"Just got my package sent off to Alice [Randy's editor at Addison-Wesley] via DHL. A much bigger hassle here [Lima, {Peru] than in Mexico, but eventually we got it all worked out. They insisted I had to have a local address, so we finally went with "Training Ship Golden Bear, Callao [Callao is the actual port city; Lima is immediately east of Callao]." She was a bit perturbed that I couldn't provide a street address, but finally seemed to relent on that when I was able to provide a phone number for the ship. (The cell phone for the security desk at the gangway.) Otherwise I was just going to make up an address. Her main concern seemed to be that the computer wanted an address before letting her go to the next screen. Whether it was a real address wouldn't have been relevant.
"Lima is bleak, bleak, bleak. Relatively nice here in Miraflores, but most of Lima seems to be simply slums and crumbling apartment blocks. Even the downtown and main square are completely shabby, and for a capital city with 8 million people there's very little in the El Centro. Quito [Ecuador, which we visited on our way to and from the Galapagos] and Mexico City are positively modern cosmopolitan cities in comparison. I think Valparaiso [Chile] will be a much better place to visit.
"OK, I'm going to track down some more ceviche for lunch. They do have at least that one good thing going here. Stroll around a bit, then probably be back to the ship by dinner time. There's the first "big reception" on the ship tonight. As I understand it, the American Ambassador is the actual host, and the ship is just the venue. The guest list is mostly dipolmatic personnel and military attaches. The Peruvian foreign minister is supposed to attend. We're invited, and I might make a short visit if I'm there just to see what it's like. But I won't go out of my way.
"Haven't seen any cats in Lima.
"Onward to Valparaiso!"
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