SIXTO

Hi all you wonderful people (or maybe just Jean's mammy), Raighne here!

As Jean has mentioned, we've been doing a lot of traveling lately. Because taxis are so cheap here in Lima (and because we've been as of yet too scared to explore the Lima bus system), we've spent a lot of time in taxis and met a lot of taxi drivers. My favorite so far has been Sixto, one of the friendliest humans ever, the father of three children (two of whom are students at La Catolica), who often works at Metro (across the street from New York City) near our house getting shoppers and their yellow-bagged groceries home safe and sound. He gave us the rundown on Lima's higher education system, including his son's thesis research on alternative heating energy sources, and finally wrote down his phone number and told us to visit him at work if ever we're around.

Since taxi fare is prearranged, it's been a trick to overcome the U.S. mindset of feeling ripped off when a ride gets stuck in traffic or the driver's lost. Instead: lost driver (as we had yesterday afternoon) = discount tour of the city and conversations galore.

I hope they're all as nice as Sixto.