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Other entries in Cusco

tengo mucha suerte

I am so lucky

settling into life in cusco. this means I'm wearing the same thing every day - all my warmest clothes! at least it makes getting ready in the morning easy. the advice from the south africans (dont go to cusco, its too bloody cold) is proving to be true. but I'll gut it out for at least 3 more weeks.

I moved in with my host family sunday and started spanish classes yesterday. by friday I'm sure my brain will explode. I wrote "it feels hard becuase it IS hard" in my journal. my host family speaks no english. DD is gone. its only up to me to get around this city so it's been pretty intense. realized I'd been asking for la cuesta (slope) instead of la cuenta (bill) in restaurants. crazy gringa. I also said (to a boy) estoy facile (I am easy) when I meant to say estoy felice (I am happy). K, that's a BIG whoops. but I've also figured out how to pick the right kind of cab and not get stiffed on the fair. so I revel in the little successes!

last weekend I stayed at casa de la gringa - I'd recommend to everyone. cute rooms, homey feel. I had my own lofted bed and candles! spent 3 days trying not to move, just get used to the altitude. headaches, naps, lots of mate de coca. 5 days later I am SO much better! walking is so much easier. but still no running. so far, the only people I've seen running are gringos and cuscoians in business suits. go figure.

saturday I sat (remember, no moving) and watched a festival get underway. cusco has festivals like bali. in 5 days Ive seen 4. happy to say at this one, I returned a crying girl to her moma (we even talked in spanish), I met a magic boy who sprinkled confetti in my hair (I was still finding it 2 days later!), but there was also this crazy drunk incan who sat next to me and planted 2 big wet smooches on my cheek. SO unsolicited. but a newspaper guy snapped our photo. there were so many gringos taking pics of the cuscoians, I figured I was giving one up for the team.

this weekend there was a huge concert . I ended up meeting 2 guys from the Manganzoides - a gargage band from lima (www.angelfire.com/pe/manganzoides). Every time Juan described Rafael's singing, he'd just say ¨RRWWAAAAARW". Jen, if you're reading this check them out - sounds like gwar, I think you'd like! I was going to go to the show with them but it was wicked cold and rainy, we hung out Sunday instead. I'm considering a return to lima - a connection to the lima music scene seems too good to pass up. we'll see....

as far as cusco the city, most people walk. slowly. especially up the steep hills. I've seen 2 bmx-ers. SO much respect for these one-speeders riding the hills, cobblestones, battling the cars. streets here are wide enough for a tiny daewoo but busses still cram themselves in. my first day I got slightly clipped by a bus window (!) so I'm a little more careful. "sidewalks" are 1.5 feet wide so keep your bags in close and pass pedestrians with care.

the city is also so clean. sounds good but really its bad news for a collage artist - I'm not finding any material! for now I'll just take in the sites, maybe paint some cathedrals (aka church corporation). tomorrow I'll start looking for a trek, IF it stops raining. so far, there's no WAY you'd get me in a tent in this cold rainy weather. but yesterday I saw the feet of a porter. can feet be intense? the color of ash, calloused, cracking, flat but strong. and in sandles, of course. this might motivate me more than anything.

in between wandering, my spanish lessons will keep me occupied. my school also pairs you with a young english student. I talk with Saul (sah-oool) every day. hes 13, so cute and super shy. but today he asked me if I was in love. oy! My class is 3 hours of private lessons per day with Christina, a French-Argentinian living in Peru. I'm a student again!! This morning my host father looked over my notes and made corrections - reminded me of MY father :) I think I'll like this.

so I'll settle into the mellow pace of a cuscoian - never try to do more than 3 things a day. eat empanadas, hope for the sun to come out and study my spanish. the more I learn, the easier the next months will be!

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