Always On Duty

BIG NEWS: we managed to get the eff out of Peru. Finally. And we’re never looking back. Just to recap, it was perpetually cold everywhere we went and the landscape was bland and desertous (with the exception of the Inca Trail), I got sick FIVE TIMES over the course of the six weeks we were there (once I had to take anti-parasite medication and twice antibiotics. Brutal. Elise and I are now at a higher level of comfort), and as you all know we got robbed for everything valuable we own(ed). Did I mention Elise got dragged for half a kilometer down the highway? Nuff said. Speaking of the robbery, there is one positive thing that came out of it: we made a new friend. But not just any friend – a cop friend! The cop who drove us home the night of The Incident happened to be going home to Lima the next day for his vacation so he offered to chaperone us. What better way to feel extra safe the day after you’ve been robbed than to have an off-duty cop as your guide? He even set us all up to take a bus that was being driven by a buddy of his. Nothing could wrong. And nothing did (until we got to Lima of course…reference Elise’s last post). I made note of the fact that Omar (that’s our cop friend) wore his gun on his belt for the whole trip. Standard practice, I assume, for off-duty cops in Peru. (Do cops do that in Canada?)

So we went out a couple times with Omar and his friends and family. Ate ceviche, drank some beers. Good times. Safe times, too, since Omar was strapped when we went out to dinner and drinks. The other day we went over to his grandmother’s house to have lunch and meet more of his family. Of course we got the authentic, home-cooked Peruvian experience. Big shout-out to Abuela Zevallos and the rest of the fam. It was when we were watching a Mexican soap opera (pretty standard for soap operas to be playing at any grandmother’s house I guess) that I noticed Omar was packing heat there too! At grandma’s house?! Really? You can never feel too secure, I suppose. Anyway, we got to spend one of our last days in Peru feeling like true locals. Plus, with Captain Omar around to protect us (yup, he’s actually El Capitán) we were able to relax a little and stop looking over shoulders constantly to see who’s about to accost us.

-G

P.S. Sorry for no pictures. As you know, we lost one camera, but we promise to take some pics with Elise’s camera for our next post from Brazil.