Am in my third full day here in Arequipa. Totally skipped Arica cuz´ it was completely overcast when i landed from San Pedro and therefore, no sign of beach possibility. Hired a driver to go to Tacna in Peru (1.5 hours from Arica), then boarded a local 7-hour bus to Arequipa. Arequipa is real paradise - HOT weather in the day, like I am wearing my tanktops and shorts, and yummy Peruvian food and French crepes abound. Yah there is actually quite a French influence here. The nice part of the city actually resembles Europe in many ways (from the Spanish influence i guess), cobblestone streets, elegant iglesias (churches) and pigeon group gatherings. Arequipa is also close to much natural beauty and several very high mountains (6,000m plus) and the relatively well-known Colca Canyon where you can see condors, of which I will trek from Friday to Sunday.

The past few days have been nice, relaxing and full of interesting signs, i wud say. Strolled around town alot fishing for some Spanish classes, then by accident stumbled on a New Age spiritual talk poster called the Raelian Movement (based out of Japan) that emphasizes UFOs, for apparently, Rael, the founder of this movement, has had direct contact with the ETs back in the 70s and has since been since been spreading spiritual intelligence sourced from them. Well, it´s interesting to know that this movement has spread to Peru as well, but what I´m not sure about, is whether this strong emphasis on UFOs is truly necessary. And out of curiosity, I did go to the talk (albeit for only 10 minutes because I was understanding like 2% of the spanish..) and what caught my eye was its mentioning of the Mayans recordings of intelligence from extra-terrestrials. In particular, they were showing the temple of Palenque, which, to no coincidence, is where the White Light Essence I´m currently taking (Higher Self) was made and also where I´ve wanted to go badly in Mexico. On a separate note, Í´ve also been randomly visiting many churches / cathedrals, one of which has made a particular impression on me, as unlike many old touristic churches, it does not have bloody Jesus on a cross right in the middle with too much gold ornaments on the sides, but rather, two lovely angel statues, a painting of the ascended Jesus and a great hi-fi system that was playing a soft New Age meditation-type celestial music when i entered. I also went white water rafting on the Rio Chile for one morning, very very fun... lotsa Class III rapids and a two-second Class IV rapid which was basically like being on a free-fall ride in the theme parks!

Next week I´m doing a five-day intensive group Spanish class (4 hours a day) and staying with a local family. Been conversing more with the locals and feel it´s time I take my Spanish to another level, whatever that level is...

So that was my week up til´now. More, later.

Photo: La Catedral en la Plaza de Armas at 630pm in Arequipa