Stokes in Peru

Greetings everyone~ For those of you wondering what Marianella and I have been up to, it's been the same old, same old-working like rented mules. However, it is the most wonderful time of the year-Movember. As with the previous two years, I took the opportunity to let my freak flag fly with a rainbow of colors above my upper lip. There was a caveat this year-my intention after growing the full beard last year was to go back to the roots of my first year with facial hair, which meant just growing a mustache. However, Marianella and I served as Godparents on Thanksgiving weekend to the daughter of one Marianella's close family friends. In late October when I asked the question if it would be okay to have my mustache in the inevitable pictures on the special day, an uncomfortable pause hovered at the dining room table. Evidently there were concerns about capturing the legacy of the young girl's Godfather looking as if he drove to the Church in a conversion van. I conc

Greetings everyone~ As the calendar turns to September, Marianella and I have been back to work at school for a month now and we continue to swaddle ourselves in blankets and sweatshirts as the gray, damp Lima winter continues unabated.  It seems ages ago since I was back in Minnesota for the sweltering month of July or in Banff under clear blue skies.  Anyway, let me catch you up on what's been going on for myself and Marianella since I last updated the blog, and at my aunt Carol's request, finally get the picture of the hogheads off of the main page. Minnesota As already mentioned, the trip back was quite a whirlwind; I arrived on June 30 and was back in Lima less than three weeks later, with a trip to Calgary wedged into the vacation also (more on that in a bit).  While back home, I was able to attend my niece Jessica's graduation party, take part in the 50th anniversary celebration for my aunt Betty and uncle Gerry, and witnessed the Twins lose on a beautiful sum

I have been meaning to do this blog entry for quite some time, after I had requests from some of you to post pictures of and around Lima that Marianella and I may see on a daily or regular basis. It just took me awhile to get the photos taken. I'm happy to say it was a pretty fun endeavor, so I plan on doing another such entry sometime down the road. Enough words without pictures, onto the photos: Most of the shopping we do in Lima is very similar to what we would do in St. Paul-supermarkets, department stores, a corner store. But there is a fun flavor that exists throughout the city, something unique in various locales. We begin with the markets of Chinatown, where there's little question where your meat comes from: Fruit stands, freshly stocked in the mornings from the fertile interior of Peru, abound with a colorful array of choices: Seafood is very popular and plentiful with the rich waters of the Pacific providing a wide variety. While large-scale commercial fishing