Room Change!

I forgot to tell you all last night that I changed rooms! They built a room upstairs and a bathroom to boot! I have pix of the room, but not the bathroom because I am a lazy blob. I get a great view of Cusco and the mountains from my room and I switched my bed around so I could sit and be pensive and ponder life and such. Hereeeeeeeeeeeeeee are the piccies!

my bed and window!

the closet/tv/etc

view from the windoww

other view from the window heh

Mom and Dad will be here tomorrow at 9am! I can't wait to see them!!

Besos

SpRiNg BrEaK 2012!!!1111one

Okay so today was my official first day of Spring Break. I did nothing. KEWL SWEET LYFE! I feel like a slug. All I did today was watch tv, eat, read, and go on the computer. I worked out tonight but I also found out my month at the gym is up. I still have 3 classes I can go to I think? Idk, I didn't really understand her. Mom and Dad get here in a few short days and things will pick up for me then. We're gonna go back to Sacsayhuaman, Machu Picchu, and take a city tour, among other things.

I'm bored and about to go to bed at 10PM on SPRING BREAK because all my freends are travelling to a bunch of really cool places like Paracas, Ica, Nasca, Arequipa, a bunch of really cool cities. I'm actually incredibly jealous, but I'm excited to spend time with mis papas. I'm gonna also take them to all my fave restaurants, they're gonna get to meet mi familia peruano, it's gonna be great.

Yesterday, Lucia tried to teach me how to somersault. I can only do it backwards I was too afraid to do it forward is that weird? I also cant cartwheel for shit. It's hard and scary! It was nice to be able to get to spend some quality time with the fam though sometimes I feel so awkward around them. It's not their fault! I am just weird.

Not that anyone's counting or anything but I only have 45 days left here. I also think that the seven days my parents are here is gonna go by super fast so its really more like 38. WEIRD. Weird weird and too weird. I am so excited to go home, but I also get a knot in my stomach when I think about leaving. The thing is, I've realized so much about myself while I've been here that I want to take back with me to the USA, but I feel like once I'm back it's gonna be so easy to fall back into old habits. For example, I rarely ever drink pop anymore. As a matter of fact, when I have the option to have pop or water, I always choose water. I never wake up later than 9 anymore, unless were counting today where I made myself sleep more. I'm organized & clean, well more clean than I was...I floss TWICE A DAY, which before-Peru-me would have laughed at. I DUNNO. I just dont wanna go back and fall back into the whole unorganized, sleepy, junk-food-eating old me when I get back. I feel like I'm sounding strange so I'll shut up.

OH I also got a hair wrappppp feeling so HiPsTeRy and hippie-like! Check dis shit out:

I am officially a huge GRINGA and loving every minute of it s0rr! h8Urz

Love yaaaaaaaa

Visiting the Lost Island/Jurassic Park

Here it is: the long awaited Machu Picchu post! Or at least it's long awaited for me. Last weekend we went to the very well known Machu Picchu for Saturday and Sunday and let me tell you, it was in-effing-credible. I will be very honest, I enjoyed the views probably more than the ruins, but only because I am an ancient aliens enthusiast and also don't really believe that archaeologists can just 'figure out' what ancient cultures were like by the buildings they had. It's never made sense to me. Anyway, let me recap the weekend.

secret garden WHAATT

So we had to take a train from Ollantaytambo (a place in the Sacred Valley) to Aguas Calientes (the city below the mountain of Machu Picchu). The car ride to Ollanta was looongggg and by that time we were all hungry. Actually, scratch that, we're always hungry. Bottom line, we wanted lunch. We found this really pretty restaurant that I want my future home to look like when I am a grown up with money. The garden outside of it was over a river and reminded me of a fairy tale. We then hopped on the train, which was another long, boring, ride and this time it was bumpy as shit too! It made sleeping pretty much impossible for everyone but ME because I can sleep anywhere. Heh. But I still only slept for a little bit. Otherwise I read. This is really boring, I have no idea why I'm telling you it.

