I AM IN LOVE...

with this city. Buenos Aires is BEAUTIFUL. And I suppose not in the most conventional way, but I am already enamored and I have only really been here for one day.
A little culture shock has befallen me, I must admit, as it is much more westernized than Peru. Or, should I say, europeanized. Sidewalk cafes, Italian, French, and Spanish influenced architecture, tree lined boulevards, plazas. I've really only explored my neighborhood, San Telmo, and there are SO MANY MORE! And I'm SO EXCITED TO SEE THEM! Eeeee! Especially because tomorrow morning I will be joined by my partner in crime, Annie Rose Hughes (everyone say hi to her! She will be with me when I next post on here! So many exclamation points!)
So, I just have to comment on my favorite thing so far. It's not the garbage strike, if that's what you were thinking (anyone remember Senegal? Stacy? This is reminiscent...) It's actually... the graffiti. I LOVE THE GRAFFITTI. IT IS SPECTACULAR. It is everywhere, even on the most austere buildings (I've heard it's on the government buildings), and it is the most incredible art. I can't stop ogling it. I can't stop taking photos of it. It is beautiful art. There is so much variety and creativity, and, as I said, it is EVERYWHERE. The locals just walk by like it's nothing, while I am standing there ogling like a dumb tourist. But good god... I suppose I have always been somewhat of an ardent graffiti appreciator, so this is heaven for me. I will try to post pictures but actually I have a feeling the next two weeks are kind of going to be a whirlwind, and if internet speed is anything like it was in Peru, I don't really want to spend 3 hours in an internet cafe trying to upload photos.
So yes, I also saw my first tango show (free in the park!) and had a gigantic salad and a great flan at a little sidewalk cafe. I think I might stay here forever, ok? See you all in a few years. You can come visit. That's a joke... this city is also HUGE and a little overwhelming, and there is lots of dog poop. Those are the only downsides, though. Haha...

In which I become a Peruvian Bartender

I just had a surreal experience. I'm back in Lima, staying at the same hostel that I stayed at on the very first day of my trip (that is surreal enough)... and I spent a couple of hours this afternoon sitting in a Starbucks, drinking a chai latte, listening to classic (North) American Christmas tunes, gazing at a decorated tree indoors (fake) and the non-decorated palm trees outdoors (very real) as well as the blazing sun, Peruvians chattering in Espanol, and reading a magazine in Spanish. What a juxtaposition. It's hard to imagine that back home in Seattle people have been playing in the snow all week.

Especially because MY week started in 100 degree heat, in Nasca, home of the famous Nasca lines. For those of you who are not my dad: the Nasca lines are these GIGANTIC drawings made on the floor of the desert by the people of the Nasca culture for god knows what reason, in god knows what way. There are many speculations: special calendars, used for religious purposes, star charts, maps of underground water, etc. but no one really knows why they are there. Some of the lines are perfectly straight, stretching on into infinity. Others are huge geometric shapes; perfect squares hundreds of feet long by hundreds of feet wide, trapezoids, rectangles. The most striking are actual drawings. A monkey, a hummingbird, some weird alien looking forms, a spider. The trick is (and this is also why no one knows how they were made) they are impossible to see except from in the air. SO, I took a plane. Which was slightly terrifying. It was a tiny aircraft, only 5 people including the pilot, and we all got to wear those little headphone thingys so we could listen to him talk. The experience was similar to being on a half hour rollercoaster, which I have to admit I loved a little bit. Others were not so happy-- there were several people running to the bathroom once we landed. Seeing the lines from high up was really incredible, though. I still think there is probably no way they could have been made except by aliens.

