I Live in a Construction Zone
It started with the stairs being ripped up last week. I could handle that because I don’t have to go up the stairs for any reason. Sure, the noise bothered me but I could deal.
Now it has progressed to a deep trench RIGHT OUTSIDE MY BUILDING. I opened the door yesterday morning and was surprised to see the heads of men at same level as my ankles. With two full bags of laundry in one hand and a comforter in the other, I stopped and wondered if I would be able to get to the laundry at all. The men gestured for me to walk down the foot-wide ledge, which, btw, has stones piled all over it. Yeah, this is safe.
What really bothers me is that I received no notice of this. My landlord did not tell me at all that there would be construction in front of the building and that I’m essentially trapped inside. I’m curious not only as to when this will end, but what will happen at night because I certainly don’t want to take a step out the door and fall into a 5 foot deep trench.
Heads up to anyone in Cusco who gets drunk and decides to take a stroll up my street: DON’T. If you manage to navigate around the trench, you then face the obstacle course of the stairs. You will likely die. Consider yourself warned.
Some Things I’ve Been Up To
I thought I would share a few of the things I’ve been up to lately to give you a glimpse of the randomness and weirdness that happens here in Cusco.
I was treated to this gorgeous rainbow one day. The view from my apartment never ceases to amaze me; I could take a picture at the same time each day and each photo would be different. The clouds, the sky, the shadows on the mountains… Always gorgeous.
I’ve been hanging out with my friends’ dog Goji a lot lately. She’s a sweetie and I often dognapped her for walks (I returned her, don’t worry!). Unfortunately, my friends have moved on from Cusco so no more Goji walks for me. Boo.
Enjoying a Pisco Sour on Easter weekend. I swear, this is the national drink of Peru. Consisting of pisco, lemon juice, egg whites and I’m sure there’s something else, it’s pretty delicious.
My friend Jeff spinning poi. So cool. It’s fireballs on chains and he spins them round and those watching hope he doesn’t catch himself on fire (he didn’t). In case you’re wondering, that is an empty pool behind my apartment building. Kinda weird.
And here’s Claire with fans! So beautiful and graceful. FYI, Goji owns Jeff and Clare.
And another dog! There are no shortage of dogs here in Cusco but there are very few I would actually touch. This puppy lives at Azul Wasi, one of the projects we assist. Isn’t he adorable?
Close up! He fell asleep in my arms for awhile. So cute.
Also living at Azul Wasi is this parrot. He decided to join us during a meeting.
Construction has been going on outside of my building. Started at about 7am one morning. Very annoying. The weird part is that a couple weeks before, workers went through and numbered all of the stones that make up the stairs. And then they smashed half of them to bits. I have no idea what’s going on.
Today’s final picture is of the wireless router for my building. I kid you not, it just hangs there with the various ethernet cords snaking into the different apartments. There could be logic as to why it is set up like this, but there also may be no reason. That’s Cusco for you; sometimes there is no rhyme or reason. It just is.
Two Months Left
While being super lazy yesterday, I realized that as of today, I have two months left in Peru. Holy crap, time has flown by! As I reflected a bit on all that I’ve done here, I also began to make a list of things I still want to do. Some are absolute “musts” while others are “like tos.”
Here’s what I hope to do in the next couple of months.
1. Machu Picchu
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I went to MaPi last year with Janet and was overwhelmed with how magnificent it is. This year, I’m going with some friends who are visiting in April and we’re going to be climbing to the top of Huayna Picchu, the mountain at the back of the photo, to get a different view of the ruins. I’m stoked.
2. Choquequirao
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Now that my foot is almost back to being 100% after this stupid stress fracture, I can start to plan for a trek! I did the Lares trek last year and LOVED it but since I’m going to MaPi with friends, I didn’t want to do another trek that finishes there. Choquequirao is another site home to Incan ruins that aren’t as visited as MaPi and apparently much bigger. It’ll be about a 3-4 day trek there, which I’m stoked about. Get out in nature, hike for hours, camp, and then finish with a rewarding view of the ruins and then hours to explore. Yay!
3. Colca Canyon
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Deeper than the Grand Canyon (which was an amazing sight to see!) Colca Canyon is also home to condors, which is a very important bird in Peru. A friend did a hike through the canyon and told me how stunning it is, so it is on my ‘must-do’ list. It is located near Arequipa, so about a 15 hour bus-ride away plus transport to the canyon for a 3 day hike. I think it’ll be worth it.
4. The Jungle!
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It’s a jungle. Who wouldn’t want to go to the jungle? See some sloths, some birds, some other crazy animals. Do some hiking. Try not to get eaten alive by mosquitos. Should be good!
5. Huacachina
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Okay, this isn’t on my ‘must-do’ list, but on my ‘would like to do’ list. I wanted to include a picture to show how diverse Peru is: mountains, canyons, jungles, and desert! Huacachina is an oasis in the desert from which people can go sandboarding, ride in sand buggies and then chill out by the pool. Not sure if I’ll get here, but we shall see! It’s even further away than Colca Canyon, so it’ll be a looooong bus ride to get there and back.
5. Eat more food
Peru has tons of good food so of course I’m going to keep eating it! There are a ton of restaurants in Cusco so I need to spend more time (and money) checking them out.
6. Practice Spanish
Tengo que practicar espanol. Yo entiendo mas de yo hablo, entonces, necessito hablar mas con mis amigos, en las tiendas, y otras personas.
So there you have it. I’m sure there are other things that I want to do that have currently slipped my mind. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to do everything! I’ll go home poor but with great memories of this beautiful country!
Buenos tardes!
