Estoy aqui

After more than 24 hours of flying and layovers, I'm here, I'm here!! I got off the plane in Cusco and met up with the 14 other people in my program. It was great meeting everyone, especially since we come from all different areas of the United States. It is hard to believe that I will be here until December.

Our first few nights we stayed in a small town an hour away from Cusco called Urubamba. This is what it looks like:

We stayed in a hostel here for four nights and tonight we head out to Cusco but here are some things we did in Urubamba:

1. Went to a guinea pig (or cui en español) farm.
There were so many but own one cui was black. In Peru, the black ones are good luck and they are rubbed on people who are sick for healing purposes. Look at this:
2. We saw how chocolate is made. It turns out the seeds are grown, toasted, and then ground with peanuts and some sugar to get the real deal. Hershey's better watch out because this natural chocolate is pretty delicious. I think i'm going to go back today to buy some more!

On another note, there are a few things about Peru that have surprised me. First of all, it is so cold! I thought (in my ignorance) that it was supposed to be cold under the equator, but I find myself doubling up on my sweaters during the day. Another thing (which may be too much information for some), toilet paper is hard to find, so it is suggested that we all carry our supply around. More to come, but I'm going to end on one of my new favorite pictures:
¡Qué hermosa! (that means what beauty).