From Nasca I headed to Huacachina, which is the epitome of a 'cartoon' oasis. Just outside the city of Ica, it is surrounded by towering sand dunes, and is a perfect blue oval fringed in palm trees, as well as restaurants and hostels with balconies and hammocks overlooking the water. As I was checking into my hostel, one of the guys working there hurried to the front desk and looked at me, then said 'Do you know how to make a mojito?' Um... yes? I hesitantly replied in the affirmative, not really knowing what was going on, and the dragged me through the kitchen into the bar area. Apparently someone had ordered a mojito, and instead of telling them that they didn't know how to make it, they hoped a solution would come quickly. I suppose I was that solution (though I do have to wonder what they would have done if I hadn't shown up...) So I made a sorry excuse for a mojito, using lime, sparkling water, crappy rum, sugar, and creme de menthe. I kept telling them that you couldn't make a mojito without fresh mint, but they were determined. After I finished they all tasted it, and proclaimed it good, then offered me a job. Apparently they were short on staff and needed another bartender. I was slightly tempted to say yes, and stay in Huacachina for a few months laying in hammocks and mixing drinks, but it is just a testament to how much I love you all that I declined.

On my way back to Lima yesterday I stopped to do a boat tour of the Paracas islands, which are known for their wildlife. There I saw REAL PENGUINS!!! as well as a million sea lions (so cute), pelicans, and other seabirds. Then I was informed that the only 'tourist' bus going back to Lima wasn't leaving until 4:30. Which wasn't ideal, since it was only about 10am, and I didn't really want to spend the day in Paracas (and get to Lima late, late at night). So I used my resources (aka, really bad Spanish and lots of courage) and asked around, finally finding a friendly cab driver who drove me to the pan-American highway, waited for 15 minutes, and stood in the middle of the road to flag down the passing local bus. It was a bit cramped for a 6 hour ride, but at least I had a seat (to share with my pack) and ladies coming on at every stop (read: approx every 20 minutes, as we stopped in EVERY SINGLE LITTLE TOWN) selling ice cream. So my Thanksgiving consisted of lots of ice cream, and a few peanuts. Could be worse.

So, I'm stuck in Lima for the next two days, until I fly out on Monday to Buenos Aires (yayyyyy!!!) Today I went for my first run in two months (as it is not considered freakish to run in Lima, and there is a really nice path along the beach) and it did not go as badly as I had feared. Which is probably the highlight of my trip thus far (kidding. But I was pretty thrilled to find that I hadn't completely gotten out of shape). And I got my laundry done. All of those little things that get pushed aside until completely necessary. It's nice to have some time to stretch out, relax, and have a slightly normal life. Of course, it's good that it's not for too long, otherwise I might not be able to stand it :)

Yes, I'm still alive... Notes on my impending Peruvain celebrity and why I will vote for the purple potato

It's just kind of been one of those weeks... when I haven't really done a whole lot. Which has been both lovely and not so lovely all at the same time. So, I returned from my trek on Monday night and spent most of Tuesday recovering, sleeping, writing emails, etc. Then I spent the rest of the week looking at lots and lots of rocks (ruin after ruin after ruin. They are so seductive). (Yes, Dad, I just wrote that).

Cusco is a trap. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it is just REALLY, really hard to escape from. It's comfortable, there's tons of good food (Peruvian and otherwise-- mostly, after living with a host family, I was pretty into the 'otherwise.' Especially the vegetables.) and there's plenty to do and see, even if that just means wandering around, getting a fresh juice, and people watching in one of the gorgeous plazas. So I finally found my way out last night, and am now in Nasca. Arrived early this morning, bewildered and bleary was shaken awake by the attendant on the bus, and shooed off into the hot sunlight of the desert. It's now 9am and I can't check into my room until 12:30, but all I really want is a shower and a nap (overnight bus rides are not all they're cracked up to be. Oh wait, I think they might not have had such high reputations to begin with...) so I'm sitting in the common area of the hostel writing in my blog. I think I might have to venture forth into the streets shortly, though, to find some food.

