I'll be blogging again!!

I've decided to start blogging again.  My goal is 5 times a week for all of February.  So here goes...

First, to update you all on what I've been doing since my last post....I finished babysitting in early December just in time for a visit from my elementary school friend, Caitlin.  We had a great time seeing Iguazu Falls, introducing her to all my friends in San Ignacio, and exploring Buenos Aires before heading to Peru.  Despite some pretty bad altitude sickness my first night in Cuzco, we had an amazing time touring the Sacred Valley, excessively purchasing handmade alpaca garments, and drinking various fresh-made medicinal juices to cure our abundance of ailments (we both had minor colds/coughs in additional to her sunburn and lactose intolerance and my altitude sickness and inability to sleep).  Being at 3300 meters it was moderately cold, making the Christmas decorations and lights feel natural and logical, in comparison to the awkward snowflakes hung from the lampposts in the 90 degree heat of Buenos Aires.  Even though light-up llamas and inflatable alpacas replaced our traditional reindeer and snowmen, it was enough to put us in the Christmas spirit. 

The trip just getting to Machu Picchu was, in itself, a quite memorable experience.  Switchback turns up and down the steep slopes of the Andes, driving through clouds, going over the peaks of mountains and looking down off the edge of guardrail-less curves at the hundreds and hundreds of meters of trees, rocks, and rivers that we would pass through in a free fall to the bottom of the valley.  Oh, and lets not forget the one-lane hand-made rail-less wooden bridge over the river/canyon that we crossed.  But it was all worth it to be able see the famous Inca ruins, to see the mysterious blanket of fog that covers these ancient structures every night, and then watch it magically dissipate throughout the morning. It was almost overwhelming to observe the exactness to which each rock was shaped, imagine the effort put forth in transporting these rocks from one mountain to another, all the while keeping in mind that this was built without any type of machinery.

For our last night in Cuzco we celebrated an amazing week with an excellent sheep tongue dinner.  Well, for me at least.  Caitlin opted for something more normal, but clearly less memorable as I've already forgotten what it was.  We also tried a traditional drink made from corn that tasted like juice, and regrettably never got around to trying guinea pig, a common meal there.  As we boarded the plane to Lima with our last-minute tickets that we bought to avoid a 21-hour bus ride, we made a list of all the memorable moments of our trip, and lamented that is was about to end.  But at least we still had a day and a half to enjoy the second driest capital in the world!! ...which unfortunately turned out to by quite poor, undeveloped, dirty, dangerous, and slummy, compared to the rest of South America.  But at least we were lucky to get that last two beds in a hostel!!  ...which also happened to be lodging a few sleazy guys whose first question was "Are you married?" All that I can really highlight about Lima is that we ate an amazing ceviche lunch!!  ...which had giant portions and we could eat the leftovers for dinner!!

And then we went to the airport, played cards until Caitlin's 4am flight, and I slept on airport chairs until my 10am flight.  But my adventure was still to continue in Ecuador...check back tomorrow to see if I've given up on my blog again, or if I'll actually tell you about Ecuador...