Stokes in Peru

(Taken from the rooftop terrace of the hotel we stayed at) Greetings all~ I hope as we roll into August that life is treating you well. As for life in Peru, I am gearing up for the routine of full work weeks, something I haven't experienced for quite some time. As I mentioned in the last blog, swine flu (or the less colorful name it now is given) has been sweeping South America and caused the start of the school year to be pushed back another week for the students. The students aren't the only ones who have benefited-with the short work week (we only were allowed to come in Thursday & Friday of this week), Marianella and I took the opportunity to escape away for an extended weekend trip. Late Friday night we boarded the bus for an 8 hour trip to the highlands and the small city of Huaraz (pronounced War-as). Now you might say that sounds like a pretty miserable excursion and I would normally agree; however, Marianella lined us up with a wonderful bus, where the ultra-co