I'm in Aguas Calientes bitch

When we got to Aguas Calientes, it was this quaint little town in the middle of a place that looked like it could either be a.) the Lost island or b.) Jurassic Park or even c.) a mixture of both. I'm gonna go with c. It was the running joke of the weekend. It didn't take long for us to find our hotel, the Killa Inn. It smelled like mold but it was nice enough. A few of my friends and I got the best room. It had a shit ton of windows and overlooked the Urubamba river, which ended up being more annoying than anything because it was rapids that rushed too loud to get a decent amount of sleep. After we settled into our hotel, we wanted to go get drinks because it was only 3 pm, we weren't going to Machu

Picchu til the next day, and we were a bunch of
20 somethings with nothing better to do. We went walking around looking for a bar my friends Mom said had 4 drinks for 20 soles when she was here. Remember, 20 soles = about 8 dollars. We didn't find it, but we DID find a place for 5 drinks for 20 soles AND free chips and guac with every order. Clearly, we were sold. We spent a few hours there and after spending too many soles, we wanted to go to the natural hot springs in Aguas Calientes. If you need the hot springs explained to you, get it together. Anyway, they were just a bunch of different pools that were naturally heated. We changed to our swimmy suits and headed over. It was ok, but the water smelled like a mixture of chicken broth and metal. One good thing is that I saw my host family because they went to Machu Picchu the same weekend! It was good to see them! :]

just entering Machu Picchu NO BIG

After that, we headed back to the hotel, showered, had a dance party, and then went to bed as we had to get up at 5am the next morning. Like I alluded to earlier, the river made all of us wake up every few hours, and at 4:45 a peruvian man came pounding on our doors "waking us up" but it mostly just made me want to murder him because I am a grouch in the morning. We ate breakfast, and then piled onto the bus. After a half hour weaving up the mountain, we finally made it to the Picch. The only bummer is that it was super foggy, but it's a wonder of the world so I got over it...kinda. Actually everyone else was over it, I was the debbie of the group. Sorry, I'm a complainer, working on it.

Like I said; incredible. We went on a tour through out all the ruins and got a little background on the place. It was "discovered" buy Hiram Bingham, but there were already farmers living here so not really. Also, Machu Picchu is not finished. There are places where the stones were clearly not carved thus making it not finished work. Long story short, when the spaniards came the incas were like OSHT and went to Machu Picchu to hide but the spaniards found that as well so then they escaped to another place, I forgot the name though. There are several different places of interest. The first is the sun temple,  on this summer equinox, the sun shines perfectly through the window on the front, in the winter it shines perfectly through the window on the right. KeWl. But seriously, it is. There is also a place called the three window temple I think, and when the sun shines through it it casts a shadow of the Inca Cross which represents the 3 levels of live the Incas believed in. Pretty neat.

sun temple YO

three window temple

climbin wayna

After the tour of regular Machu Picchu, we climbed a mountain. Yep, read it again, WE CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN. This one is called Wayna Picchu or "Young Mountain" to contrast Machu Picchu or  "Old Mountain" It was the single most challenging thing I think I've ever done, but maybe that's because it was so rewarding. We climbed almost vertically for just about an hour to reach the top. Literally the tippy top of the mountain. It was terrifying/mystifying/breathtaking. It's places like that that all the sudden you feel so small and it knocks the breath out of you. I think climbing it was my favorite part. It also had a sick view of Machu Picchu and we got some saweett pics.

at the top bitches!

sweaty AF enjoyin the view

mountaineers

We came back down the mountain and took a rest went to the bathroom etc. and then went to this place called the Inca Bridge. It's not really a bridge but I think it was? It's really narrow and easy to fall and the rock was f*cking HUGE. Fernando, our tour guide, told us a lovely story of a man who came by himself and was taking pictures and walked off the edge. It took three days and a dog search team to find him, but they did. Luckily he only suffered a broken leg and arm. By then it was pouring and I actually couldnt tell if I was drenched in sweat or in rain. We had spent literallllyyyyyy 8 hours at Machu Picchu so we were all excited to go back and eat.

wouldja lookit that!

