Cusco

So I've arrived in Cusco safe and with all of my things! Yay!! My trip here was interesting. Cruz del Sur was probably the fleshest (new Austrailian word meaning posh) transportation I could have taken instead of a plane. It had deeply reclining chairs, a tiny pillow but super nice blanket and it provided dinner, which was some sort of egg thing with rice a beef empananda and a chocolate and vanilla cake piece. We also got breakfast the next morning (if that's what you would call it) which was a ham sandwich and another cake piece. The food wasn't horrible but I am glad I packed an extra banana and ritz crackers for the ride. Speaking of the ride, it was...different. For the first few hours we were still leaving the city and passing through tiny "villages" as well as a ton of abandoned shacks and buildings. I had to wonder what had happened to all of these once homes and businesses. Almost all of the grafiti I saw on these were of Fujimori and Keiko...public figures that had been banished from the country because of coruption and hate crimes. Once we started ascending the Andes I started getting a little headache from the altitude. It was easily cured by some Alieve and sleep. Sleep...huh...

Sleep was virtually impossible. Imagine riding up and down on an extremely curvy road with loads of pot holes. Now imagine riding on the road for 19 hours. Now imagine trying to sleep on that ride. You get my drift. With all of the comforts provided by Cruz del Sur the ride itself was incredibly difficult. We were riding through altitudes higher than 4,000 meters in the Andes. Furthermore, the road itself was dangerous. To give you an idea, I could look out the window and see directly down into the valley below. I only saw maybe ten total guard rails the whole trip. And besides all that, it really is a one vehicle road but somehow we managed to stay on the road and let people pass without fault. I only had one scare. After I finally got to sleep at one moment the next thing I knew I was jerked to the left and things were falling from the compartments above. I honestly thought we were going to tip...it freaked me out but the other passangers didn't even wake! However, the view in the morning was astounding. I could see miles and miles of mountaintops which were either covered in clouds or snow. It really took my breathe away. About an hour outside of Cusco we stopped for a bathroom break (our toilets on the bus now smelled horrible) in a small village. I paid s/ .50 for some toilet paper and the service of getting new water to flush my toilet by a boy of about 6. I also was able to stand and take some pictures of the surrounding villages climbing up the sides of the mountains. Amazing.

When I arrived I didn't see Moose so I got a bite to eat and walked around the corner to email him. It didn't take long before he popped in a picked me up from the cafe itself! I was so glad to see a familiar face. We took a taxi to San Blas Plaza where his friend is staying. She generously offered to let me stay with her in her hostel for the night so that I could get some rest. I never got sick to my stomach from the altitude but I certainly had a nice headache for most of the day and was exhausted. I must have taken a three hour nap! Then we headed out in celebration of my arrival. I got to see where Moose works as a bartender. It's called "Patty's Irish Pub", the highest Irish Pub in the world! :) I might get a job there as well but I met this woman on the bus that works at IPNA, a rather large international school that has a lot of English teachers. I'll probably go there tomorrow to see if it's possible for me to teach English instead of working at the pub. Apparently I'll be making more than expected beause unfortunately foreigners get paid much more than locals. I can expect to make alteast s/45 a day which is like $15. I can live off of this wage comfortably here in Cusco.

It rained alot last night and so it was pretty cold this morning. I'm having to wear pants, a sweater and tennis shoes. Luckily I got a hot shower and breakfast this morning at Casa del Gringo II. This afternoon I'm going with Moose to find an apartment or hostel that is cheap enough for both of us to stay in. Looks like we're both on the same budget. I want to write so much more but I'm so overwhelmed. I think I'll have to wait a bit and process before letting the world know just how amazing and beautiful this city is.