A couple of interesting cultural notes, since I don't have a whole lot of activity to report on. Firstly, the novelty of 'photos with la gringa' (which I think is going to be the title of my new telenovela). Here's what happens: I walk into a main plaza (this happens mostly in Cusco, which is weird as there are SO MANY TOURISTS there you would think it wouldn't be so exciting) and there is a group of school age children, usually probably in their early teens. I try to look at the ground, walk quickly, avoid eye contact, but inevitably I am tackled by one or a group and they say 'Por favor, una phota senorita?' The first time this happened, I thought that they wanted me to take a photo of them. But no, the idea is that they stand next to ME and have their photo taken. And then their friend does the same thing, and then this other guy, and then a couple more, until my face hurts and I know my smile looks so fake, and I've had about 25 photos taken of me with random Peruvian schoolchildren. I still don't exactly know why this happens, but I think it has something to do with being tall, blonde, and very pale. In the two-ish weeks I was in Cusco, it happened approximately 4 or 5 times, each occasion spawning probably around 20-30 different photos. I wonder what they are going to do with all of those images of me standing about a foot higher than my little Peruvian friends and smiling so awkwardly? Keep an eye out...

Second cultural note of interest: in the smaller towns around Peru, both ones that I have stayed in and ones that I have passed en route to various cities, the buildings are plastered with campain advertisments. There is a big election coming up (a new president will soon be coming into office, but there are other positions up for renewal as well) and it is obvious that the politicians are very much trying to engage voters in more rural areas. These advertisements take the form of graffiti, more or less, with the name of the cantidate in huge letters, and then next to it a box with an image in it. These images range from simple drawings of mountain ranges, to depictions of the traditional andean alpaca wool hat, to a yellow and purple potato (I know it was a potato because it said 'papas' over it). On some of the buildings, there is the image in the box and it has a large, black X through it. At first I thought that this was an attack against that particular politician-- their adversaires crossing out the campain image. However, I've become convinced that it is actually a genius plan for getting people who are illiterate involved in voting. I think that when the people go to vote, there will be, in addition to the names of the cantidates, a little picture in a box that corrosponds with that name. So that even if the people can't read, they can still vote. I've decided that I would vote for the yellow and purple potato, simply because I like the picture best... Hopefully, that's not how the rest of the voters will choose, but I suppose you always run that risk (even in the US we have the photos of the cantidates accompanying their names... and I bet a lot of people just pick the guy with the best hair...)

Anyways, I'm going to try to get a flight over the Nasca lines today or tomorrow. There is also supposedly a great museum here of the woman who discovered the lines, and a lecture on her this evening. But not much else to do in Nasca, so I'll be moving on up the coast on Wednesday morning. Love to all.

LAS PHOTAS (so you believe I actually was there...)

guess where I am?



At the PASS


 

on top of the world, aka Waynapicchu


  