We changed, ate, then headed to the train where I was excited to tiger snooze, except four incredibly drunk people were in our area as well so that didn't happen. I think one of the girls was famous cause there were paparazzi taking pictures of her. If she is famous its for being either a porn star or a play boy bunny cause her fake boobs bleach blonde hair thing she had going wasn't something a normal person would do.

ALL IN ALL. It was a great weekend in Aguas Calientes, I'm excited to go back next week when my parents get here! They actually get here in THREE days I'm so excited!

I leave you with this:

58 days, 58 days, 58 days, 58 days!

I don't know why when I have spectacular days here I always end up getting super homesick at the end of them! Last Friday, we went to a rural area outside of Cusco, where a different school has been helping repair a school and kitchen and greenhouse. While we were there, we sanded the school chairs and repainted them and also cleaned up the dirt area around the kitchen where there was a bunch of garbage and broken glass. My friend's Tory and Carly got a bunch of tooth brushes sent to them from their study abroad program so we also distributed those out to the kids. They each had to bring a stone to help us before they got the tooth brushes. They also ended up trading their brushes for candy from the store across the street. How ironic, right? Anyway, the kids were cute as shit and it was cool to be able to spend time with people outside my usual "group". A couple of kids that live in the dorms came too, so that's who I'm referencing.

SANDIN HARD

moving a ladder

toothbrushes on toothbrushes

us and the chicos

I suck at blogging I have a few more post I'll actually do. I've moved upstairs and gotten my own bathroom/shower which is sweet. It's kinda like my own apartment. Otherwise my midterms were decent. I bombed one test but I didn't study for it so it's my own damn fault. Sorry ma & pa. Besides this, my life pretty much has a routine, which I love. I can't believe we only have something like 53 days left. Time is flying. ALSO! Going to look at some quaint little place called Machu Picchu  this weekend. Have you heard of it? It's just one of the wonders of the world, nbd, we're gonna go for a casual jaunt through it. Then the week after Mom & Dad are visiting. Can't waiitittttlkjsflejlkm! Well, love ya miss ya, hope Minny is great.

Hasta pronto!

Lists

5 Things In Cusco That I Could Get Used To:

1.) The food. THE. FOOD. It is so good here. I think it's some of the best food in the world. It's asian (the rice) mixed with the food from the highlands. Did you know there are over 3000 types of potatoes? THREE THOUSAND. There is also this special pepper, 'aji amarilla'  and it's used in my favorite dish here 'Aji de Gallina' and that is this yellow pepper made into a sauce and then mixed with shredded chicken and served over cooked and sliced potatoes with rice on the side. It is so good. SO GOOD. I could easily get to be 700 pounds here. Thank god for my spin class.

2.) The scenery. These mountains are such a good change of scenery from MN. Flat plains is all Minneapolis consists of. Here, walking out the door you see the mountains. At night the mountainside is lit up from the lights on the houses. It is magical. Walking down a street at night is almost breathtaking to me. I sound like such a drama queen but the city I live in is gorgeous. I'm almost glad I didn't grow up here cause I would have taken it for granted.

3.) Transportation. The buses and taxis are soooooo cheap here and they get you almost anywhere. I don't even know how I'll readjust being back in MN and having to either drive places or take a bus for a 1.75. Which brings me to my next point...

4.) The exchange rate. Everything is so cheap! I am so used to being like 'Okay, so this is 11 soles so that means its really only like 4 US Dollars' and that is every day for something that is clearly worth more than four dollars. It will be weird to come back and not have to convert everything in my head. Just what it costs is what it is. It's hard to explain, but I am definitely verry used to the excellent exchange rate here.

5.) The markets. There are these huge markets which I guess the closest comparison is Farmer's Market's in MN but honestly it's all types of food; fruits, veggies, cheese, meat, you name it. It's also all organic, and it's all cheap as shit. I would obvi always eat organic if it was as cheap as it is here. The chickens are all raised on a farm and raised and killed more humanely. They aren't raised in pens and don't have their beaks burned off and messed up shit like that. I just like it I wanna bring it home with me.


