Estoy en Cusco

Hello everyone!
I finally decided to do a blog after all. For one thing, I am a bit too lazy at the moment to compile the email list I was hoping to use. Also, in this way you can decide how often you want to hear about my adventures without having them thrust upon you by way of your inbox. Hopefully the url won´t be too difficult for you to remember!

If you´re wondering, the title of the blog means stranger to Cusco. Well, cusqueña is used to refer to all things and people from Cusco, so the title is sort of contradictory. But the idea is that I will someday no longer be a stranger to Cusco! We´ll see about changing the blog title at that point! ;)

Things are going really well so far. I´ve been here for a few days already, so it´s hard to know where to start. I had a bit of trouble with my flights coming in, but in some ways that was a blessing because I made a new friend in the process! My flight from Atlanta to Lima on Tuesday ended up having to make an emergency landing in Orlando, FL because there was some problem with the navigational system. Lucky us, we got to sit on the runway for a few hours in Cusco and later sit in a "tranisient room" in the Orlando airport for about 5 hours before we were finally allowed to board our new plane and complete the flight to Lima. We arrived in Lima at 6 a.m., the precise time of my flight from there to Cusco! I was really nervous about dealing with the airport personnel and attempting to understand and be understood in Spanish. But somehow I was sent an airport angel and new friend named Denis. She had been interning at Disney world (so I naturally thought of Kacey!) for 6 months and was heading home to Cusco. She was on my flight and in the same situation!

Together, Denis and I spoke to the Peruvian airline and then a man who works for Delta. He spoke to me in English, which I´m sad to admit made things a little bit easier for me! He informed us that there was nothing Delta could do about rebooking our flight to Cusco since we hadn´t booked our flight through their company. Great. Thankfully, he did help us change our flight to another airline (our first flight was with TACA, and they apparently only have one flight to Cusco a day...) and we were finally able to leave around 1:15 p.m. Well, after we paid 55 dollars, that is.

Denis was so wonderful to have because her English was nearly flawless and she was able to tell me a little bit about Cusco before I even arrived! She was excited to greet her family after so long along with her dog, Canela (which means Cinnamon). It was really an odd feeling to watch her outside the airport in Cusco as she ran to her father and tears streamed down her face. It was interesting to witness her return home just a few hours after I had left my family and boyfriend at home as tears filled my eyes.

I was greeted at the airport by a woman named Emily holding a ProPeru sign and we hopped in a taxi to the hotel, Carlos Quinto. I was surprised to realize that there were already other members of the ProPeru group staying in the room with me when I arrived. They were nowhere to be found, so I collapsed and slept for 2 or 3 hours. I woke up hungry and decided to try my luck exploring the streets of Peru. I´m a bit ashamed to say I ended up eating at a pizza place just down the street (our hotel is quite close to the Plaza de Armas which is an especially touristy area of the city, but very beautiful!). I was able to communicate well with the owner of the restaurant, an older man with a wisened, laugh-lined face.

When I arrived back in the hotel lobby, I met some of the other members of the group. Now that all of us are here, there are 11 different people from all over. I had already met Cooper, who is the other guy from UK. He is a very nice, smiley boy who is only a Sophomore (like Steph!) but seems quite mature with a good head on his shoulders. I already get along quite well with him after meeting him in the airpor in Atlanta and being on the same crazy flight to Lima. There are 8 of us girls (4 vegetarians!) and 3 guys including Cooper. It seems like a pretty good group so far, although at first I was having some difficulty connecting with anyone in particular. Luckily, I have come across a few girls who I´m getting along well with and I don´t have any real problem interacting with the group.

But all that is kind of boring information, ¿no? Let me tell you about Cusco. It´s in a word... incredible. I love the city so far. It´s about the size of Lexington population-wise, full of orange-roofed buildings covering the dips and climbs of a giant valley nestled in the Andes. All you have to do is descend a short staircase up a hill and you can see the entire city, including Cusco´s own giant Jesus. The orange of the houses contrasts with the beautiful blue skies and balconies painted dark blue. It is really a beautiful place and I will try to get some pictures up soon but I doubt even pictures could really do Cusco justice.

As you walk through the streets (at least in this area), you are constantly bombarded by all kinds of vendors begging you to buy their paintings, let them give you a massage, or visit their booths in the markets. They all say "Adelante, señorita," and when you turn them down they say "maybe later" as if you are going to track them down for that special 1 sol deal for a watercolor of Macchu Picchu. Outside of the persistence of the vendors, the people here are genuinely friendly and I´m enjoying trying out my Spanish. Yesterday, Cooper and I were looking through a gigantic vat of finger puppets in a stop and the lady there was telling us what each of the little animals was in Spanish. My favorite was caracol, meaning snail.

Even in these first few days I have noticed small differences in the people. Yesterday I watched a pair of little girls help an elderly stranger cross the street by taking his arm and leading him away from the taxis (which are a bit crazy, but not nearly as terrifying as you might think- Jesse and Reed definitely have me beat with their Egypt experiences). Our group has already come across our favorite waitress in Cusco at a nearby restaurant called Viktor Viktoria. Her name is Patricia and she has already made a point to memorize all of our names. She is bouncy and full of energy in spunk. Really a wonderful find. If you ever come to Cusco you should look for her!

¿Dios mio! There is so much more to cover, but it will have to wait. I´m about to head back to the hotel for the rest of our orientation. Afterwards, we´re all going to be picked up by our host families! I´m excited, but also nervous. I have no idea to expect. You might be disappointed to learn that one of ProPeru´s rules is that we cannot ride motorcycles, so I can´t hop on the back of my host brothers´motorcycle first thing like I´d planned... I will tell you all about my family as soon as I get the chance.

I miss you all, and am thinking about you while trying to enjoy myself and absorb the culture and learn so much every day. I´ll try to be as attentive as I can to this blog so you can follow my entire journey!

Ciao amigos!