La Puerta Del Sol

Hiked up to ‘La puerta del Sol’ and got an amazing view of Machu Picchu. It really is quite different seeing it in person rather than laboriously studying the facts in a textbook for a history exam. 

Of course...

At the Denver airport for the next 7 hours until my flight to Boise hopefully takes off. It’s weird being back in the States and hearing so many people speak ‘good’ English and feeling cold. It’s snowing here in good 'ol Colorado. It’s always weird seeing so many blondes. On one hand, it’s nice to be back in the States and have this thing called 'efficiency’, but on the other, I am going to miss the lack of structure in Peru. For anyone that’s lived anywhere except Miraflores in Lima, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. 

Cuzco Ladies

Some new friends I made in Cuzco. What’s up Ladies?!?!

Differences...

There’s a 6'5 chubby Colombian guy in my Muay Thai class and our trainer was asking him what he thought about Peruvian girls vs. Colombian girls. Right off the bat, he said Peruvian girls were stuck up. He also said that right now in Colombia, it’s around 35C and in Peru, it’s 16C. Because of this, he said that going to Peruvian clubs, girls are wearing layers upon layers of clothes and he’s bored because there’s nothing to look at. But in Colombia: (At this point, he then pretended to walk like a Colombian girl) “They wear mini skirts and a tiny bra, boom, ready for the club”. hahaha this kid had everyone cracking up 

Doritos what?!

Every bag of Doritos I have eaten in the past month or so has come with a mini packet of Ketchup or Mustard. I don’t know if this is a world wide promotional thing, or if they are just catering to the fact that Peruvians eat their chips in the most disgusting way possible. 

Trip of a lifetime...

I had my students write travel advertisements and here was the winner:

Have you ever wanted to see paradise on earth, also known as Pyongyang, North Korea? If you sign up now, you can be one of the 1st hundred people to say, “I love North Korea!” One lucky winner will even have a private lunch on the grave of Kim Jong-Il. Don’t wait another second! Call 1-800-IheartNK to reserve your spot now!

This kid had me cracking up this morning. 

Blah blah blah...

Talked about the Olympics in class today (a sore topic for Peru) and tried to figure out the origins of swimming. One student made a good point by saying, “If someone pushes you into the ocean, wouldn’t that be swimming?” To which I said, "Well I suppose if you don’t drown, then yeah, you’ve got a point.“ 

Went to the grocery store today and bought 5 different types of local powdered roots and grains because they are "Bueno para la salud!” Mixed them together with hot chocolate powder and now have quite an interesting drink when combined with water. 

Highlight of my day: Splurging on an overpriced can of Nutella because it’s just so goddamn tasty

My roommate’s Peruvian boyfriend has been staying with us and I’m pretty sure he’s taking 3 showers a day because come 2:30pm, there is absolutely no hot water. Possible lesson to be learned: Showering is not a leisure activity when the only source of hot water comes from solar panels. 

On a different note, I’ve been dropping hints to our director about how awesome it would be to have the 4th of July off from teaching. Guess who doesn’t work tomorrow? Now if only I can find an Osama Bin Laden piñata…

When you’re hungover in a foreign country looking at the endless list of sandwich options, the go-to should always be the “Americano”. Playing on the, “All Americans are fat” stereotype, the sandwich usually includes 3 different types of meat, egg, and cheese. In that case, I’ll have one here and pack one up to go señorita. 

It’s terrible quality but that is definitely a door on the second story. Kelly and I came to the conclusion that they didn’t have enough money for a glass window, but they for sure had a spare door laying around. Peruvians never cease to amaze me