Dias 1 y 2

Bienvenidos a Cusco!

I wanted to start this blog to keep track of everything happening during the five weeks I'll be living here. It's also mostly for the people at home, so they can have a little bit of Cusco in NJ.

The adventure began on el viernes, el nueve de julio de 2010 (Fri. 07.09.10). I decided to take the shuttle from Rutgers to JFK, which was a great decision. It was a good opportunity to get familiar with a lot of the people also traveling on the trip, especially those who weren't living in the same hostal as I am. The shuttle was actually more like a prom bus, with crazy lights and a place for a built in bar and stuff. So it was nice to drive in style.

Checking in at the airport was fine. I found out that I could take 50 lbs. per suitcase, not 50 lbs. together, which means I can bring home 50 lbs. of presents. Normally passing through security is kind of a drag, because in order for the guards to do their jobs, you have to take off your jewelery and your jackets, etc. However, a man in front of us got his giant knvies confiscated, so I had a little more faith in the system and didn't mind taking off my shoes so much.

The flight from JFK to Lima wasn't as bad as I expected, about 7.5 hours. I had a window seat, so I could take pictures like these:



We were flying most of the night, but we did get to see the sunrise while we were on the plane. Also, we flew through a lightening storm, which is as terrifying as it is beautiful.

There were also screens in front of every seat, where you could watch movies, tv shows, or giant maps of what places you were flying over. I was awake when we flew over Cuba, which is probably as close to Cuba as I'll ever get, but I fell asleep when we crossed Panama.

Once we landed in Lima, we waited in the airport until our connecting flight to Cusco left. The flight was delayed about an hour, but I luckily again got a window seat, and I got to see things like this:



After we landed, we took a quick bus trip around the center of town, and then went to the hostal, el ALbergue San Juan de Dios, which is located inside the CLinica San Juan de Dios, a clinic that specializes in all sorts of rehabilitation for both adults and children.

So, just for a recap, I got to Rutgers at 6:00 PM (Fri.), departed from JFK at 12:00 AM (Sat.), landed in Lima at 6:30 AM (Sat.), departed from Lima at 10:20 AM (Sat.), landed in Cusco around 11:00 AM (Sat.), and got to the hostal around 11:30 AM (Sat.).

Later in the after, a bunch of people from our hostal took a taxi to the Plaza de Armas to get some food and watch the 3rd place World Cup game. I hardly ate anything, and when I got back to the hostal decided to take a power nap.

That night at dinner, a few people went out for Chinese food (apparently, there is a large Chinese and Japanese population in Cusco), and even though I was really hungry, the smell and sight of food made me feel so sick. That along with the headache and the lack of sleep, and probably some dehydration mixed in, I ended up going back early and sleeping for like, fourteen hours.

So, my first two days were pretty spectacular. Today I'm feeling better, I did some shopping and had some real food. Tomorrow, I look forward to class at 8:00 AM sharp.

More entries to come,

Victoria