Hello everyone! Despite rumors about joining a tribe up in the mountains, I AM alive and well and currently in Aguas Calientes. Somehow, without me knowing, a month passed just like that. I think it's a Peruvian trick. My homestay gone but not forgotten, I am now on my own with the other amigas, back to our small little tribe. So what have I been up to since we last spoke? Sorry, but this will take a while.
Last Monday through Wednesday passed in the same it has on days on the farm. Weeding in the morning, an AMAZING lunch by Juana, and usually a Pixar or Dreamworks movie in the afternoon with Inti, all in Spanish which made it really interesting. Highlights from these days though? Monday throughout the whole day we watched Peruivan Independence Day celebrations on the TV that was brought into the kitchen for the special occasion. They had police dogs do tricks for the President which was a first for me. For dinner that night we also had an AWESOME version of a Peruvian lasagna with thick crust on both sides. Yummmm. The next night passed the same, except instead of watching the equivalent of Peruvian PBS we watched a documentary on Che Guevera. I must say I have become FASCINATED with him, even if he is a communist. The next night, though, I wasn't so lucky.
First round of food sickness. Hoorrayyy! Wednesday morning around 3 in the morning I was awoken by the lovely sound of my stomach doing flips and turns. My favorite. Thankfully by morning I was ok, but the fun doesn't stop there. After having an especially lazy morning due to my upset stomach, Emily and I decided to enlist the help of Inti, who is six by the way, to find Edi who had taken the cows to forage. After walking about 25 minutes, and crossing a river that came up to our ankles we finally found her. Afterwards, though, Emily and I thought that we knew best and tried to find an alternate route. We found this spot that was TOTALLY jumpable and, with Emily's confidence in me for I told her I ran track, I ran and jumped the river. Poor decisions. What I thought was solid ground turned out to be about 3 feet of mud, coming up a little past my knees. After initial laughing, and Emily deciding to go an alternate route instead of joining in for camaraderie, I walked back leaving a foot of mud in my wake and took my second shower of the day. Moral of the story? Always listen to the six year old.
To make up for my embarrassing, but expected, accident, Emily and I went into Cuzco on Thursday in order to go to a small celebration at Chirsto Blanco, a huge, white Christ that looks over the city. They like things really literal here. First I made it a mission to buy train tickets/MP tickets in town for the date was getting close! (It is tomorrow, afterall.) After asking many locals we found our way around and our mission was accomplished. To TREAT OURSELVES for the day we got an amazing lunch of salads, with a side of french fries and Sprite for me and some coffee for Emily. It was delightful. Also had some awesome homemade ice cream while we were at it, so it was just all around wonderful. After doing some family shopping we went up to where the festival was, only to find that we had missed it by thirty minutes. From what some Peruvians told us though we didn't miss much. They threw some food in a circle and lit it on fire. Yeah. I then visited some ruins that Emily didn't have a pass for, her sitting outside knitting, and I was once again part of a Peruvian family photo. It was a good day.
Friday we double dug some more beds then went on a mini adventure with Julio's friend, Sebastian, to go into town to get some fuel for his truck to go out to his tractor. Thought we would work a little bit but, no, we just had a cerveza break. Because beer is not my favorite, though, I got to drive the tractor with help from Elvis, the tractor driver. Stalled a little bit, but got it going eventually. I'm a real farmer, y'all!!!
Saturday Emily and I went into Calca again and I had a minor panic attack. I knew my gmail wasn't working. Big deal, I'll figure it out when I get into Cuzco. What I didn't know though was that my blog had aloso gone MIA when my sister asked me why I didn't have one anymore. I only freaked out due to the fact that so much had been typed and I was being lazy and didn't want to go back and write this again. Thankfully after a quick back 10 minute back and forth emailing with my sister all was figured out and all was good. Once back at the house we separated corn into piles, ones for cuyes, ones for dog food, ones for chicha, and ones for harvest. It got windy so we went inside and harvested while listening to The Beatles, Julio's music, and Clem Snide, my music. It was lovely.
