Walking (who knew)

GETTING BACK ON OUR FEET
TURNING SLOTHS INTO CHEETAHS

LIMA ONE DAY AT A TIME

It’s difficult to believe you can forget how to do something you’ve been doing since you were about 1 maybe 2 for those slow starters.  As with most things you want to do well, it’s important to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk. When traveling, this expression takes on a quite literal meaning. Yes, I am talking about one of man’s greatest achievements, walking upright, and for extended periods.
Since our first foray overseas, we have had to get used to walking almost everywhere.  No car for us in Egypt meant walking to work, to the store, to the restaurant, to see friends on a daily basis.  Sure we took the occasional taxi but we relied heavily on our feet to get us where we needed to go.  The two years in Colorado that followed saw us purchasing a home with direct access to one of the many walking paths winding their way through the fitness-crazed city. We fit right in and many would see us ambling those nature trails on nights and weekends.  Taiwan provided new insights for us.  We knew the school was located at the bottom of a hilly residential area and that we would most likely be walking most places.  We were bent on getting a place on that hill.  Then we found out most places were walk ups, no elevators.  Good thing we like stairs.  We decided then that flat terrain was also nice.  We went with living flat and decided we would visit our friends on the hill.  We still walked everywhere.

Why are you telling us this I can hear you asking yourselves.  You have to wait a bit more, I promise it's  coming.

For the past two years we have been in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.  We had a car, a necessity for us in this city where our apartment was so far from our work and walking simply not a viable option.  Salvador provided additional irony in that Nancy was now holding down a desk for the first time in…oh…maybe ever.  I at least was on my feet everyday virtually all day pacing around the classroom and doing the occasional squat, although my knees generally frown on that kind of thing these days.  
It seems strange that the body can forget so quickly.  From the first time I can remember hearing or more likely seeing pictures of Machu Pichu, I have wanted to go.  When we first contemplated this trip, I was excited by the prospect of finally being able to hike the Inca Trail.  Nancy was more tentative.  Nancy was more realistic.  We aren’t in the shape we were when we climbed Kilimanjaro.  Yet.

Our first week has seen us exploring the fascinating city of Lima, Peru.  We are struck by the contrasts to Salvador.  That for a different post.  Equally as important this first week, we are learning to walk again.  It may sound strange but there it is.  Our first day we walked to the nearby Parque Kennedy, had breakfast/lunch then ambled down the street until we reached ocean. By then we needed a short break and socks.  Well I needed the socks but we both needed a break.  Then we walked back.  Sounds tiring eh?  We made it back to our hotel under our own power I am happy to report.  We even went back out for dinner later that night.  A successful day for both of us.  Over dinner we discussed what hurt. Hips, feet, thighs, knees, the usual suspects.  Could we be getting old?  Nah…a liter later we were right as rain and again shuffled off to our hotel to recover (from our walk, not the beer).  We have been walking each day since and each day sees us getting sorer and stronger, although the sorer has been more obvious.  Shins, what are those?  Is that supposed to hurt? Could it be flip-flops cause shin pain?

Aside: Nancy is tall here.  This will certainly be the topic of a future post.  I am just waiting for a little old lady to sidle up to her on the street, stand several inches too close, look up at her and comment on it. Can only be a matter of days I am thinking.I am glad Nancy suggested staying in Lima for a week before hitting the road so to speak.  It has given us a chance to get our feet under us, if only partially, before we head off.  Our diet and exercise has improved and as we get used to the fresh food options available here it will continue to do so.  It’s winter here now and only in the mid 60’s.  Perfect exercise weather.  Most of the locals are bundled up which we find mildly amusing, and the skies are apparently perpetually grey this time of year. It makes telling the time quite difficult since the light is the same at 9am as 11am as 3pm as 5 pm.  Each morning we are little less stiff, we are thankful for this.  While we may not turn ourselves into anything nearing the fleet of foot cheetah, we are determined to stop resembling our three-toed friends.

Stay tuned for more on our metamorphosis from sloths to cheetahs.