A former-colleague-turned-good-pal of mine (yes; the one does occasionally convert into the other) has been on a teaching sabbatical in Chile for the past three months. Given our impending holiday, it only seemed polite to drop her an e-mail.
Passing your way (kind of…)Hiya,
Well, I guess you’ll be coming to the end of your time in Chile by now – and here’s me with my first proper e-mail. God, I’m crap…!
Hope it’s all been a blast – I imagine you’ll be travelling around the place by now, so maybe you’ll be picking this up at some tiny Internet cafe in a tin shack in some obscure one-horse town in the depths of the Andes. (If the Andes can be said to have “depths”, that is. Geography was never my strong point.)
As the title of this e-mail suggests, K & I will indeed be passing your way very soon. Although I use the term in its most comparative sense: we’ll actually be holidaying in Peru from this Saturday (July 17) for two and a half weeks. Well, Peru is almost Chile, innit? Well, same continent at least!
Anyway, we can hardly wait… to stock up on ponchos (they’re back!), to immerse ourselves in the beautiful, timeless of sounds of the pan-pipe, to feast on succulent llama burgers, and to get blasted (*) on coca leaf tea (“good for altitude sickness”).
[snip]
What I certainly hadn’t expected was this reply:
Hola !Well then, I’ve just hopped on in an obsure wee place and the keyboard is an absolute mare… [snip]
I am in Peru at the moment and for the next 2 weeks. I am doing the Inca Trail tomorrow for 4 days, and will be in Cusco on Saturday 17th, moving on swiftly to Ariquipe on Sunday I think for some kulture and some canyon exploring, so my god if you are about I’ll check my mail on Saturday.
[snip]
So. Can you guess where we’re staying on Sunday and Monday?
That’s right. Ariquipe.
Let me recap. In the entire continent of South America, I know precisely ONE person. (Unless we count that guy from… no, perhaps we won’t.) And that same person is going to be in the SAME town as us on the SAME night, in just three days’ time.
My life never fails to astonish me.
See you on Sunday, Fi!
troubled diva 