The time has come to pack up and go back home. The time I spent here in Lima Peru was wonderful, but too long. If my family had been here it would have been perfect.

The sun is barely coming up over the city turning everything a hue of blue. The car noises that I never really heard before are floating up to my 12th floor while the sounds of the surf have quieted. It would seem that I have purposefully filtered out the good and enhanced the bad to make the departure easier.


I was caught up in too much work during the second week I was here and failed to write me experiences. But hopefully I'll be able to share them with you little by little in the coming blogs, along with a picture or two.

I'm sad to be leaving some new friends and a people I have come to love, but there is one thing that I will be very happy to leave behind. and that is this horrible desk I have in the hotel to write on. I'll explain later.

Waking up late was a nice gift I gave myself. It's interesting how the small things in life are what make me smile. I literally climbed out of bed having surrounded myself with a mountain of pillows that resembled a fort. The sun was beaming and the street was calling my name.

I was hungry but I didn’t want to spend too much time eating, so I crossed the street in front of the hotel, sped downstairs into Larco Mar and had a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

I had my video camera bag and my still camera in a side pocket. I was ready. The day before a General explained that I needed a book called the Reglamento Disciplinario de La Policia so that was my mission. Find the Book. And record any adventure that may pop up from here to there.

The sun was out in force and I thought nothing of it. The city was bustling and I had a mission. I visited the book shop in the Larco Mar Mall and they told me that I could find the book in the book fair. They gave me directions and off I went.

The traffic was busy but nothing out of the ordinary, but I recorded the process anyway cause it would be cool to review it later. (I reviewed it later and the shaky camera was horrible. I had to keep a steadier hand, but that’s almost impossible while walking along a crowded sidewalk.)

The Book Fair was a dud and they were able to tell me anything except that they thought I could find it somewhere downtown…no address was given. So I looked around and saw a couple of bookstores across the street.

They too turned me out with no promises. The day continued that way for the rest of the morning until I found myself on the beach.

The Lima beach part of the Costa Verde is made up of rocks ranging from pebbles to boulders. It seems pretty from afar but when I came up on it I was shocked to see anyone out there. But they were. The locals were out their sunning themselves, surfing and playing in the waves. They looked uncomfortable and the beach chairs were askew but they continued to sit there. Perhaps it’s because the average day here in Lima is so overcast that any hint of sun is more than enough to encourage them to brave the stones and get of it as much as they can.



I walked along the beach filming and shooting photos and got a sunburn for all my efforts. I saw some cool sea urchins and paragliding.



The paragliding was so exciting to watch that I took the challenge and jumped off the cliff and into a life experience.

It was 1 in the morning before I was able to slip into bed. The sheets acted like sleep agents and I was out before I knew it. At 6 they remained vigilant and resistant to my desires to get out of bed, lulling me back to sleep with a whisper, and a promise that there were more sheep to count. I had to throw them off and dash to the shower to avoid falling prey to their siren call.

The was no time for play or for breakfast. I called my wide on Skype while I got dressed and stuffed my bag full of my material and program report I had prepared the night before.

I flagged a cab and off we went to the Hotel del Sol which I was assured was a well known hotel. Well, my driver hadn't received that memo. We went around in circles until he was able to swallow his pride and ask a pedestrian off the street The more informed pedestrian informed the professional driver that we were only one block away.



He turned around, drove one block and I got out. I slid him his fee and closed the door while he was saying sorry or explaining why he didn't know where the hotel was. I wasn't upset but I was in a hurry since I was now late.

I rushed to the 12th floor on a decent elevator and was pleased to know that I had arrived number 5 of the 40 invitees.



The workshop was productive and we were able to establish our objectives, and project our path for the future goals.

Lunch was delicious as you can see.





By 5 it was over.



We were offered another line of wonderful deserts as we mingled and discussed what we had already discussed, ironing out details and talking briefly about soccer.





And I was able to walk back to the hotel through the neighborhood called Miraflores. The streets were quaint and the houses were pretty.












It was good to be back in the hotel before 8pm.

I had the ginormous buffet breakfast again but this time I brought a newspaper, my Peruvian law books, and the Org chart for the various agencies I was to see that day. I don't know why I bring so much with me. I don't have time to see it all but I suppose it's that feeling of "Who knows, you might need it" that prevails.

The food was excellent as always, and I slowly savored the cup of coffee with a dash of milk. Everywhere else I have gone I am offered coffee BLACK, with a mountain of sugar.

I flagged a cab and sped off to the Ministry of Interior for my packed full day of activities. The ride was uneventful and I was in my on-loan office by 8:30am. My Peruvian counterparts were already busy at work.


