Hello from Lima Peru! We arrived last night to hot and humid weather wearing winter clothing. The hotel is the Casa Andina and is VERY nice! They changed the hotel before we arrived due to AC issues. Today we went on a Lima city tour. This is what I learned: There are 8 million people living here with about 45% Indian population. The locals are very pleasant and friendly people who work hard to communicate with visitors. Carl does pretty well with his Spanish, so that is a big plus when ordering food or trying to bargain with shop keepers. Lima means "talkative river" due to Rimac River in the city. Peru is known for gold and silver. The major industries are mining at 62%, fishing and then tourism. Lima has a constant overcast sky due to the cold Humbolt Current off the coast which creates foggy skies. 90% of the Peruvians are Roman Catholic and there are two important saints here-St. Rose of Lima and St. Martin de Porres. I saw two Pre-Incan pyramids today-Huasa Pucllana from 200ad and Huallamarca from 200bc. These were adobe and had been excavated to find remains of bone instruments, cotton fabric used in mummy wraps and even remains of sacrificed people. The Spanish knocked down some of the over 100 pyramids to plant olive trees. There were 12 million Indians when Pizzaro arrived in 1532 to found the city of Lima and conquer the Inca Empire. He ruled for 9 years before the Spaniards killed him. I saw his tomb today in the Cathedral. The Mudajar style of architecture I saw in Spain is part of the colonial building style the Spaniards favored. The San Francisco Church complex is in this style and reminds me of Cordoba Spain. The catacombs under this church are filled with the bones of slaves, Spaniards and Indians stacked and sorted and on view-very close and creepy down there. There are desert plantings in the city and the African Tulip trees have large beautiful flowers. It never rains in Lima! They just get the weird wet fog. Now for the food! The food is different and creative to say the least. Today I ate ceviche (marinated raw sea bass with lime and chili pepper) which was excellent and I do not even LIKE fish! There was a small artichoke stuffed and peppers stuffed too, but the corn was SO different. The kernels are HUGE and taste very good. I drank Inca Cola for lunch and it is like our cream soda. I understand tomorrow I get cuy (guinea pig) for lunch from the Home and School president at the school we are to visit. I will try to get my nerve up for that. Must run to dinner now with the group. I will look for opportunities to post in Cusco and Pisac.