Peru, like the country

Well, I'm back in South America, in Lima, Peru. I arrived last night at around 11.

So I went through Immigration and asked the agent for an 183-day stamp. He asked me what I was going to do for six months and when I said "vacation" he seemed to look askance at that: "30 days is a vacation", he said. Then he asked me what I did for a living and whether I intended to work here. I said "programmer" ("bum¨ woul be more accurate) and "no". Anyway I got my six month stamp but with a stern warning that the visa did not permit me to work and that if I were caught working I would be expelled and never allowed back in. Obviously he didn't understand my aversion to gainful employment.

Customs was uneventful. You have to press a button that displays a green or red light and if you get red your bags are checked. I got green. I suppose I could have been busted for carrying four memory cards for my camera instead of the prescribed two.

When I exited Customs the "taxi" from my hotel was waiting: in reality a young man with a van who works for the hotel. No matter, he got me there, cost 40 soles ($14). When I got there a small bait-and-switch took place: I had reserved a room with bathroom but none were available. At midnight I wasn't going to look around for better so I took it. Supposedly the room I wanted will be available today.

The hotel looks to be a big old mansion that is now a rabbit warren of hotel rooms. Charming enough, I guess. I don't know how long I'll stay there, though: I'm having trouble connecting to the internet, both on my laptop and Kindle. The laptop appears to connect and the signal strength is "Very Good" but I can't load any pages. I'm addicted enough that I don't know if I can handle it without access. Right now I'm at an internet cafe (cost 1 sol--35 cents--per hour).

The temperature is in the mid-20s...woo hoo...and even last night when I arrived it was 19--a change from those cold nights in the mountains. I think it was -10 or something when I left Toronto, and I gather from my friends' Facebook comments that it snowed again yesterday in amounts that may or may not have been a snowstorm (in Toronto, you never can tell).