Of Arequipa and Internet Cafes

We arrived in Arequipa yesterday, and have now seen the houses where we´re going to spend the next 6 months of our lives. We did pretty well for ourselves, I must say! Catherine especially did very well, she has wifi and a billion other things! Plus her host family is amazing! They´re so nice, and since they´re used to hosting people, they know how to make you feel comfortable, welcome, and well fed :).

I´m living in the NGO´s warehouse, which isn´t near as bad as it sounds. First off, it is a house, a real house, just 3/4ths of it is converted into storage of medicine and medical supplies and equipment. But it´s a decent sized house, and my room is very nice, with two window-covered walls. The bathroom is really nice as well, I just need to figure out how to get hot water out of the shower... especially for the upcoming winter months. The kitchen is still in disarray, but MMI bought me a fridge and a microwave, but I still have to purchase a small 2-burner stovetop for cooking. That means no baking at my house, but Catherine´s host family already told me I could cook over there once in a while if I got the urge.

Right now I´m sitting in the first internet cafe I could find that was open--about 6 blocks from my house. Every time I use an internet cafe here, I promise myself that next timé I´m going to bring my laptop. The computers available are slow, untrustworthy, and often have keyboards that stick (and the browser window will freeze up for 10-20 seconds at a time at random intervals). I never do however.

Anyway, the plan for today is:
Go shopping for basic things like water...
Figure out where the light switch for my kitchen is.
Plug in the fridge and microwave
Head to Catherine´s house at 11:45 for lunch and shopping
Get a local cell chip for my cell phone
Rest some more and try to feel better.

It´s not supposed to be a very stressful day. We´re still trying to aclimatize to the elavation (up to 7800 feet from sea level). It´s sad when I get tired carrying a suitcase up 3 flights of stairs. So I´m walked around my house, probably a few miles yesterday, and probably will do something smiliar today. Anyway time to go shopping! I´ll have pictures up from the last few days of clinic soon. Oh! And church tomorrow :)

Big hugs for everyone
-Will