Stokes in Peru

In case you were wondering, yes, Marianella and I are still alive and well here in the Southern Hemisphere. I know if you were relying on this blog for that info, you would been left wondering-I'm amazed myself that it was April (or six months ago) that I last updated the website. I can only imagine what my Aunt Carol, who I promised in July that I would be updating the blog shortly after my return back to Lima, would say to me at this moment. My excuse, lame as it may be, has been that Marianella and I haven't really been doing anything extraordinary over the last few months-no exotic trips, not even any weekend getaways recently; we've been doing what we'd be doing if we were still in St. Paul-grinding through the work week, catching up with errands and family on weekends, with the occasional fun night/activity on a Friday or Saturday night. Not so interesting, right? Well, hopefully it will be interesting enough because I do plan on updating the blog more often

Hello again everyone~ How is life treating you all? From my understanding, the weather back home has been a big improvement since the last time I updated my blog, so I imagine that is making life a bit sweeter for everyone. Down here, life is clipping along like it typically does when engaged in full-time jobs; our weeks have been pretty consumed by our jobs and then weekends are spent resting, recuperating, and preparing for the next working week. However last week was a nice break from the routine, as in this country that tallies 95% Catholics, Holy Week is quite a major deal and the time off from work and school includes Thursday and Friday, making for a nice four day weekend. Last year, Marianella and I stayed around Lima and hosted Easter dinner (go to the archives for all the exciting details!), but this year we decided to get out of Dodge along with seemingly the entire population of Lima. Marianella and I went the Robert Frost route though (road less traveled and all that),

Hello again everyone, By now, you're probably wondering if I'm going to ever stop with these blogs-you don't hear anything from me for a couple months and now it's been about three updates in the last two weeks. Rest assured, the blogging will slow down quite a bit, as Marianella and I began work last week which obviously will slow down our travel schedule. I was a bit reluctant to add this blog, fearing what my sister Carol alluded to in the comment section from the last blog, that I might stir a revolt among those stuck in late February winter. However, Marianella encouraged me to send an update of our last trip, since it'll be awhile before we head anywhere else. So, blame her if you're sick of the warm weather updates :). This trip took us to Chiclayo, a city in Peru's northern region that is a major business hub and also home to one of the world's coolest museums. We had actually been in Chiclayo within the last year to visit that museum and som

Alright, as promised I'm back quickly with another blog update from our trip to Colombia. After Marianella and I spent a long weekend in Bogota, we took a short flight to the northern coast of Colombia and the city of Cartagena. If you had asked me where Cartagena was before we began planning this trip, I would have responded with a blank stare. However, the five day trip to this city has made a permanent mark on my memory, due to the beauty, history, and heat of the area. A brief history lesson about Cartagena-when the Spaniards conquered much of South America, Cartagena became their most important shipping port and therefore became the target of pirates due to the great wealth and currency that passed through the city. As a result, the Spaniards built many fortifications around Cartagena and actually enclosed the entire old city with massive stone walls to keep out the uninvited. After Spain's colonization fell apart, the city of Cartagena also struggled for many years (

Greetings & Salutations Everyone, And I guess I should say Happy New Year, since this is the first post of 2010. The start of the new year has been a fun and exciting, which corresponds of course with having summer vacation occur during the months of January and February. As some of you well know, I began the new year back in Minnesota, discovering that my blood has thinned and thirty-plus years of experiencing cold weather washed away and I have become, as my cousin Dan predicted, a marshmallow to the cold winters of home after a bit of time in the southern hemisphere. Regardless, it was great to be back home with family and friends, even though the time was spent almost exclusively indoors and it went way too quickly. If I was unable to connect with you during my time back, I extend my apologies; the days flew by and the number of people I would have liked to have seen trumped the number of days I was visiting. Upon returning to Peru, preparations for my joint vacation with M