Today is my second day in Peru! So far, it has been a whirlwind. My trip was uneventful but LONG. I left Boston at 5:40pm on Thursday and arrived in Cusco at 8am on Friday here (which is 9am in Boston).  Good things: none of my luggage was lost, and I met this awesome girl from Canada who is studying to be a nurse too and will be in Cusco for 2 weeks!

 Right away I went to my host family's house via taxi where I was greeted with Cocoa Tea and bread to help me adjust to the altitude. My host family is incredibly welcoming and friendly. I met my Peruvian mother, Irma, who is the director of the kindergarten where I will be volunteering the first two weeks. My host sister is Andrea. She just finished school for journalism and speaks a little English which is very nice. 

After I had some tea and bread, I took a nap until "almuezo", the main meal of the day. I met my Peruvian father, Abdon, who is a sociologist who works with medicinal plants, and my Peruvian brother, Juan Diego, who is an engineer. Abdon kept cracking jokes at lunch that I kind of understood. Everyone is very friendly and kind to me. Irma has 12 brothers and sisters and Abdomn has 9. They have a huge family! 

Later in the afternoon I was feeling very sick from the altitude so I went to bed very early. When I woke up this morning I felt like a new person! A woman from Intej, the program who is organizing my stay in Peru, picked me up at 9:30 and we went to the Plaza de Amas.This is the central historic part of Peru. There are many shops and restaurants in the plaza, along with many more tourists! We took a bus to the highest point in Cusco! It was beautiful and amazing to be able to see the whole city!  On the way back, we stopped at a shop that makes beautiful clothing out of alpaca wool and drove by some Aztec ruins.

When I got home, Irma's brother, Carlos, made me warm soup and then I took a long nap. When I woke up, Irma invited me to see her nephew and sister in a dance performance at her nephew's school.  It was the anniversary of the school so they had a big party! The dancing was a great way to get a glimpse into the culture and the kids were adorable. After the dance, we went home and had some hot tea and talked about family. It's very cold out here and I am not prepared!

It has been a little difficult to adjust so far, but everyone has been so nice and I am excited for the days to come! I didn't realize how tiring it is to try to understand a language all the time that you don't know that well. In addition, everything here is obviously much different then back home. I am trying to embrace everything, but it takes time!

In future posts I will try to include pictures but it is a little difficult from my phone. Also, sorry about any typos, it's hard to write so much on my phone too :)