Less than 2 weeks!

I will be home in 13 days, crazy! It's gone by so fast, I feel like just yesterday I arrived in Ecuador and couldn't believe how beautiful it was. If anything, I've decided that no matter how long you live in this place, it's beauty will never cease to amaze. The andes mountains are truly a gorgeous place to live.

We leave for Perú this Sunday bright and early around 6am. We will travel along the coast until the capital Lima, spend some days in Lima then fly to Cusco where we will spend a day and then travel to the sacred valley which is the town right below Machu Picchu, then we wake up at 5am to take our hike up to machu picchu to avoid all the tourists that swarm the place later on! After that we have another day or two in Cusco, then we fly back to Lima, have a night in Lima and then fly home the next morning the 22nd! (wake up call is 3am!!!)

p.s. If you don't know what Machu Picchu is, here's a photo...maybe you'll understand why I can't believe I'm lucky enough to actually see it!


Machu Picchu was home to the Incas but wasn't discovered until 1911 (the incas were conquered by the spanish in the 1500's) because of its location. Today it remains a mystery what the function of the city was. Some people think it was a sacred place, meant only for the most important people of the Incan culture, other people think it was used for commercial reasons...there are alot of theories, but regardless the place is fascinating and I can't wait to go! I only wish I had a camera to take pictures with....oh well. I will just steal pictures from friends I suppose.

Anyway, today was my last day of class! Tomorrow is a national holiday so everything will be closed. We are having our goodbye dinner tonight and then tomorrow we have a potluck. I'm bringing dessert! Of course :)

I figured I'd take this time to write out some things that I will miss about Cuenca and my time I've spent here....

-Cheap food. I'm talking a personal size pizza, a giant beer and an ice cream cone for about $3. (you can get it cheaper but I prefer the pizza at this place)
-Bread. Fresh bread and bresh marmalade every morning.
-The mountains. Beautiful views everywhere we go.
-Cuenca's idea of humor. everyday I throw my garbage away in a garbage can whose opening is the mouth of a giant clown. I also pass a store called "sexy locuras" whose mascot is a giant dancing condom, but upon entering the store I found out that it was simply a toy store for children. There are many many more examples like these...
-cheap movies! Pirated movies for $1.50 but perfect quality!
-The people. I love cuencanos, they are so friendly and interested, and although they may not like our country (mainly the government) they respect its citizens.
-My host family. Hilarious and amazing, I will truly miss them and hope some day I can return.
-the FOOD! rice, potatos, soup!! yummy! I bought a bilingual cookbook so I can return with some tasty recipes!
I know there is so much more but right now I can't think of anything else...I will try to remember though!

I know a few things I WON'T miss:
-Pollution...city buses pouring out the blackest exhaust I've ever seen right into my face
-the men. Sorry latin america but I despise your machismo. It's changing somewhat, but for the most part men still have a dominant role in society and expect alot.
-the men and their cat calls. I can't wait until I return to the U.S where I am not considered an object to be whistled at or yelled at. (It is quite amusing to hear the men try and speak english...i.e. "hello precious, baby, gorgeous etc..." in a horrible u.s. accent)
-The elevation. My lungs have gotten used to it by now, but I can still feel it when we go on hikes. When I first got here, I couldn't walk up stairs without being out of breath. Cuenca is about 8,000 feet above sea level, some of the places we've gone to for hiking are at elevations as high as 13,000 feet above sea level! We didn't stay up there for long, we hiked down quickly. Machu Picchu is going to be pretty crazy as well, I'm not sure how high up it is, but its up there!

I don't think I can think of anything else I won't miss...everything here is so wonderful for the most part! I guess I won't miss the fact that I'm so far away...I will be glad to be back and close to all of you whom I love so much!!

Okay, well I don't have much else to say right now. I know I will have more sappy things to say about Ecuador once it gets closer to the end, but for now I'm going to go out and enjoy this beautiful sunny day!

Love you all and MISS YOU!
linds

Saraguro!

Hi all! I have pictures! I stole them from my friends, and some of them were nice enough to let me use their cameras and take some pictures for my own use! So you can see what I was up to this past weekend. We went to a town called Saraguro which is mainly a town of Indigenous peoples with roots all the way back to the Incas. It was a really beautiful town and we had a lot of fun!

On saturday we took a very long an beautiful hike to some sacred places that the Incas used and that the saraguro people still use today. After the hike we came back for a delicous dinner and live music with some traditional dance!

Sunday we took another hike to a cave that is also a sacred spot and is located near a "waterfall" with a little pool of water underneath that functioned as a bath for the Incas (only the noble class used it though)

In the cave some local men who are known as Shamans or healers did a cleansing ritual that was supposed to bring energy from the earth and give it back to us to enrich our lives, it was really interesting! I've really enjoyed seeing all of the different rituals and customs they have here because it helps me understand even more how we are all connected throughout the earth and that our own actions affect not only ourselves but people far far away!

I could go on and on about interconnectedness and how its the coolest thing every but I'll spare you the lecture for now...

Anyway, here are some pictures....

the "bus" we took through town to get to our hiking spot!
(I like the fruits and vegetables)

Some local women using their own form of transport

Gorgeous view from one of the inca sacred spots

The penca plant! (say hello to the origen of Tequila!) In this town they make a different drink using the nector of this plant, it's alcoholic but tastes a lot different than tequila. These plants take 20-25 years to mature, and once they do you split off the top and inside there is a little cavern that holds the liquid. Once they are mature they produce 8-16 liters of the beverage each day! Once it is used up they shrivel up and die...

this is me drinking the above mentioned alcoholic beverage. It was a communal experience, pass the cup around and around until we finished the supply. There were only a few of us up to the challenge. I quit after a while because it really didn't taste that great.

Cave in which the ritual took place

After the ritual was done, the healers cleaning up
(it's interesting because every piece you see there has its own significance, maybe someday I will sit down and write everything I've learned about the andean natives and their "religion"..its more of a worldview in my opinion)

"waterfall" that led to the incan bath

Incan bath....nice huh??

Local indigenous people at the market on Sunday. they are wearing their native clothing that pretty much all of the adults wear. You don't see as many teenagers or kids wearing it anymore.

Well that's all I've got! Hopefully you enjoyed the pictures. 3 more weeks and I'll be home! Craziness. This weekend we are traveling to Vilcabamba which is supposed to be gorgeous, so I hopefully will steal some pictures to show you! Then a week from sunday (the 13th) we leave for Perú....I can´t wait! We travel along the coast of perú for a week and then head inland towards Machu Pichu! If you don't know what Machu Picchu is...google it...you will be impressed!

Hope all is well with you guys, let me know how life is. Miss you!!

amor y besitos,
Linds