Familia...

Lima to Cuzco- I made it! It was a long day at the airport but I arrived and Alfonso, the guy that I'll be working with from sense the world (the nonprofit organization that Greg founded & I'll be working with) was waiting the whole day at the airport for me. He took me to my hostel and we had some mate de cocoa- which is like tea, but they told me it is not. They said it is to acclimate to the elevation... which I later found out how serious they were. I rested for an hour and then Alfonso picked me up to go get some lunch- the real peruvian deal! It was the first thing that I had to eat for awhile and it was some kind of fish?? Lots of seafood here! I also tried this drink that is famous here called "Chicha"- probably the worst thing that I've ever tasted in my life. Seriously.. but I tried to swallow it down (believe me this was a BIG glass of chicha) as they were so proud of it. I'm sure it'll come back up in my path again.... can't wait :(. I can try just about anything (and have!)- but that was NO BUENO.

Alfonso and I went to start getting all of the supplies we need to take to the villages... we were at the store buying LOTS of notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, shampoo, soap, etc, etc. They told me we would be going part way by car and the rest of the way on horse back to deliver these things- Pretty excited for that! It was a little while into the evening yesterday that I started to get sick- I was feeling great and then within a few mins was blacked out sitting on the floor. Wow Lindy- here i am the only gringa around trying to blend in... falling on my face in the middle of the store...I was thinking to myself "way to blend in tourist" :). So yeah- that altitude thing... for real. It is the highest city in the world that is civilized. I learned that yesterday- directly.

I went back to my hostel & was a little lonely in a place I don't know at all- but it was good for me for sure! I took a walk to find a phone because my friends in Lima wanted me to let them know I made it- met a gentleman along the way that charged me 3 soles to make a call on his cell phone. Back the the hostel after dodging as many people as I could & hung out for awhile longer until Erin came to my hostel. I was pretty excited to see her... she is studying at the same school I'll be at. We walked up to the plaza and found a salsa bar and hung out for a little while before I walked back to my hostel.

Today I'm going to my host family which I'm really excited about! It will be good to have a home base here. Saying a little prayer that it is a good set-up... my host family in Costa Rica was a bit challenging (but fun none the less).

Alfonso and I will work some more today and who knows what else the day holds??? I'm excited to get busy and get started on my cuzco adventures!

I'll try and post some more pics from Lima- sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. Missing you all! Thanks for the e-mails and facebook notes- they seriously make my day.