Macchu Picchu

I'm not even really sure where to start this entry... there's so much to write, and yet so much of it is totally indescribable.
I got back from my trek late last night, after spending all of yesterday at Macchu Picchu. I ended up settling on the Lares Trek, which takes a perpendicular valley to the Sacred Valley and meets up with the Sacred Valley at Ullantaytambo, where I was last week. I went with my Dutch friend from the Colca Canyon, Ilsa, and because it's low season and the Lares Trek isn't super popular, we were the ONLY PEOPLE ON THE TREK! Just us, our guide Alfredo, a porter/horseman (plus 3 horses) and a cook. Pretty phenomenal, to be basically all alone in the wilds of the Peruvian Andes.
The trek itself was really, really lovely. And really hard. The second day, which was the longest, was 8 straight hours of hiking, including climbing over a 4500 m pass, which is about 15,000 ft. That's a lot, in case you were wondering. But I have to admit, standing on the top of the pass, after walking up in the pouring freezing rain, and having the sun break through just as we reached the peak... I felt completely like a superhero. Not to mention the view was spectacular. And there were LOTS of llamas and alpacas.
We camped for two nights, the first one in a small village in someone's backyard, and the second night in the most idyllic location-- on a grassy knoll in the forest, right by a windy river filled with big boulders, great for laying on and looking at the stars while listening to the crackling campfire in the background. The third night we spent in Aguas Calientes, the town below Macchu Picchu, reachable only by train and foot.
So, Macchu Picchu itself. This is the part that I really can't put into words... I expected that after all of the hype, after seeing so many photos of it, after everyone telling me how great it was, that it wouldn't live up to it's high acclaim. And for the first bit, I did feel kind of let down. We arrived at the main entrance at 5:30am, and there were floods of tourists waiting to be let in. It felt a little bit like Disneyland, especially as we entered and people pushed and shoved to be the first to see a glimpse of the forgotten city. However, because it was the low season and because we were there so early, the crowds soon spread out over the huge expanse of ruins, and we found ourselves almost completely alone. Alfredo, our guide, knew a pretty much deserted spot on the mountainside to look down on the sunrise, so we climbed up there and that was when it kicked in-- how absolutely lucky I was to be there, how incredible it was, how beautiful and spectacular and immense these ruins were, surrounded by cloud forest, on a mountain peak.
I don't know how to write about the feeling, but I was filled up with something so completely that it was overwhelming. I sat on a rock on the terraced hillside and looked at the sun coming up over the ancient stones, and I just cried for about 15 minutes. I was so completely happy, but tears were the only way I could cope with the hugeness of it all.
After that, we went down into the ruins themselves, and Alfredo told us all about Incan history. They were some pretty crazy dudes... for example, once a year, on the 'summer' solstice (that's January 21 down here south of the equator) they had a huge sacrifice of virgins, and they would keep killing the girls until the shaman found one whose heart beat exactly 3 times after her chest was cut open. Then they would cut a hand or foot off of a small child and bury it alive (second part of the sacrifice) and then they would climb to a high peak next to Macchu Picchu and sacrifice a black llama. Alfredo is currently writing a book about these practices, so he was pretty knowledgeable about it all, which was great.
THEN, because we were amongst the first 500 people to enter in the morning, we got to climb up the smaller mountain of Waynapicchu. By smaller mountain I mean about 300 meters straight up in the air, on slippery and tiny carved stone steps, over an incredibly deep valley plunging down, down, down into the forest and riverbed below. It was terrifying. But once we got to the top, it was, once again, so worth it. I have never been on the TOP of a mountain. There was nothing above me except sky, nothing around me except plunging sheer cliffs and more Incan ruins. It was just me (well, and a few other tourists) on these granite chunks, on the very tippy top of the world. Around us zoomed blue and green and red and orange butterflies, and a flock of green parrots almost knocked me off the rock at one point.
I would really like to post some photos, and will try to do so later this week. However, I am once again taking advantage of the free hostel internet, and as this computer seems to be infected by some kind of virus I'm loathe to hook my camera up to it, in case it decides to attack the memory card and eat all my pictures. So check back for some visual aids to this story, and more adventures to come... I'm planning on spending the rest of the week in Cusco, and then I'm off to who knows where. However, I have to make it back to Lima by November 29, as I'm flying to Buenos Aires on that day!

Sacred Valley

It seems like it's been a while since I've written in here... sorry about that!
I left Puno on Saturday and wound up at a TERRIBLE hostel, so switched the next day (Sunday) to the same hostel as my friend from the Colca Canyon, Ilsa. It's a great little place, with lots of friendly people and at the very top of a VERY steep hill. However, I am pretty sure there are bedbugs. Well, you can't have everything. Other than being itchy, there's not much I can do about it unless I decide to try to convince them to burn the mattresses, and I don't know how to say that in Spanish... As one of the other travelers said, since they will probably come with us in our clothes, it's like a constant companion-- you never have to be lonely! Ha, ha.

