Día uno en Peru

So great news, wifi is the same in Spanish as in English.

I'm posting this from the lobby of the cutest, most picturesque hotel in South America.

Right?!?!

It's been a busy day and it feels really late, both due to the busy-ness and the fact that it's fall here so the sun set at like 6:00pm. It's only 9 something, but it's definitely just about bedtime.

We landed in Cusco just before noon, to bright blue skies and a gorgeous afternoon. We met all of the other people on our tour, as well as our tour guide, Saul.

Saul is fantastic. He politely humored me all day while I attempted to converse with him in Spanish. (Okay, but actually the Spanish is going really well! Either my two whole hours of studying last weekend paid off, or I hadn't regressed quite as much as I thought. I even successfully bartered in the market this afternoon, both speaking & understanding during the conversation!)

Saul is also, by default, our personal photographer. He took this picture of us as we stopped to get our first glimpse of the Sacred Valley.

(Immediately after taking this picture I realized, with some embarrassment, that I was still wearing the same shirt I had on yesterday. Overnight flights are hard. Don't worry, I've changed shirts since then.)

Along the drive, Saul told us about the local crops, including maíz gigante (giant corn!) and quinoa. I didn't retain as much information about the quinoa because every time he said quinoa, all I heard in my head was the commercial where the two guys are at the tailgate, and the wife packs veggie burgers, and the one says "what's a quee-no?", and the other says"I think it's a loofah."

We went to a silver shop and saw local artisans making jewelry, then had some time to shop in a local market. There was a section of the market that prepared and served the aforementioned local delicacy, Guinea pig. 

Come on, how could anyone eat these guys?!

(I will spare you the picture of the cooked Guinea pig but it was just as gross as you are imagining and made up my mind that I'm going to skip the cuy this trip.)

The day ended with a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, for all but one member of our party. Emily is currently lying miserably in the cutest, most picturesque hotel room in South America, suffering from altitude sickness. Cusco is about 11,000 feet above sea level, and though Urubamba (our stopover this evening) isn't quite that high, the combination of the thin air and driving around on winding roads in a bus all afternoon has done her in. We go to Machu Picchu tomorrow so we are all hoping she'll bounce back after a good night's sleep. 

Speaking of- the alarm is set for 4:30am, so I better get going if I want a good night's sleep too. 

¡Buenas noches!