alright so i´m in huacacina (i think that´s how to spell it), which is just outside of ica. i´m surprised how well i´m dealing with a complete change of environment; i was expecting crippling culture shock, but it´s been a smooth transition. that´s not to say there haven´t been a few new situations to deal with. i´ve had to come to terms with the attention span of peruvian restauranteers, who seem to completely forget that you´re waiting for food as soon as another thought pops into their heads. the shopkeepers wield guilt as their most powerful selling tool; they lure you in off the street and offer you item after item until guilt sets in - you´ll feel bad leaving without buying something of theirs. i´ve learned sometimes you have to be a bit rude to avoid wasting time and money. the thing that has irked me the most so far is the peruvian love for strikes. yesterday, striking teachers picketed the highway, forcing us to delay our bus to cusco by a day. the day turned out alright though, we climbed a dune at sunset and went sandboarding again ($10 usd for 2 hours around in a dune buggy and a sandboard). the driver nearly flipped the buggy more than a few times.
glass bottle of coke - 1 sol
650ml beer - 5 or 6 sol in a restaurant
1L beer - 12 sol in a club in miraflores, the wealthier district in lima
breakfast (juice, coffee, eggs, toast) - 6 or 7 sol
business class bus from lima to ica (5 hours) - 23 sol
1 us dollar - 3.159 sol