Finally it was Sunday, Yesica's birthday!! Emily got me up at 6:30, a rarity for me, because we were having cake and popcorn for breakfast. Nommm. After eating they saw how tired I was and encouraged me to go back to bed. Can't fight that. After going to bed for another two hours got up, went to town to explore, then came back in time for an oatmealy type lunch. The best part was after lunch when Julio asked if I wanted to run a quick errand up to the fields, although he wouldn't explain exactly what that included. Once we got there, it was clear. It was a beer delivery for the workers, of course. While that was happening, though, he asked if I wanted to drive the moto. OF COURSE! Where did you learn how to drive a motorcycle? Oh, you know. The Sacred Valley. No big deal. It was going great for a while until I came to a nice, calm stop, but forgot to put feet on both side and toppled over. The Peruvian's in the fields started laughing at me but it's ok because they called us over for a Chicha break. Score.
Came back in time for festivites to start, of Pisco Sours and traditional highland music. Partying from four to nine though really wears you out, so Emily and I were lame and called it an early night.
My final first day was wonderful because it echoed all my others. We worked with Julio in the garden early in the morning and throughout lunch time, then afterward I began watching The Lorax with Inti in Spanish. I hadn't seen it and I feel like it fitted my travels here, being kind and thankful to the environment and all. We watched Oblivion afterwards, very confusing I must say with fast Spanish, but still good all in all. After the movie Julio gifted me a traditional Peruvian hat and his Che Guevara diary in Spanish. I started crying. I'm going to miss him and my family so much. I would say the night just kept getting better, but I'd be lying.
Second round of food poisoning. Hoorrayyy!!! At three thirty in the morning, after ridding my body of basically everything, Juana found me hunched over outside of the bathroom and proceed to ask, "Mami, no estas bien?" No. No estoy bein. She made me some manzanilla tea and Emily, who I had accidentally woken up in the process, schooled me in the art of Cipro. What a wonderful drug. I woke up refreshed, a little dehydrated, and ready to go!
On my last day after saying teary goodbyes, and visiting Inti at his preschool to say goodbye, Julio and I were off to Cuzco! Arrived in Cuzco, got a taxi to the hostel, Julio dropped me off which was the sweetest thing, and I was on my own! Had a quesadilla to celebrate for I hadn't eaten that day, and hadn't eaten mexican in a while which was needed, then traversed the city for about an hour, looking at shops and taking pictures. It was wonderful being on my own for the first time in a month. Not that I don't love Emily or my family, but there is something about discovering yourself in a foreign country. I also got some homemade icecream, which was bangin, so it was a successful outing.
Once I got back I encountered Margaret and then an hour later Jaclyn and Maya arrived. We screamed and hugged like we just got a bid from the sorority we wanted. It was beautiful. I missed them dearly. Even though we have technically only known each other for ten days now, they really are my family and sisters. After the initial excitement of freaking out and telling stories, we met some sisters from Cali and a another group for Cali and we all went out to dinner. Our group, and the Cali girls, went to eat at this delicious vegetarian restaurant where I purchased a veggie burger. Long awaited. After dinner we went to bed early though for we had a 5:30 wake-up call.
And now I FINALLY bring you to today. Like I said, got up SUPER early this morning to catch our train to Machu Picchu!! The train ride was pretty nice, playing Andean techno music, and I made a dutch friend who didn't speak a lick of Spanish. It was interesting. Arrived in Aguas Calientes, dropped our stuff at the hostel, then explored the little town. Got some bananas, peanuts, oranges, bread and avocados for lunch/future dinner along with some lentils. We found some shade and finally relaxed, taking in all the sites, then did a pre-hike to prepare for tomorrow. I can't convey how excited I am for tomorrow. It really is a dream come true to visit Machu Picchu. Even driving in here I was getting cold chills. I will update soon, hopefully even tomorrow, about how everything went!
Besos!
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