Today is the first big day! The first Spanish Immersion Program (SIP) STRIVErs are arriving in Lima tonight and Rob and I have spent the day running some last minute errands around the city. As usual in Perú, tasks which seemed simple (getting some new phones, SIM cards, etc.) ended up taking most of the morning, and before we knew it 3pm and we hadn’t even had lunch yet. Our incredibly gracious hosts – my friends Tanja and Jose who live and work in finance in downtown Lima, took us to an amazing Peruvian restaurant, where we were treated to all styles of amazing food. Lima is particular known as the gastronomical capitol of Peru and it certainly lived up to the reputation. We had some incredibly fresh seafood dishes and left stuffed and satisfied.

 

By the time we were finished with our late lunch, it was time to head over to our hotel near the airport and get ready to pick up the SIP kids! Our driver, Raul, picked us up and we made the 5 minute trip to the airport where we met Laurel, our first STRIVEr of the year! Rob took her back to the hotel and I returned with Raul to pick up Kyler and Olivia, our first arriving intern.

 

Back at the hotel, we had a quick debriefing and then headed to bed. An early morning awaits, as we have one more STRIVEr coming in at 6am before we make the spectacular flight up to las montañas of Cusco! More tomorrow – stay tuned!