Things In Cusco That I'll Never Get Used To:

1.) Men peeing wherever the hell they want. At least once a day I walk by a man pissing. Next to his car, on the street, in a shrub, on a wall: they don't give a shit. Too many times I've been walking, enjoying the beautiful weather in this unbelievably gorgeous and historical city, only to have the poignant moment be ruined by the waft of piss and seconds later the image of a man peeing only 3 feet from me. Won't get used to it, shouldn't have to.

2.) The honking. Cars are EVERYWHERE. Honking and fucking honking, like that will move the cars. I  loathe the person who invented car horns and thought they were a good idea. They aren't. They're pointless and obnoxious and often times terrify me. Call me a baby but it happens to damn much for no reason at all.

3.) All their drinks are hot. And not just luke warm but CALIENTE. Sometimes, I get a smoothie for breakfast, only the jokes on me because the smoothie is HOT. I probably sound like such a big baby but it is something I can't get used to. I never thought I cared that much about my drink being cold but I DO. I have dreams about drinking a cold glass of milk because their milk here is condensed and mixed with hot water. I actually like that, but a girl needs a cold beverage every now and again. They also serve their drinks AFTER you eat. You don't get to drink during your meal. The beverage culture here is so extraordinarily different that in los Estados Unidos, and after spending 20ish years there, I prefer the US's beverage choices.

4.) Housekeeping. The whole 'having a housekeeper' thing is throwing me off, man. My house keeper organizes my room down to the lotion I accidentally leave out. It's reminiscent of the book/movie 'The Help' only it's more classism than racism. When we eat lunch, Evita (our housekeeper) eats too, only different food and on a stool not at the table. Not only does she clean the whole house, but she watches the kids and gets paid shit for money. There are a lot of poor people here so they work for super cheap and do stuff like that. I can't and won't ever get used to it. I never thought I'd say I don't like people picking up after me but I really just don't. At all.

5.) The smells. Sometimes the smells here are just too much. Whether it's pee, poop, or just plain smog, it is something I will not miss.

Well I hope I don't seem like too much of a complainer. I am very happy here and can't believe I am already half way through with my adventure! It's gonna be sad to go but I will be so happy to see everyone I love back in MN again too :]

I found out I've been spelling 'chau' the italian way. In Peru it's either 'chao' or 'chau'
Besos!

Feliz Cumpli, Julietita!

Hola amigos. I suck at blogging and I thought that I would definitely not be one of those people who suck and blogging when I came here. BOY IS MY FACE RED. Well, not much has been happening except school and midterms and our amazing program coordinator Cristian almost quitting. School and midterms are self explanatory pretty much. I'll talk about my Spanish for a bit though cause it is getting so much better! It's so exciting to answer "Si" when someone asks if I speak the language instead of "Un poco" I really can't speak THAT well but I understand almost everything that's said to me which makes me do a little happy dance inside when I have conversations with people. Anywhooser, that's that.

William Shakespeare lookin ass on the right

Cristiiaaannn

So, Cristian. He is probably one of the most amazing people I have ever met. You know how you encounter those people in your life who are few and far between but they are just genuinely GOOD? Well, he's one of them. On Friday night we went to a cool little bar that Cristian loves and listened to a really sweet band that did covers of contemporary music on guitar, violin, and this cool Peruvian drum thing. It was sweet. After, we left Cristian, he said would meet us later at our favorite bar Norton Rats. So we met up with these annoying ass bricheros (bricheros is a slang word for Peruvians that try to hang with/date gringos and a gringo is a non-Peruvian tourist/person) who crept around for a long time and finally we were all gonna leave. None of us wanted to go with this band of bricheros, though, and on our way out, lo and behold: CRISTIAN! Sitting at the bar drinking a rum & water (his drink of choice. We begged Cristian to save us and he did! We got a table with him and got more drinks. He proceeded to buy ALL of ours for the rest of the night. We migrated to the bar, Inkateam, where we saw a bunch more of our friends from school. It was a blur but it was real fun!

my whole family :]