Cusco is lovely, winding hilly cobblestoned streets, with high peaked terra cotta tiled roofs, and LOTS of great food. Also, lots of tourists. However, Ilsa and I escaped for the past two days away from the bustle of the city and into the Sacred Valley, which has the highest concentration of Incan ruins anywhere in Peru (it was the main hub of Incan activity, and leads up to Macchu Picchu). The valley itself is gorgeous, high craggy peaks that seem like they will cut open the sky, plunging into green valleys and eucalyptus groves. We took a local bus from Cusco, stuffed in next to schoolchildren and old women in traditional outfits (heavy embroidered skirts, vests, aprons, legwarmers, loooong black braids, and these funny top-hat like tiny hats that are pinned to their hair). It takes about 2 hours to get to the large-ish town of Urubamba, which was our hub. Urubamba itself isn't gorgeous, but the surrounding scenery makes up for it. We also stayed in the MOST LOVELY hospedaje, run by a sweet, shy old man and his tiny but spirited dog, Tom. It was far away from the center of town on a windy dirt road, and we had a private room (yay!) with GREAT beds, in an incredible garden. The whole garden was overflowing with bouganvilla and other flowers, and we had our breakfast at a table amongst the flowers and vines with little black chickens pecking around our feet. So lovely. We arrived in the early afternoon yesterday, and after dropping off our stuff we turned right around to get a collectiveo (kind of like a large minivan) to Ollantaytambo, which is an even smaller town, and hasn't changed much since the Incas lived there, 700 years ago. There is a huge ruin built into the hillsides in Ollantaytambo, so we explored that, which was pretty amazing. For me, the most mindblowing thing is that these ancient people were moving stones that are roughly the size of a modern living room couch, and not only carrying them from place to place, but up totally sheer sides of mountains. How is that even possible?! I think I need to brush up on my Incan history when I get home. There's not really any way to describe the immense scale of these ruins, and unfortunately uploading pictures is a no-go because I think this computer has a virus and I don't want to infect my camera...

So, after a GREAT night's sleep, we headed this morning up into the hills around the valley to see the ruins at Moray. These ruins are a HUGE stadium sized group of concentric circles, that apparently were used for testing how different varieties of corn would grow in different climates. They were built in such a way that each circle was it's own separate micro-climate. How on earth they ever figured out how to do this, I do not know, but it's a pretty amazing idea. We climbed all the way down into the bottommost circle, and then back out (which was not easy!) Then headed to a nearby site that was built by the Incans, but is still used today-- Las Salineras, or salt pools. These are a series of salt harvesting pools built down into a valley. There must have been hundreds of them, each about 5 feet across, and terraced into the hillside in a series of descending pools. They were so weird looking, all in different stages of saltiness-- some were brownish and watery, while others were pure white, and solid, obviously the finalized stage. I guess the water in the hillside has a very high salinity, and so the Incans channeled it into these still pools so that it would evaporate, leaving the salt. Very weird, very cool.

So, we returned to Cusco this evening, and have a day before leaving on our TREK! Yes, we finally booked one. And, weirdly enough, because it is the low season and there are so few tourists compared to high season, Ilsa and I are going on a private trek. It will be just us and the guides, as well as a mule to carry our belongings (sweet). We decided on the Lares trek, which is more of a cultural trek. This means we will be visiting villages along the way and doing some volunteering as well. I'm slightly terrified-- three 8 hr days of hiking in this altitude seems like a big feat. But I know it will be worth it. So, leaving on Friday at 3am. I'll report back when I return!

