¡Buen Viaje!

Buenos noches! It feels so good to speak English even if just for a quick minute -- my brain has begun to think in half Spanish/English at nights before I fall asleep. I am not usually the type to blog and write about everything going on in my life... However, there are so many people back at home that I have wanted to stay in contact with and keep posted on my travels, but have not been able to. Many of the interne cafes don´t have the capacity to use Skype here. I have only spent four days in Peru so far and feel like I have learned so much but I know there is still so much more to see and experience. So, in a quick summary of the past few days, it has been simply incredible. After doing a sprint workout through the Miami airport to change my bags over to a new airline and print off a new boarding pass, resulting in almost missing my flight, I successfully made it through customs and immigration to Cusco, Peru at 7am. Stepping off the plane, I was immediately in awe of the gigantic mountains staring me in the face just meters away. What makes Cuzco such a rare place is not only the many ruins found displaced all around the city, the famous Maccu Pichu, and the llamas of course, but the simple existance of this beautiful, yet broken town in the midst of God´s power and hugeness displayed in the surrounding landscape.  I have not taken the chance to capture this yet for fear of looking like a tourist. There is, however, no blending in fo me here; having light skin and being taller than 5´4 makes you an immediate target for the vendors seeking out tourists to buy everything imaginable. But let´s be serious, those of you who have spent any time with me in a big city (primarily New Orleans) know how much I love being a tourist -- in conclusion, pictures will be coming soon.

 

The most interesting walk to take is from the area of town where I live with my amazing family (called Marcavalle) to the central area of Cusco near the Plaza de Armas and about 10 other plazas of which I have not memorized all the names yet. This 30 minute walk displays all the cultural diversion that exists here and how westernized the city has become. It is literally like entering a whole new world: switching from next to nothing to elegant Cathedrals and pricy stores full of alpaca coats.  It is not quite at all what I anticipated it to be or the picture that might pop up when one types in "Cusco" into GoogleImage search. The ancient culture is still ever-present and visible in the traditions and extended families. And along the streets, there are many women who have long braids reaching all the way down their backs and wear wool sweaters, skirts, tall socks, and sombreros. Many do carry their babies around in brightly colored, handwoven shawls and sell fruit or handmade trinkets in the streets. In the central plazas of Cusco, women dress up in their fancy, decorated outfits and bring their llamas so that the tourists will pay to have their picture taken with them. This is their full-time job, and is just one example of why the averave income here is $200 a year. The other side of the town is what gives me so many mixed emotions as I walk through these broken streets, surrounded by beauty but seeing little children who should be in school working dangerous jobs, twelve hours a day. One of the reasons I was so excited about this trip was to be forced outside of my comfort zone (which I have been already), but my time here has also reminded me of the comfort and stability that I have and have had my entire life. Stability in money, friends, family, school, sports, life. Yes, here, no one knows any difference because this  is all they have known their entire life, but how does that make it any better?