Sary, Julietita y yo

Yesterday, my host sis Julieta turned 2, so of course they had a fiesta! I brought a couple friends and it was semi awkward but it was so nice to see all of the family together! We had pollo a la brasa (fried chiggen and french fries) for dinner and a delicious cake! There was a SHIT TON of candy but I gave it up for lent so I just had to gaze at my friends enviously as they enjoyed it. It was really fun but Julie was afraid of the clown and she had a fever so she wasn't very talkative. She looked ADORBS in her birthday dress. I was lucky enough to get a picture with her and my host mom :]

Life here is fun, and tomorrow marks the half way point of my journey. I will be so sad to leave this place and my family and friends I have made here. I do get home sick and miss home so much but I know that I will also get home sick for Cusco when I return to the States.  I wanna say I won't cry like a baby when I'm headed to the airport, but I know I will. On a good note, my friend and I are on the same 8 hour flight from Lima to New York so that will be fun!




Anyway, besitos!

zoos, clubs, and restaurants

sprayin the shit out of 'em!

Holy hell! Time sure flies! Exactly a week ago today was the end of February, and thus the end of Carnaval en Cuzco. I think it's actually in all of Peru but I didn't pay attention til the last day (unfortunately). I went to a zoo with my friends Carly, Tory, and their host brudda Israel. BUT in the spirit of Carnaval, on our way there, we sprayed the shit out of unsuspecting...or suspecting victims. We didn't discriminate. It's common to get this foam/silly string stuff and spray as many people as you can (hopefully in the face) before it all runs out. I mostly sniped pictures because they only got two cans before they picked me up but it was still so fun to look at people's reactions.

What a show off

Lovin' the new shades

Once we got to the zoo, we saw tons of animales. It kinda depressed me because they were in cages, but I got over it. The first thing we saw was this little oso negro. He was so adorbs and after watching us gawk at him for a few minutes he liteeeeeeeerrrraally performed for us, climbing the little pole in his cage and perching a top it like a damn tight rope walker or something. He looked right over and posed for pictures, then slid down. I don't know how the next part happened but Carly's sunglasses fell into it's cage and it proceeded to sniff and eat them. It was hilarious. Oh, also, owls.

These owls don't give a shit

Besides owls there were MaCaws...is that how you spell it? Sorry, Mom, I'm doing my best but I'm not an English major so I'm rusty. Also, crazy nasty ass monkeys, okay they weren't nasty but I was referencing the honey badger vid titled "The Crazy Nasty-ass Honey Badger". Anyway, bad jokes aside the monkeys flipped and tumbled and screeched and hopped and were all around insane. We probably watched them for a good twenty minutes. We then saw some foxes and a Condor, which is the sacred animal of the celestial world to the Incas and also a very sacred animal still today. These things are HUGE! Very beautiful as well. Next, pumas, the sacred animal of the earth world. Not quite as sacred today as they were in Inca times, but still pretty effin awesome. One stared right at me as I took pics, as you can see.

We saw other animales, but I don't know their names. A pig, a weird deer/goat/thing, more monkeys, weird honey badger-esque things, also we held a boa constrictor. I could've held a sloth but I was too cheap and I kinda regret it but we got a picture with it!

Honeybadger? No?

THIS little shit

The foxes wouldn't pose for anything

Condor

Pezzed

Weird thing I have no idea what it is

This monkey didn't have a cage

MaCaw...McCaw? don't care

Check it out bitches! LyVyN LyFe On ThA EdGe

Otherwise, that week was boring. Yesterday, I went with my host dad, mom, and two sisters to a cute little restaurant with a cool park. We played volleyball, swung on tireswings, and ate good ass food. I almost tried guinea pig but it was expensive and I was scared. Julieta and her dad started throwing grass on each other and on random dogs so I snapped some pics. Lucia also started literally somersaulting around I don't know how she did it so many times in a row. After lunch, Coco and Sara dropped Lucia and I off at the house where we made home made whipped cream and had it with dulce de leche and ice cream. Que rico! But seriously...that shit was so good.

Just chillen

Her lil chicken nugs were too hot

They found a dog!

Her bout 700th summersault. Loca chica.

Adding the whipped cream

The finished product. Pardon my drool

Besides all this, I've been doing homework (ha, good joke), going out, buying shit, dropping names, breaking hearts, you know, the usual.

Besos!