No, Really, I've Been Working...

Can't believe I've been away so long. Thanks to the 1.37 people who continue to visit this site on a daily basis. To reward you for coming back, I'm stuffing this blog full of goodies.

The photo below is me attending a world record-setting Pachamanca near Lima, Peru earlier this month. I never fully understood the whole thing, but a Pachamanca is when a giant pile of meat, chicken, pork, sweet potatoes and fava beans are buried in the ground and cooked for hours. Then it's all uncovered and served to a crowd of inpatient, largely inebriated Peruvians and their gringo friends. This little town was trying to set the world record by serving 5,000 people from a single Pachamanca. (The far more interesting photo above is Dana trying to harass a loose tortoise at the same event).

Besides Lima, Dana and I have been out traveling the countryside here in Bolivia. A link to some recent photos is posted at right.

Workwise, I've had a couple recent stories in the New York Times and the Economist, with a few more expected in the next week or two (including the long-delayed surfing story). Both these stories are now available only in the pay-per-view archives, so if you want a copy, let me know and I'll email it over. I also had a chance to interview Evo Morales, the nationalist coca leader whose election in December would send the U.S. govt into fits. That story will hopefully be out within the week, when I'll also be able to tell you how hard it is to meet a presidential candidate who doesn't like the newspaper you're working for...

That's all for now, except that I'll hopefully being seeing some of you in the states very shortly.