Sidestreets

I have so much to say I can't type fast enough!

Ok, First, I arrived in Cusco yesterday afternoon and I am staying in the same house I was in before. Although, the house is full of new people. Fun and different.

Play by Play for today: I am starting to understand (a little bit) why foreigners fall in love with this city and want to live here…

1. Today my roommate was leaving (after being here for 3 months) so there was a lot of last minute packing and shopping to do! In true Duffy fashion I tagged along and made a list of things I liked and scoped out prices. Always searching for the best deal.
2. Experiencing a little packing drama has made me very eager to leave lots of my stuff here- then maybe I will have enough space for presents!
3. I took Laura to the airport to see her off. On the way back from the airport I shared a cab with a friend of Laura’s who is Peruvian. Her name is Karla and she was super nice. I just got dropped off where she needed to go and figured I would walk the rest of the way home.
4. This is the first Saturday that I have had totally free since I arrived (I think) and I decided to take side streets that I have never explored and I found a gold mine! I happened to stumble upon the “Arts” district! (most of the city is arranged by type of store. For instance, if you needed to buy a mattress you would go to one street that is lined with mattress stores) I was surrounded by bolts of fabric, ribbon, paint, bead stores, you name it. Seriously, heaven. This was perfect timing because I saw a dream catcher in the Jungle and decided that I could make some to take home with me. My last day in the jungle I cut roots to make the frames and collected river stones to go in the center. So, needless to say, I bought a ridiculous amount of string, wire, and a pair of pliers and I will soon get to work!
5. Then I ventured through a market (that I have walked by at least 4 times a day, every day I have been in Cusco) and found fresh fruit, fresh flowers, handmade wooden spoons! It had everything! I also saw a shop that had live frogs next to a tray of TOTALLY gutted frogs. Maybe gutted is not the right word… the skin was missing from these particular frogs and just their bodies and guts were out on display- it was fascinating … and gross. The lady behind the counter was not happy that I wanted to take a picture and thus you will not have the honor (or maybe you will be spared) from experiencing this with me. At least for now, have no doubt, I will go back and do my best to get photos. There was a large section of the market full of butchers… who also would not let me photograph them.
6. I am currently watching a Spanish soap opera (novella) and it is quite distracting. Not my cup of tea.

I am having an internal struggle against the structure, commitment, and responsibility that will accompany Monday. There is still so much exploring I want to do here! I have yet to see any of the ruins that are close to Cusco or visit any of the museums and historical sites!

I will write more/post pictures of Salkentay and the Jungle soon!

In the Jungle, the mighty Jungle...

Hi Hi Hi

Ok, scratch the title of that last post... I now have 2 more ¨New Favortie Places¨. The last 2 weeks have been totally amazing.

First, hiking throught the Andes and camping was a blast. I was hard work but totally worth it. We ending the trip by hiking to Machu Picchu, which for the record, it super cool. Overall, I think I was there for around 14 hours, hiking and looking around. There is so much to see!

Now I am in the Jungle, reaching 2 weeks on Friday doing jungle conservation. Basically just planting and measuring trees. In the afternoon we nap, read, play cards, chat. All the food is vegetarian, there is no electricity, no hot water... no walls... and it is really great!!!! We have 2 pet monkeys and a parott but I have not seen much other wild life. Thousands of butterflies, one snake, a jaguar kill... yep, that covers it. The closest town with internet/phone access is a 2 hour walk away... and my computer time is up (please excuse the grammer/spelling errors!).

Love to all!,

C