donkeys, not cars

So I arrived after the night bus complete with security checks including bag searches, id checks, metal detectors, and each passenger being videotaped. its supposed to be the safest bus company, and I can see why. I had a great seat in the front row of the second level. Lots of great background music - michael bolton, bryan adams, all the best. Shortly after I arrived in Chimbote at 6am, David, the priest in Pamparomas (from Salmon Arm, but living here for 16 years) picked me up with some local from his village. we spent the day doing errands (like trying to find an air compressor for the dentist that their region has for the next year), meeting more people, eating great food, and doing more errands. I spent as much time as I could looking around the city from the truck, but slept a lot. I hadn't slept more than 4 or so hours for each of the past 3 nights, so I was very tired.Thankfully, Chimbote isn''t know so much for it sights, more so for it awful fish smell and unsafe streets. Some of the city was vibrant. The rest, especially the main drag, looked like there had been an evaçuation years previous, and just a few people were risking life there. a shell of a city. we didn't get to pamparomas utnil after 10pm.the road up, especially after Moro, was likely the worst road I have been on for that length of time. Serious 4 wheel drive road with lots of hair pin turns as we gained 3000m in elevation to get to the village. It was great to meet up with Nicole. Have a solid nights sleep. I got to sleep in today, sit on the outskirts of the village, enjoy the view, catch up on my journal, and say noentiendo more times than I can count. Really need to continue with my spanish picking upping. oh, and the title of this entry refers to the fact that pretty much other than davids truck and the odd minibus that comes through, no cars. steep streets and lots of donkeys. fantastic!

ªt