Sunday was not a day of rest!

Hola! So now it´s on to the tourist part of the trip and so I write this in my hotel- the Hotel Del Prado in Cusco. It´s been a busy couple of days. First, the wrapup at CCS and the last night out. During the day on Friday it was tough saying goodbye to a lot of the abuelos, and it was only fitting I had kitchen duty for the good portion of the time that day! But when they said goodbye and sang their goodbye song, I was a little misty. Then came the Mass photo taking and kisses and hugs goodbye. It was quite a send-off! We had dinner the night before at Huaca Pillanca (or something like that!) in Miraflores. My opportunity to have cuy and so I had to take it! (Sorry Leanne!) It was lot of fun and we stayed out a little too late. So saying goodbye to Los Martincitos and being pretty tired (and a little hungover) made for an interesting day. Then we came back to the house and had lunch and then Friday Feedback meeting with no time for a nap! The feedback meeting I think is a great idea and was worth putting off sleep for a few minutes. There was 3 of us leaving, myself, Stefani and Hilary and we all gave goodbye speeches. I used the David Letterman method and gave the top 10 things I learned at CCS Lima. (I´ll post them later). We did go out that last night (Friday) to the Jazz Club again, this time listening to Salsa music and they even had salsa dancing. Of course there was little room on the floor to go all out (Thank God!), so the dancing I did was pretty much moving my feet in a 2 foot circle! I am the guy with no rhythm! But it was a good time had by all. And only 3 pisco sours this time!

Saturday morning came and I was off to Cusco. I was up before others and so had to tiptoe around and pack quietly! Mario who is one of the drivers for CCS Lima gave me a ride in his car and got to the airport in plenty of time. Short flight to Cusco and actually saw the sun! For Lima, the last few days was just cloudy all day with no sun. So Cusco being up a few feet in altitude affects all visitors. I had prepared a little and took Advil that morning and again when I got here, and had some Coca tea that´s supposed to help as well. So I didn´t get sick, but I could feel something going on in my stomach. Walked around the streets of Cusco after checking into the hotel and watched a little of the parade that was going on. Street performers as well as a few floats. They were celebrating the tourist, so all the tourism workers were out there either performing or on a float or something. Pretty neat. I took a few pictures, and will try to post them sometime. I don´t see a port to plug into (for pictures), but either I´ll ask or wait till Thursday, when I´m back in Lima. Today it was all about visiting the Sacred Valley and some ruins that has a long name and I don´t have the correct spelling! A really good day and weather is wonderful. Many kids asking for soles (money) or selling penny candy or small items for one soles. It´s hard to say no, but when you give they start following you and really start with the wining! It´s Machu Picchu tomorrow and Tuesday and am back in Cusco on Wednesday. Will see if I can post from the hotel in Machu Picchu, but who knows. Until then, Cheers and Hasta Luego! Mike