Some other thoughts/pictures from Peru

 This is one of my favorite pictures I've taken during my trip.

Funny thing is, I snapped it with my iPhone out the bus window.

I think it's a perfect representation of life in Cusco. 

All the old ladies dress like this; I loved it! :)

You can't really tell from the picture,

but this was the most pathetic looking animal I've ever seen!

It's wool was so stringy and he was filthy.

He's kinda cute in his own way though, don't you think?

 

In case you haven't noticed,

there are A LOT of llamas in Peru.

Also, I've found it's extremely hard to start a business

in a country where information is NOT available on the 

wonderful world wide web.

"Just Google it!" doesn't really apply here.

In case you're wondering what I'm talking about,

we're helping people here in Trujillo start small businesses

  through the SEED program at Utah State University.

3 more days till I'm home!

Whatchuuu lookin at?

People stare at us a lot here.

I guess it's understandable considering the fact that there are 29 students,

4 faculty members, 3 guys volunteering and their 2 sons,

in a town with little to no tourists.

That's a lot of loud Americans.

And in case you didn't know, that's what Americans are:

LOUD.

We've had multiple people tell us that.

But, sometimes when we're walking around

(even in very small groups)

I can feel people's eyes on me.

Sometimes guys pass and whistle, or even whisper

"Que ojos bonitos" ("What pretty eyes") to me.

Blue eyes aren't common around here.

Even so, sometimes I get sick of it and when people stare I wanna yell,

 WHAT?!?! Have you never seen a white person before?!

But...so far I've refrained. 

I don't want to be considered white, loud, AND crazy...

A little luck

I'm on the last leg of my trip!

We're here in Trujillo, Peru until July 1st, when we head for home!

We're here doing a microfinance project 

and also working in an eyeglass clinic for field workers.

I'm really excited.

I apologize if there aren't many updates between

now and when I get home.

We only have a week to get all of our projects done

and I still have 4 papers to write. Oops...

BUT by some alignment of the planets

or whatever else brings luck to people,

when we checked in to this hotel I got my own room.

With a KING size bed.

Overlooking the pool.

For a week and a half.

Yay!

Machu Picchu

I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record:

"This is so AMAZING!"

"The pictures don't do it justice!"

"You guys need to see this!"

So I'm not going to say anything about this one except that

I loved every minute of it.

I had about 3 more  pictures I wanted to post here.
But thanks to internet the speed of dial-up in the 1990's here in Peru,
just these two photos took over 30 minutes to load!
So my friends, I'm afraid the pictures will be
few and far between until I get home to some decent high speed internet.

Oh the luxuries of the United States.

Speaking of home...I'm seriously craving a PB&J.
Like as in I need one NOW.
But of course, peanut butter is nowhere to be found.

It's funny, the things you miss when you're gone.

Welcome to Cuscotopia!

This place is the has the most culture 

of pretty much anywhere I've ever been!

We're here during one of their biggest festivals of the year

so everything is decorated, there are parades everyday,

fireworks, huge paper mache animals, and people dressed up in amazing costumes.

 Cathedral in the main square, La Plaza de Armas

Me holding a baby llama! It was super cute besides

the fact that it kept trying to eat my hair.

One of the hillsides surrounding Cusco.

Giant, disgusting spider.

Town hall

Tomorrow I get to wake up at 4:30 am to go to Machu Picchu!

FOOOOOOD!

Okay, like I said before, we've eaten some prettttttty 

awesome food. But so far Peru wins.

It's cheap AND presented nicely.

Chile:

Peru:

Okay, because these pictures took ten years to upload 

I'm over this post so I'm not going to describe everything!

And maybe this was an extremely boring post for you to read

but I want to remember all of this! 

Lima, Peru

Was wonderful!

Here's a few examples why:

I went paragliding! 
I've ALWAYS wanted to do it.
When I was in Switzerland two summers ago I wanted to do it so badly
that I almost paid $300 for it.
But I'm happy to say that since Peru is so cheap it was only $50!
It was amazing. I feel like I use that adjective a lot, but honestly
how else to describe the feeling of jumping off a cliff and
flying over the ocean strapped into a harness?
Worth every penny!
P.S. These are not my shoes...they made me wear them! :)

We went to a museum of Peruvian artifacts one night,
and they had beeeeaaaauutiful gardens. I liked them way better than the museum itself.

Love Park!
How great is this?

Mosaic wall around Love Park

We were only here for about a day and a half, but I loved it.
I feel like I could go back for another few days, BUT...
We got to Cuzco today and so far it's amazing incredible!

By the way, we've had the most amazing food.
I'm thinking my next post will be all the pictures I've taken of every single thing I've eaten. :)

So far

Peru smells like fish.


Just got to the hotel and it is 1:18 am. More tomorrow :)