Día 23

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Ok, finally we are off to Cusco for the day! Would have liked to spend a lot more time in Cusco than the trip has allowed for, but today's schedule was rearranged so we could have some time there.

Unfortunately for me, and only because I did not know this ahead of time, we made multiple stops along the way. I had though that a departure from the hotel at 8am would get us into Cusco no later than 10, and we would have all day to explore. But since we had hired a separate shuttle and tour guide, something that was not planned for originally, we stopped many times to visit small markets and see more ruins. I was able to find the strip of seeds I had been looking for though- great souvenir to bring home and very interesting piece of realia to show my students. The strip contains all sorts of different beans and types of corn that are customary here in the Andes.

Eventually, at 1:15, we arrived in Cucso, just in time for lunch! We ate at a cute little restaurant in the middle of the Plaza de Armas called Paititi. I shared Papa a la Huancaina and Palta a Reina with Natalie, and for the main meal we shared pasta bolognese and pizza. YUMMY!!! Vinnie dared to order Cuy, or guinea pig! Not quite ready to taste it yet- soon though, I hope! Want to at least take a bite so I can share my experiences with all of you!

Because I had been so far behind on my blog entries, I spent the afternoon at an internet cafe instead of exploring Cusco like I had planned. We are supposed to head there again on Friday so hopefully I will get to experience some of the city! I did buy myself a new watch though. I cannot stand not knowing what time it is! Did I mention the difficulty we had in finding an internet cafe? Not that they weren't all over the city, but the first one we tried only had one available computer. At the second, the guy couldn't figure out how to enter the code that would allow us access, and the third, which was great at lightening speed, was a little noisy. Bewteen the little boy playing racing games and creating his own sound effects to the woman using the computer phone and screaming and laughing into the mouthpiece in some unrecognizable language, to the guy sitting next to me whistling, I was going a little nuts! (Not that I am not almost already there, along with most of our group. Hey, 4 weeks is a long time to spend together!)

We met at 5pm in the plaza to head back to the hotel. Got suckered into buying a little handmade dolly and socks from people on the street who cornered us on the stairs of the cathedral. 1 1/2 hour busride back to hotel, where Natalie and I listened to my iPod for the whole trip. Dinner back at the lodge was awesome- chicken in a peach sauce with veggies and ice cream for dessert.

Bedtime? 9:45... I am such an old lady!!

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