lichtenstein, and Denmark. Our Peruvian guide cooked all our meals for us and taught us a lot about the local plants in the area. The last day, we woke up at 3am and hiked up in the dark in order to make the 8am bus. We stopped at a scenic point to watch the famous condors that live in the area. They are so huge! Then we went to a natural hot springs to relax. It was lovely.

I'm finally leaving Arequipa tomorrow. Apparently the strike is on hold for two days so the buses are running normally. Then after that, I might get stuck somewhere again. But at least I'll be at the beach!