Mi Salida

I made my exit out of Ollantaytambo and I cried far more leaving than coming in. Today and yesterday were really sad for me. Yesterday, we had ceviche for my last lunch followed by an afternoon of heavy drinking. We drank into the night and I did a lot of dancing - Cumbia, salsa & wino. I had to say goodbye to Marco, Johanna & Mela and to my surprise Marco cried like a baby and told me how special I am for their family :(. Oy.

Today, I woke up with a bit of a hangover, finished packing and had my last breakfast. I pretty much cried through it all including attempting to drink my coffee and practically choking to death. I said my goodbyes to my family headed to Cusco with Jesus and Janet.

The ride to Cusco was rough. I cried at the beginning and then started feeling sick due to the multiple switchbacks, additional altitude and my hangover. However, It is quite possibly the most beautiful 2 hour drive I will ever experience. Saying goodbye to Janet and Jesus was once again really rough. I couldn't have been living with a more spectacular group of people.

My classes ended Wednesday both at the school and the Telecentro. The sixth graders were really sad to see me go and were asking why I had to go back to the USA. I did some teaching and a lot of Bingo with prizes in my classes as well as the Telecentro. In addition to that, I brought Micaela to the Telecentro and she asked if she could come next week with me. I don’t think she quite understood that I was leaving.

I’m excited to go home back to Chicago but I am sad to leave here. It’s sort of bittersweet...with a lot of bitter and a lot of sweet. However, I’m not excited to return to reality (aka – work, money, paying bills, etc) but I have a lot of awesome plans this summer that include my sister’s wedding, two different friend’s weddings and my cousin’s wedding. As well as the spontaneous trips to friend’s lake houses, spending time in Chicago, riding bikes with Derf (you can’t break you leg again), playing beach volleyball, beer gardens, festivals and the many other activities.

Enough of being sappy and sad! Jesus and I went to the Salineras and Moray at the end of last week on a little day trip. Salineras is an area with thousands of salt pans that have been used for salt extraction since Inca times. A hot spring at the top of the valley discharges a small stream of heavily salt-laden water, which is diverted into salt pans and evaporated to produce salt used for cattle licks. Moray is another popular Inca site with different levels of concentric terraces that are carved into a huge earthen bowl. Each layer apparently has its own microclimate in which the Inca’s used to the site as a laboratory to determine the optimal conditions for growing crops of different species. Those Inca’s may have been little guys but they sure were intelligent.

Conveniently I got bit by a zillion fleas just a few days before I left. Jerks. I hope they don't make it all the way back to the States with me....

If you’re wondering about my guitar playing: Epic Fail. I originally imagined having a lot of time to kill in which I would play the guitar, but that didn’t happen at all. Don’t lose faith folks, I plan to learn when I get home and hopefully recruit JT to teach me. Also, I’m really interested in seeing my running ability when I get home. Since I’ve been running at about 10,000 feet the past couple months in a mountainous area, I imagine I’ll be like the female Michael Jordan of running {Not at all – but a girl can dream, right?}.

I'm currently in Lima before my flight home tomorrow night and my family has recruited their relatives in Lima to take me around and see the sights. I'm having lunch with Miguel tomorrow and then heading off with Chriztian's family to the zoo (which has Vicunas and condors) as well as the Plaza de Armas of Lima. Lima is pretty dangerous and the cab drivers try and rip tourists off or steal their stuff so it will be nice to have some Peruvian company as protection.

There are far too many things I didn’t get to do while I was here and there are a zillion things to see in this country. Looks like I’m going to have to come back at some point and tackle the rest! Looking forward to seeing everyone in a few days, until then!

Chau,
Liz