¡Ciao, Ciao, Cusco!

Greetings All!

This is our last entry from the beautiful city of Cusco, Peru. We will have our last Spanish class this afternoon where we are expected to give a short speech in our non-native tongue. I have already written mine out and I intend to rely heavily on the notecard, i.e. I'll probably read it word-for-word! I will try to look up once or twice, but, there ain't no way I'm going to improvise or go without said card!

We are leaving for Puno early tomorrow morning by bus. This city is a jumping off point for exploring the Lake Titicaca area. Our Travel Agent set up an itinerary that will take us all around the Lake, Areiquipa, and the Nazca Lines for the next two weeks. It was easier and probably a bit cheaper to do it this way rather than work things out for ourselves every step of the way. We are glad to have things set and now we can just sit back and relax into our role of "Uber Tourists" for the next two weeks.

We have enjoyed our time here in Cusco and especially in the Sacred Valley. There's no surprise to me that this area contains one of the Great Wonders of the World - the natural beauty is astounding. Additionally, our host family has been fantastically kind and welcoming every day. Not to mention patient with our Spanish. We will miss them. However, we are both ready for some non-city time! We've been living the city life since we arrived in Mexico in January and I think we're both ready for some fresh air. The cars in both cities aren't really held to any emisson standards as far as we can see and it gets a bit tiresome. Another funny thing about living here in Cusco is the cry of "llamada! llamada!" that follows you wherever you go. The shouts are attached people with cell phones standing on every street corner. They are selling calls on their phones. They time your call and then charge you accordingly. There are two amusing aspects of these transactions. First, people making calls usually are looking up the number they wish to call on their own cell phones. Also, each vendor of "llamadas!" really individualizes their advertisements. Some choose a highly repetitive, rapid-fire method while others go for the surprise attack. It hasn't ceased to amuse me!

Yesterday, Peter was lucky enough to score 2 tickets to the Peru/Uraguay Soccer game. He attended with our host father and they had a BLAST! Peru won the game 2 -1 and Peter was full of details when he arrived home after the game.

Anyway, hope this finds you all doing well. Maybe winter is closing down in the Northeast? We've heard reports of "springlike" conditions in Hood River, so, maybe it's just a matter of time!

Love,
Kerry & Peter