It's difficult to read law. And it is even more difficult to read law in another language. For the rest of the morning I spent pouring over the books the Ministry had lent me and consulting with the assistants on this point or that. The laborious task was broken up with an impromptu meeting with the Human Rights director of the MOI, followed by a quick visit (1 hour) with the person assigned to help me get around.

Lunch had arrived and I was still knee deep in post-it-notes, several law pamphlets similarly decorated with post-its making them seem like leaves sticking our of a book sandwich. My stomach protested the neglect and I took the org-chart and another pamphlet to the kitchen on the 4th floor.

The meal had been preselected early this morning and I knew what I would be getting. A baked empanada was first followed by a medallion of beef on a bed of rice following. For desert I was served a banana sliced on a plate.

I downed the juice drink as fast as I could so as not to taste the aspartame they had generously added. But you can' refuse hospitality and I went back to my office.

It seemed like a few minutes had passed when I was called by the General Salas informing me that he was ready to go see the Inspector General and the Tribunal Director. We slid into his 2002 Mazda sedan and off we went with his driver behind the wheel. Sofonias knew his way to our destination and deftly braved the traffic to find the offices.

On the way we saw a banner that was promoting an Anti corruption program from the Mayor of the district.



After the two meetings we left the offices to return to the MOI at 8:45. The day had been spent up We had made progress and my stack of notes was getting higher.

The fog had rolled in during the night and refused to reveal the tops of buildings along the ocean side road. The traffic was light which matched the cool breeze coming from the large body of water. It was looking to be a good day in Lima.



I didn't have breakfast since I wasn't feeling to well, but I did go down to the shopping center Lago Mar to have a Grande Cafe Mocha from one of the cities many Starbucks.



Forgetting that I had several copies that I needed to produce I returned quickly to the hotel business center and published the needed copies, and descended to the ground floor to hope in the awaiting taxi.



The taxi ride was uneventful and the traffic was forgiving, putting us at the ministry of interior 20 mins before my co-workers. We past several Chinese restaurants that looked interesting, and reminded me that they are called "Chifa" here. The Guards at the front gate were well informed of my arrival and waved me through after verifying my name.



The Ministry's compound is a refurbished airport that was built somewhere in the 30's. I'll get the exact date today.

Miriam Choi from the Embassy arrived and we walked into the Vice Minister's conference room. I met my main counter part retired general Julio Salas Pinto. A kind strong man with a quick and firm handshake.

The rest of the 10 participants arrived and took their chairs while the Vice Minister took the head of the table honoring me by allowing me to sit at his left. We exchanged pleasantries and I was presented formally by Miriam Choi to the Ministry of Interior. I followed up with a brief resume of my latest achievements which were well received and accepted.

The meeting went on and all the points were touched. (I don't want to bore you with the details.) The VM was very kind and at the end of the meeting offered me an office fully furnished, with computer, internet access, phone, internal email, and the use of his secretaries, and assistants. But he asked me to be committed to the process and asked that I spend long hours on this effort so as to make the 2-week stay as efficient as possible.



I was then taken by the arm by Gen Salas into his office to start the face-to-face meetings as soon as possible.

The day was long and I left the Ministry's compound at 9pm.

The Airport was filling up slowly and I was hopeing that I wouldn't have to sit beside to many people. I saw this man that was dressed strangely and I wondered if that was how the people in Peru dressed. Besides the 2 hats he was sporting his pants were being held up with a sash and his over coat (although pretty) seemed more like a costume.


Finally the plane boarded and I snuck on in the first boarding group. This made finding my seat easier. This was good since the seats were built for snuggling up to the seat in front of you

They were leather seats and very comfortable, and 875 is the number of hairs the balding man in front of me has growing in the back of his head. hmmmmmmm

We were served a chicken sandwich with a golf ball size chocolate wrapped in a blue, green and white wrapper. The presentation reminded me of my wife in that it was very pretty and must have taken much preparation.


The Lima airport was very beautiful clean, and organized. It blew El Dorado Airport out of the water. The baggage claim made me feel like I was in the Jersey airport. It was two stories tall and very spacious.

I took these photos from the hip so as not to bring attention to myself and have my camera confiscated. That's why they are skewed.

I was met by Victor the taxi cab driver who sported a vehicle registration written in Korean or Japanese ???


The trip to the hotel took 50 mins during which time I saw Papa Johns pizza, Chilies, Subway, TGIFridays, StarBucks, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, and of course McDonalds. Victor had initially told me that the trip would cost 30 Soles but at the hotel he charged me 40, so I didn't give him a tip.

By the time I took a shower and got settled it was 1am.