Tuesday, February 22-

There is a Starbucks that opened just down from the historic Plaza de Armas in central Arequipa. Some call this a blight; I call this awesome.

Here’s why: this Starbucks is the first coffee shop I’ve found in Peru and Chile that doesn’t have blaring horns 2 feet away from your table, or swarming flies, or odd and illegible hours. It’s clean, quiet (outside of normal Starbucks music), has fast wi-fi, opens reliably at 7am every day, and the staff are consistently friendly. The staff also seem very glad to be working at a Starbucks (compared to all the other restaurants and cafes I’ve seen, where listlessness is common).

The drinks cost twice as much as other cafes (S/8 instead of S/4 for a cappuccino), but I still go here every morning.

Today was a day of not much happening. The students had plans to visit a free art museum at noon, but those fell through. On the upside, I got a lot of writing done, which makes me a happier trip leader.

We ended the day with a delicious student-cooked meal and meeting on the roof.