Floating Islands

Dear ones,
I am now in Puno (and have been for the past 2 days) on the shores of the magical Lake Titicaca. Puno itself is NOT magical. It is very much a working city, and has little to no allure in terms of things to do and attractiveness. However, there is a great crafts market with tons of Alpaca goods, so I spent yesterday wandering around and looking at furry colorful knitted objects. Great fun. I also had dinner in an incredible vegetarian restaurant and had the MOST BEAUTIFUL FRUIT SALAD ever, with yogurt and 'granola' which was kind of this weird powdery grainy stuff... but still, fresh mango, papaya, apple, pineapple, and lucuma. Yum tastic.
TODAY I took a day tour of two of the islands on the lake. I felt like a huge tourist, but then again, I am a tourist... so what can you do. Sometimes it just happens that you are crammed on a boat with a bunch of other white people carrying expensive cameras and wearing expensive outdoor gear. I was by far the youngest, which was kind of weird, but everyone was very friendly. I do feel like in the past couple of days I have been more highly aware of my 'priviledge' than I have been so far on this trip. I don't know wether it is because Puno has less tourists, is poorer, or what. But there have been several moments when I have had that feeling of 'oh my god... I am so lucky' and have felt a little bit disgusted with myself. I know that even just by travelling and seeing other parts of the world I am creating awareness, and making myself a more conscientious person. But when you see people who are trying to survive solely off of selling one tapestry for S./10 a day (about $3) it makes you think a lot about everything that you have, and what of that stuff you really actually need.
I don't know if that makes any sense... but anyways.
THE ISLANDS were magnificient. We were serenaded on the boat by a traditionally dressed man playing Beatles songs on ukelele and Incan pipes. Our first stop was Los Uros, which is a collection of 67 manmade islands about 30 min away from Puno by boat. Our guide was great, and I learned a ton. These islands are insane. Each one houses about 4 families, and also has a small elementary school. Then there is a bigger central island with the high school and church. AND EVERYTHING IS MADE OUT OF LAKE REEDS. Not kidding. Everything. The islands themselves. The houses. The boats. It is totally mind blowing. The islands are made by taking the roots of the reeds during dry season and tying them together, then packing more reeds on top, to reach a thickness of about 3 m (9ish feet). It feels like walking on a cross between water bed, sponge, and trampoline. The islands also have anchors and can be moved around, and the reeds on top have to be replaced every month otherwise the rot from the water reaches all the way through and the island falls apart. The reeds are called Tortura reeds, and are also edible and have medicinal properties. It was so amazing.
Then we headed to Taquile, about 3 hrs away, which is a natural island and covered in Incan terracing for farming. It was very mediterranean in feel, with twisty trees and stone paths and the blue, blue waters of the lake stretching on forever on all sides. We had a lunch of Trucha (trout) in a restaurant there, which was very good. The people of the island are Quechua, and are famous for their textiles. The men knit and the women weave. The island is also a UNESCO world heritage site because of the weavings-- and they were very beautiful, intricate and colorful. Still, not anywhere near as mindblowing as Los Uros...
TOMORROW I head to Cusco on a bus in the early morning... And sometime next week will be leaving on my trek to Macchu Picchu!
I'll try and post some more pictures soon...

Colca Canyon, aka Heaven, aka The Longest Post Ever (sorry)

In the afternoons, we worked REALLY HARD at lying in the grass. It was so exhausting. This is me and my Dutch friend Ilsa, who is SO AWESOME.

The canyon again. You can see the swimming pools in the oasis. PARADISE.

Yep. That's Halloween. I'm a pirate and Ilsa is a ghost. Pretty good for only bringing a tiny daypack, huh?

Paradise. The 'town' that we stayed in for the first night.

The Canyon. Impossible to do justice to it in a photo.

OKAY. The Colca Canyon is now officially one of my new favorite places in the entire world. This weekend was magical. That is the only word that I can possibly use to describe it. Saturday morning I was picked up at 3:30 am (yes, death) and hopped into a large 'tourist transport' van with many other trekkers, and off we headed to Colca. I tried to sleep for a bit, but by the time we stopped for breakfast I was buzzing with the excitement of so many people speaking English in the same place. It's been about a month since I've held a real (in person) conversation in my native language, so that was pretty exciting.
I'm going to have to do a lot of this in list form, simply because there is so much to share... so here goes.

