Aves sin nido

I woke up this morning on a mission to finish my homework. I didn't have time last night because I went out to dinner with two friends from Los Estados and ate dark chocolate postres long into the night. I had to read a chapter of the book "Aves sin nido" (Birds without a nest), which was on my computer screen. But when I opened it, the internet wouldn't work and I lost the link. I decided to go out and find the book at this little book exchange shop in a forgotten corner of a cathedral. I took the bus there, which is actually a van smaller than that of my parents transporting at least 20 people at any given time. They didn't have it. So I ran around the Plaza de Armas looking for librerias dodging the hecklers and massage therapists flapping their brochures and restaurant menus at me. Nobody had the book. I ran down the Avenida del Sol, which is long and hot, stopped for a parade that was going down the street, and then continued for about 20 minutes until I came to SBS books. It was a nice, large book store and I was sure they had it. I asked the man and when he said "no tenemos" I yelled "NOOOOOO!" and he looked at me funny. Down the street, around a dangerously busy corner, after two more bookstores, I came to La Familia Libreria. I was sweaty, out of breath, speaking half Spanish, half gasp. And when the woman said that they had the book in stock, I nearly kissed her. I think she saw that I could have kissed her because she stepped back behind the counter and it was awkward for a minute. Anyway, I got the book, and another of short stories and comics, and then went back to my house. When I got there, I found that mi padre had purchased the same book for me at 10% of the price.

la primera semana

I have made it safely to Cusco and have been here for less than a week. It seems a lot longer though, because everything is new and beautiful and nothing comes easy. We walk down streets not paying attention to sidewalks or branches, but when nothing is what we’ve known it to be and everything is what it wasn’t, we notice everything with the huge-eyed interest and curiosity of infants. The air, the landscape, the people, every word, every fruit, every supermarket receipt is not what I am used to. And so, my past five days have been filled with details and particles of ideas so that it feels like I have been here at least ten or even fifteen days.

The flight sucked, mostly. Actually, I shouldn’t say that. The flight was very long and I was very tired. I talked to a couple people during the various flights and a nice guy named Carlos, who is from Peru, (frumperoo) gave me some tips on touring the country and going to places that most tourists overlook. I had a seven-hour layover in Lima and that is why I initially said the flight sucked. I couldn’t sleep so I just walked up and down the corridors with a cup of coffee, sometimes taking a rest next to the other people lying on the floor trying to sleep, and reading my Spanish phrasebook.

The flight into Cusco was probably the most beautiful flight I’ve been on. We took off at six and flew over the mountains of Peru as the sun came up. Everything was a flaming explosion of color, and there were huge oceans of cloud resting in the valleys of the snow-topped mountains. We’d swoop in huge curves, leaning almost completely sideways so we could see the sun over the little anthill pueblos. Some people were sleeping and I felt sorry for them because no dream could have been as beautiful, but I didn’t wake them up because I didn’t know them.

My host family drove me around the city and showed me a few points of interest or reference before going to my new house in Marcaballe on La Avenida Gastón Zapata. My house is very nice and old, with hardwood floors laid out in beautiful patterns. I live right next to a huge playground with slides that are sculpted to look like serpents and dragons. There is a man that pushes a cart of fruit up and down the street every day. He has a microphone and every day I can hear him yelling “Platanos, Manzanas, papayas!” Today, somebody is playing some Andean music and I can hear it coming in through the balcony.

I have class every day of the week from 3:30 to 7:10, and next week I will add on an additional class from 9:00 to 1:00. I have been exploring a lot and sleeping a lot in order to acclimate to the altitude. I went to the Plaza de Armas today and looked into all of the shops and almost got attacked by a massage therapist. That may have been a good thing. I've got to catch a taxi home to the Marcaballe.

Buenas noches.

"The Final Countdown!"

Ten points to the person that gets that "Final Countdown" reference. But really, in three days, I will be flying to Cusco, Peru and I don't feel scared yet. I think I'll just wait until i'm on the plane, have a small panic attack, and then get over it. The world is way too huge and way to amazing to be afraid of stepping out the front door. I have taken everyone's advice and wishes of wellness and they're all packed into the bag that my mom thinks is way to small. I'm taking some clothes, some jam that I made for my host family (mmm, thimbleberries), some books, my camera, and my computer. I think that should be more than enough.

Until now, this blog has been kind of like an empty bookshelf but it will soon become my online travel journal. I just hope that I am able to keep it up regularly. Sometimes you do way too many things that are worth writing about, and the idea of writing all of them down seems way too huge and too daunting, and it gets hard to keep up with things. Therefore, I will apologize right now for the possibility that I will not be able to keep this up. But I am going to try my hardest.

I know that whatever my experiences will be, they are going to be amazing and they are going to change me. Just stepping off of the plane onto a foreign land is enough to fill me with awe. I have made a few promises to myself while I am over there. One is to not cut my hair until I return to the States. Another is to try everything at least once, explore things, and learn as much as I can. Another is to meet as many people as I can and to have a positive effect on these people's lives. Also, I will climb Machu Picchu.

I need to go to bed because my eyes hurt. My next post will probably be from an airport or from Peru, and that makes me very happy.

Goodnight.