New food and new friends!

Today was a very exciting and busy day! I walked through the city this morning and came to a street that had been shut down for the day.  This is where the kids play soccer (photo attached).   A young child kicked a ball and it rolled towards me so I kicked it back.  He smiled and said something but I couldn't make it out.  There was a man standing behind me and he said "he told you you have a very good kick and you should play with them."  I declined but the man proceded to let me know that I could join the Peruvian National running club that meets at 5 a.m...something tells me they would blow me out of the water and I would be left lost on Larco Avenue haha.  This afternoon I met up with Carla and her son Steffan (sp?) for lunch.  Carla is a friend of a friend from Maine.  She took me to a wonderful restaurant Costa Verde. The restaurant overlooks the Pacific Ocean and had every food imaginable.  In Peru, lunch is like dinner.  Often three courses and the biggest meal of the day.  I had everything from mini octopus to my first Pisco Sour (pisco is Peruvian Brandy).  The food is all very good although it will take some getting used to eating that much food in the middle of the day! I have attached a few photos from lunch (appetizer, main dish and dessert whoa!).  We then went to the Miraflores Park for a walk.  Here we saw 'Lovers Statue' (photo attached).  It is a beautiful statue.  Carla dropped me off and Ana, my translator and physical therapist at hospital Almenara  was at the hotel ready for our 6:00 coffee (Peruvian dinner?) meeting.  She brought her secretary/assistant with her.  I gave them the supplies I donated to their clinic and they replied 'this is like gold to us, we will wrap it so nobody can see it and take it.' They currently use bicycle tires for Theraband.  I also gave them some braces that were donated.  They looked them over and tried to come up with ways they could duplicate the locking mechanism. Ana informed me that they currently make straight leg braces out of PVC piping but they don't unlock so they were fascinated by the braces I gave them.  We went out on the town this evening and they showed me where everything is located in town etc.  I start at Sabogal Hospital tomorrow.  They changed my first site last minute due to 'internal issues'.  It will be a 1.5 hr commute each way...slightly longer than my commute in Maine haha.  Oh, and two more things: Yes, I ate the entire meal this afternoon and my borrowed converter from the front desk blew up so I now have no operating outlets in my room...I asked if they could fix them and they gave me the same converter that caught fire!!!!!!!! Off to Sebogal, Peru bright and early!