Mi cabeza es rojo!

Hola amigos(yep, practically fluent at this point :) )-

Having opted to buzz my hair as short as possible for this trip, I now have an uncomfortable situation on my hands, or, more accurately, on my head. The hot South American sun has scorched my dome and I am fairly certain that there is not one hat on this entire continent that fits my huge American cabeza. Thus, I am forced to live with the pain- boo hoo. Other than that, I am happy as a Peruvian clam.
Lima no longer seems as shocking and intense as it did when I first arrived. In fact, I have made so many wonderful friends that it even feels a bit like home in a weird way. I am learning a lot about the local customs and traditions, which has helped to make sense of the madness.
I learned yesterday that is is virtually impossible not to make friends in this city. Everywhere you turn there is another backpacker, many travelling alone, anxious for some quality human interaction. Yesterday, for example, I decided to venture out by myself for a guided tour of some local ruins and ended up meeting Mick, a 25 year old Australian outdoorsman in the middle of a 1 year trip throughout North and South America. He and I ended up grabbing lunch and hanging out for the rest of the day and well into the night.
Speaking of the night, it was wild. Here´s a summary- Pedro, the owner of my hostal, kicked things off by making his famous Pisco Sours for all of his guests. The pisco sour is a Peruvian drink containing pisco, lime, egg white, and sugar. It is absolutely fantastic, as was the group of fellow drinkers, which represented about 7 countries from South Korea to Columbia. After this, Pedro took a smaller group of us to one of his favorite places in Barranco, Lima´s artsy nightlife district. We drank, danced, and talked well into the night, then returned home around 2AM. Somehow I still had loads of energy at this point, so Pedro and I decided to make our way to one of the local casinos for some late night low stakes gambling. I wasn´t sure what to expect, but the place turned out to be very similar to what you would experience in Blackhawk or Vegas. After winning some nuevo soles and eating lots of miniature sandwiches, we finally decided to call it a night and took a taxi home around 4. All in all, it was a VERY fun night, and one that I will not soon forget.
My favorite part of the trip thusfar has, without a doubt, been the friends I have made. Spending time with such a diverse group is uniquely fulfilling and exactly what I had hoped for when planning all of this. Lima has been wonderful, but I am anxious for the girls to get here so that we can officially begin our adventure together.
Goodbye for now, love you all.