I Made it Back to Cusco!

I made it to Cusco, Peru! But first, there might be some people who need some background to the story. Five years ago my friend Tammie and I came here to study Spanish. We fell in love with the city and the people and ended up staying 9 months. My cousin Nathan also joined us and we all shared an apartment and taught English. (Which eventually turned into my career - thanks to this experience.) We left a lot of friends behind and often talked about going back.

As those who read the blog know, about two years ago I got really tired of traveling so I bought a house in Salt Lake. I love the house and loved my jobs and being so close to family, but as an addict who can't just quit cold turkey, I started to think about travel again.

So I've rented out the house for a year and have three destinations planned: first back to Cusco, Peru (unfortunately without Tammie due to a growing family and also without Nate because he's on the other side of the world in India right now) and I plan to visit old friends, practice my Spanish, and try to do some teaching on the side.

My second destination will be back to Seward Alaska to work in the lodge where I worked in 2008 and earn the money to be able to cover my adventures this year. If I save enough there my last destination will be Africa - but I haven't fully planned that part, yet.

So for now I'm back here in the city of the Incas wandering the cobblestone streets and taking note of all the things that are the same, and all the things that are different. The first thing I noticed was the smell. I had forgotten that Cusco has a distinct smell of spices, almost like an incense, mixed with dirt and pollution, of course. The smell alone brought back tons of memories. It's the rainy season so there is a downpour every afternoon but it also means everything is greener. I noticed this when I walked through some of the big plazas.



My good friend Ruben was nice enough to pick me up at the airport. The next day We visited his sister, Charo and her son, Anderson who were also my good friends. When I was here last her son was only about 3 years old. Now he's turning 8 and I can't believe he still remembers me! He ran to me and gave me a big hug when I visited them which made me feel good. They helped me get a cell phone and later I went with Ruben to get his hair cut.
I've been doing a lot of wandering around reliving memories. One of the things I missed was the food. So each restaurant I get to eat another favorite dish. I can't forget to mention Porky's sandwiches. It's just a one dollar pork sandwich but after I got home in 2007 I actually had a dream about them and started having cravings but I didn't think I would ever get to eat one again.
Yum! I know, it's just a sandwich but there are a lot of things that I didn't think I would experience again.

I spent a lot of time each day looking for apartments in the classified ads, and realized that I can't speak Spanish on the phone. Well, I can speak, but I can't understand what people say back to me. It was a frustrating experience and then Ruben told me about his friend who worked for an agency that has a bunch of vacation rentals that are just sitting empty. The company gave me a good deal on a room since I'm staying three months. I chose the room on the top floor because it was the biggest and the nicest.
As you can see, there is enough space for people to visit and stay with me! My brother Clay and his wife Trista are coming in March and this will make things very easy.
I also have cable TV in my room so I can keep up to date with the BBC.
The internet and kitchen are on the bottom floor and so far I'm the only one here so it's been very quiet. I think that's all for now - I'm sorry I don't have more pictures. Sometimes I forget to take them because I've already seen most of the city before. Plus I don't want to look like a tourist. I'll do better next time.
As I say in Peru, Ciaocitos para todos! (little goodbyes for everyone)