-Things I ate: Quinoa, which apparently is native to Peru (who knew!) and is eaten as a breakfast food mixed with milk and honey. Quite delicious. Also, LOTS of Alpaca meat. And it is very, very tasty. You just have to try not to think about how cute the animals are. In general, I just ate a lot. Our guide was an amazing cook, and it's shocking how much you can pack away after you've been walking up and down the walls of a canyon for half the day.
-Our guide, Marcos, was phenomenal. He was a young Peruvian man with a lazy eye that he kept covered by long hair (took me 2 days to figure out why he wouldn't make eye contact) and a hat that made him look like a fraggle. He knew so much, and taught us all about the indigenous plants of the area and their various uses. He was also quite a flirt, but in a totally approachable joking manner, which meant that Ilsa and I (the two girls in our group) got treated like princesses and called 'bon bon one' and 'bon bon two' for the whole weekend.
- Our group was also AMAZING. There were only 4 of us doing the three day trek, so we got to know each other quite well. It was me, two Swiss men in their 30s who are travelling together for a year (one also named Marcos, the other Alex) and another woman travelling alone (also in her 30s) from Holland, named Ilsa. Fortunately, Ilsa and I got along perfectly. She is goofy and fun, and we seemed to be on the exact same wavelength. She is also going to be in Cusco when I am (next week) so we're planning to meet up there.
- I have never spent so much time doing absolutely NOTHING and felt so great about it. We trekked in the mornings, starting between 4am and 7am, so that we could avoid the hot sun. Which meant that we would arrive at our lodgings between noon and 2, and have the afternoon to relax. I didn't bring a book or a journal, as my backpack was very small and I wanted to carry as little as possible. So I spent my afternoons laying in the grass, looking at the sky, looking at the light on the canyon walls, looking at the flowers, looking at the birds and the bats which started to come out in the evenings, and the iridescent butterflies in yellow and orange and blue. It was probably the closest I have ever gotten to thinking about nothing for such an extended period in my life... It helped that I worked so hard physically in the morning, but the whole things was so relaxing.
-Our lodgings were also totally mind blowing. The first night we stayed in a 'town' of about 60 people, in a guesthouse of a family. It was a clay hut with a thatched roof, an outdoor shower (HOT!!! Finally!) and a patch of grass and flowers outside. The second night we stayed in the Oasis, at the lowest point in the canyon, which was a paradise of swimming pools and reed huts and HAMMOCKS and tropical plants fed by a gorgeous, huge waterfall cascading down the side of the canyon. And, oh god, the STARS. The stars were amazing. There was no electricity, and on Sunday night after dinner I went and lay on one of the pool chairs and just stared at the huge expanse of sky for about half an hour. It was so, so beautiful.
-And Sunday was... Halloween. Bet you thought I would miss it, huh? But no, thanks to the creativity of my group, and the fact that Marcos (guide) spend the whole day singing 'Happy birthday dear Halloween!' We decided to dress up and surprise him, since he was missing clubbling in Arequipa to cook for us... So we pooled our resources (aka 4 tiny daypacks) and became... a pirate, a ghost, and two mummies. We used toilet paper for the mummies and for blood these bugs that feed on cactus that Marcos had showed us earlier, that became a bright red dye when squished. The ghost was a sleep sack, and the pirate was my bandana, one of those things they give you on the airplane to cover your eyes when sleeping, and my hiking stick as a sword. We were a big hit with all of the guides, as well as the other tourists. Hilarious :)
-Animals I saw in their natural habitats: Alpaca, llama, FLAMINGOS (who knew. They live up high in the mountains), lots of bats, mosquitoes, donkeys, and mules. Also, on Sunday night I had an animal steal my cookies (wrapped and sealed) from my hut. I heard it come in and rustle around, but couldn't get to my flashlight quickly enough. No one knew what it might have been, but conjectures led to skunk or iguana. Ha... more likely a large rat. But it kept me awake for a good while. AND condors, because the Colca is famous as being home to these huge birds. So majestic, especially considering they are carrion eaters.
-Other things of note: Had the best outdoor pee of my life, overlooking the canyon. Met someone from Eugene, OR and another person from San Diego. The first west coasters I've met on this trip! Went to the aguas calientes, which were necessary for my sore muscles after trekking for 3 days. Got officially tan. Hope I don't lose it, as I'm going to Puno next which is supposedly freezing...

SO. Today is my last day in Arequipa, which I feel bittersweet about. I truely love this city, and I feel fairly at home here. However, I'm ready to move on to more adventuring. If I ever decide to move to Peru, however, I would be happy calling this my home. I bought a BIG box of famous Arequipan chocolates for my host family, who have been more generous and welcoming than I ever could have asked for. My host mom told me last night that I am now one of her children, and if I or any of my family or friends ever wants to come back to Arequipa, they can stay with her, free of charge, for as long as they like.

Tomorrow, off to Puno and Lake Titicaca, and then onwards to Cuzco on the weekend. Hopefully my legs will have recovered by that time so that I can do some more trekking :)

Miss and love you all. If you read this whole post, I'm going to be heartily impressed!