melanie bill

Happy Spring Time Everyone!!! It is actually the winter season down here in Lima so it is quite foggy on most days. We have about three weeks until we head back to the States so we are starting to plan our return. One of the things we have been doing is trying to find an apartment. We are a little nervous in taking an apartment "Site Unseen." Every since we arrived in Peru, we have been asked the question, "Have you been to Machu Picchu yet???" We would respond with, "No....not yet, but it is our plan sometime in the future." Matt and Jenya are friends from San Francisco who just can down to see us and they were interested in a hike in the Cusco area that included checking out Machu Picchu. Since the famous ... read more

(Singing) "Don't you want me baby......don't you want me ahhhh...ohhh!" Here is another update from the land of 80's one hit wonders and incredible surfing lefts! With about three 80's stations in Lima, it is not uncommon to hop into a cab and hear your favorite song from 25 years ago (if the radio has not been robbed yet). Well, there is just under 3 months left here in Peru and things are still going well. Melanie has been very busy lately meeting deadlines for her projects and I have been sticking to my goal of attending Spanish classes. Melanie was recently in Atlanta presenting her findings at a conference. I hope you enjoy this collection of photos with most of them coming from a recent 5 day surfing trip about 10 hours north up the ... read more

Happy Holidays Everyone! We definitely miss the holiday feeling down here in Lima. It is just not the same as the weather gets warmer and warmer. Everyday starts off with low clouds followed by clearing around noon. The average daytime temperature along the coast (when the Sun comes out) is about 70-75 degrees. After thinking about it for a long time, Mom and Dad Bergeron decided to come down to Peru for a week for a quick visit. We spent the first few days in Miraflores and Lima getting acquainted with the surroundings, eating great seafood, visiting museums, and sampling a few Peruvian beverages. Dad was very interested in trying the cuy (guinea pig) but after hearing that it had too many small bones, he decided to pass. They were very interested about seeing the Andes ... read more

I know it is a weird title to have for this blog but it is sort of an interesting story. Every five to 10 years, Peru wants to know how many people are living here so they literally do a door-to-door census. Peru picked a date (October 21st, 2007) and required everyone to stay in their homes for 10 hours from 8am to 6pm. People are also required to stay sober during this time. I went surfing at 5:30am with our friend Dave and returned to our apartment just before the deadline of 8am. I thought it was sort of funny when I saw several people going out to surf as we were getting out of the water. Were they going to follow the government's rules? It did not turn out to be that strange of ... read more

Hello from Peru!!! Time is flying by down here in Peru! Six days after our arrival (Aug. 10th), Peru was shaken up a bit with a magnitude 8.0 earthquake. We were on the ninth floor of an 11 story apartment building at our friend Dave's apartment. It sure felt as if the building was made of rubber as we swayed back and forth for about 3 minutes. Lima was not really affected by quake but the Pisco region sure was. Melanie and the other two medical fellowship recipients volunteered to help out with the relief effort down in Pisco for about a week. They assisted U.S. doctors with data collection and translating. At the time of the quake, Melanie and I had found an apartment and set an appointment to sign the lease. When we went ... read more