¡Feliz Ano Nuevo!

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Last night we went to the plaza for the Ano Nuevo celebration. It was slightly nerve racking because we took seperate taxis there with no good way of getting in touch with each other. We got there fine though we all met up and some of us decided to walk around. We took a walk around the plaza and got asked to buy many different cheap souvenirs. Yellow is the color of luck so they had yellow necklaces and yellow confetti, and 2009 glasses. I bought the glasses and the necklace. It was fun and crazy, we obviously were not drinking, but everyone else there was good and drunk. Everyone was setting off fireworks all over and having a good time. A girl go me to pay her dos soles (soles is the currency in Peru) for a flower necklace because it was a "donation". It probably wasn´t but I guess I was just being a gullable tourist - typical.

At midnight everyone went crazy - we joined the crowd in running around the Plaza shouting and dancing. This entire time it was raining which didn´t matter at all - until it was time to go home. We needed two taxis, and had the address for our home stay. Since none of us speak good Spanish, or know how to navigate Cusco this became very challenging. We walked a couple blocks away from the Plaza to try and get a cab. Each cab we flagged down told us they didn´t know where our home was. I think they just didn´t want to take us that far, because they could make a lot more money just staying around and near the Plaza. They led to the hour long process of standing in the rain attempting to flag down a cab that would actually take us home. Eventually we were able to get Ivan - our host dad on the phone to give directions to the cab driver. Without him, or cell phones we would have been stuck in La Plaza proabably all night. It was not the best experience, but the fun time before made up for the annyoing process of trying to get home.

We all slept in, and when we woke up the other half of our group came over to our house. Since it was a national holiday we had a "free day". We wanted to hike up a trail that is about three blocks from our host families home. It was amazing. Patrick, Gabriel, and Ivan all lead us up this amazing trail with the best views of the mountains and city. There were two different check points - and we all stopped to take pictures at both. After the second most people decided to hike back down since it was a pretty steep hike. A couple of us - maybe eight - decided to keep going with Patrick and Gabriel (and Doggy - their dog)leading the way. We wanted to make it to the next point, but it was a very difficult hike. It was very steep, narrow, and tiring. We stopped at a point, near it and decided to turn around however it was very rewarding and I hope to get the chance to hike it again. It was truly beautiful views and even though it seemed hard, I think it was just because of the elevation and it being must harder to breathe well.

After that we just hung out for a little, and went to sleep early. I still haven´t had a warm shower, and I'm falling more and more in love with the two little boys. I´m excited for our service tomorrow and I can´t wait to see our ninos a la orfanato.

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