Leg Three: Lima to Cusco and my arrival in Cusco!

I shall not tell a lie. Keeping a blog is no easy job. It’s only what…two days into it and I’m major sleepy and ready to slack. But I won’t, because I wouldn’t wanna give a crap description of some of the more amazing things so far.

Let’s begin with the flight. Oh the darn flight. It was delayed until 3pm, forty minutes after the schedule departure. Luckily though, I did end up in Gate 14/Puerta 14 like I had hoped. Which meant….*drum roll*…an outlet to recharge the magic that is Harry Potter! Or Hewlett Packard. One of those. However, once the flight boarded, twas easy peasy lemon squeezy. I do think that someone seems to think I do well with elderly people, because I got placed next to an angry Peruvian couple. From what I could understand, the wife had lost the husband’s jacket.
I actually slept through most of the flight because of the fact that I was just so darn tired. We all know you can’t sleep in an airport when you’re travelling alone, because it leaves an opportunity for your baggage to be stolen. Of course, I made sure not to lay my head down on the plane tray until snacks had come by. I opted for orange juice, anything to avoid a cold, and their snacks were prepackaged. pretty yummy though. there was one milk chocolate stick, almost like across between a Pocky and those Pepperidge Farm Pirouttes.

To top off my good streak, I found my luggage within ten minutes. But there’s always a bit. I went outside and found my guide/pick-up quite easily. But he informed me there was another girl to pick up as well. So we waited, and waited, as the rain suddenly appeared and got harder and harder in a surprisingly short amount of time. So I’m here , just happy to be in Cusco finally, but starting to get damp. He asks me if I can go into the airport and look for her. iIt’s a small town airport, so I don’t mind. I come out with no luck, and he calls her again. Apparently, the girl thought she was being picked up from Lima, poor thing. There was one more to pick up though, not from Global Volunteer Network, but from another volunteer organization that Maximo Nivel, the partner program here in Peru works with. I find out her story’s a lot like mine; missed a flight cause of luggage, and got teary-eyed over it. I find out she’s in the photojournalism program for her organization and we talk about her D40. I find out her Dad’s a photographer. So is mine, I respond. After we walk through mud puddles to hail a taxi, we are driven to Maximo Nivel headquarters where we meet Eliza and Chris. We look at the layout of the place, as we’ll be taking out orientation and Spanish lessons here. After the brief look, the taxi takes us to Perez house, where I’m staying.

I walk in and it’s a bit quiet. Some other volunteers relaxing in the living area, but we can’t find one of the owner/manager who’s going to give me the tour. First I meet the husband, Marco, before meeting Yoko, his wife. They hand me my keys and let me know the layout of my room. What to notice and watch out for: the basics. They ask me if I’m going to be having dinner tonight and I hesitate. My stomach’s still a bit nauseous, partially from stress and partially from the altitude. Then again, I haven’t eaten a decent real meal, so maybe that’s just what I need. It was around 6pm at this point, and there was still another hour until dinner. So I unpacked, seaparting all of my items into special assigned drawers, leaving certain things in my luggage that I knew I wouldn’t need at this early point. I finish up about five to 7pm, and go and see all of the volunteers downstairs. I check my email on the house computer, and then it’s time to eat.
Before I know it, I’m swept into a multi-course meal, which there’s just no getting out of. Probably not best for my alitltude adjustment one of my friend suggests. Yes, but I’m in too deep now! We began with the appetizer of tortilla pieces with salsa and sour cream on them. Then our plates are taken away and we enjoy an asparagus soup. (YES MOM! I ATE ASPARAGUS…or at leas t something made from asparagus. Now this is no “cup” option sized soup like you may find in your favorite American restaurant. Nope. It’s a full on bowl, and I have to finish it. EEKS, we all discuss our fullness as the next dish comes out. Pork with the creamiest mashed potatoes. The potatoes were so good I forgot about how full I was for a quick second. Dessert is a simple lemon cupcake muffin, which is delish. I’m totally amazingly full by this point, so I only make it through half my muffin. we all decide that we’re going to go get passes to the local gym, because with the way Marco’s feeding us, there’s just no hope for us remaining skinny or anything even close.

Marco and Yoko are the most amazing people. They have three kids, two daughters and a son. Their son, Tony, 4, is an absolute little fireball of laughgter and mischief, just like any other boy his age should be. Marco is the professional chef, and boy is his food yummy. I find out that he cooks for typically 20 every night, because in addition to us volunteers, he has to cook for him and his extended family as well. His family also operates an Alpaca factory/store that I hear is THE place to go. We convince Marco to sign up for aFacebook, which he says he’ll do tomorrow.
Over the dinner table, we begin to just ask getting to know you questions. What’s your favorite movie? What’s your favorite color? Who would you want to meet dead or alive? And we go on for hours, moving on to the couch at one point to stay comfortable. And we read through various language phrase books everyone’s got, laughing at the “romance” sections guides feel necessary to include. I am now positive this will be great, as I have an amazing group of people that I’m hanging around. Yes I’m the youngest, though there are a couple of 20 year olds, mid twentys, and late twentys, and one thirty-five year old surfer/traveler extraordinaire. One of the guys is even from SF, and we find we know and like a lot of the same stuff. He knows Jay Taylor, my old PE teacher, because he used to play at Alice Fong Yu after school when he was in high school.
Tomorrow’s my orientation, where I’ll find out my placement and take a placement Spanish test. Send me good vibes Ms. Raeff!

Buenas noches from Cusco. =]