Sunday through Today!

Hola!

SUNDAY:

On Sunday I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather during the day and go to the Plaza de Armas to read. So I walked to the Plaza and sat and read for around three hours. It wasn´t the most productive day but I really enjoyed relaxing in the sun. The most frustrating part of hanging out in the Plaza is that a lot of people come by trying to sell you stuff. I don´t know how many times I said ¨No gracias¨on Sunday but I´m sure it was a lot! Sunday night my other housemates returned home and we hung out and relaxed. Three of my housemates had gone on treks to Machu Pichu and the other one had gone to Nazca. It was nice having English speaking people in the house again! We stayed up late watching episodes of The Office... good times.

MONDAY:

Yesterday was a pretty average day here. We had an early lunch (12:30) because one of my housemates, Becky, was leaving. It was sad to see Becky leave because she had been so helpful when I had first arrived here and was really good at making me feel comfortable. I hope that when new people move into our house I´ll be as helpful to them as Becky was to me. Two of my other house mates left this morning, so now it´s just Heidi, Yoni, Wendy, and me until Sunday/Monday when new volunteers arrive.

Anyway, after lunch (which was really good... pumpkin soup with french fries in it... I know it sounds weird but it was awesome!) Heidi and I walked back to Maximo to use the internet, since the computer at our house isn´t working anymore. We then decided to walk to San Judas instead of taking a taxi. Overall, our walk to San Judas took around 45 minutes. It was nice to see more residential parts of town and I think we´ll definitely be walking there again.

At San Judas, I was able to help a few girls with their homework. Actually, they understood how to do their homework but they were very easily distracted. My job was just to say ¨Termina tu tarea¨(finish your homework) a lot. Then we took a taxi back to Maximo so Heidi could check her e-mail and I could call my parents. We walked home again and had a relaxing evening.

In short, we walked around a lot yesterday...

TODAY:

Nothing too interesting to report this morning. This afternoon Heidi and I are getting ice cream (!) and going to a new market. Tonight, Yoni is having a fiesta with her friends from high school so it should be an interesting evening.

Caitlin asked why I keep getting sick. On Saturday, I think something I ate didn´t agree with me so I wasn´t feeling good because of that. Generally, I have a cold which is hard to get rid of because it gets so cold at night. My friend, Katie, is bringing down some cold medicine for me so hopefully that will help.

And now... some pictures! These are some landmarks on my walk to school:

The view from our front door. We live in a pretty nice neighborhood... there´s even a gate at the entrance. It´s never actually locked but at least it´s there.

This is the road our neighborhood is on. It´s a pretty fair representation of most side roads in Cuzco.

Umm... I don´t know how to rotate pictures. So sorry. But this is a shot of the Centro Commerical Confraternidad, a big market about five minutes from my house. During the day this whole sidewalk is just full of people selling food and the inside is like the Cuzco equivalent to a shopping mall. I´ll have to get an indoors picture sometime.

Another market. This one is all homemade artisanal sort of things. I haven´t been inside it yet because it seems more touristy and a lot more expensive.

I´m getting better at crossing the roads but I was terrified at first. Here I need to cross seven lanes of traffic! Good thing there´s an island in the middle. Drivers in Cuzco are crazy!

This fountain reminds me of a character on an old Nickelodean show, Legends of the Hidden Temple. Anyway, it´s pretty.

The park behind the fountain. Next to the phone booth is a police woman. There are usually alot of police out around Cuzco, which is comforting.

The post office. I get excited when I see it because it means I´m getting close to school!

My second home in Cuzco: Maximo Nivel!

Well, there you go. That´s my walk to school, which I make at least twice a day. It´s almost like you were here with me. And if you actually WANT to be here with me, let me know. Because I would love some visitors!

More later...