Saturday, October 14, 2006

On the Move...

So, the biggest things that have happened in the last week are that I finished my TEFL program, we´ve moved to a new apartment in Cusco, and we´re starting to think about what we´re going to do in the next few months.

On Tuesday, I officially finished my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) program. It was worth it, but I´m glad to be moving on to the relaxing part of our trip! Below you´ll see my classmates and I as happy TEFL graduates and also see the certificate I´ve been working so hard to achieve.



The second big thing was that we´ve moved! Our first apartment is Cusco was wonderful but it was a bit too expensive by Cusqueño standards. So, on Wednesday, we moved to another apartment in a more touristy neighborhood of Cusco called San Blas. The move has been a bit of an adjustment. The first morning we were jolted out of bed at 6:30am because our landlady was knocking on our door. She was delivering our television and gas for our stove. We knew she was coming in the morning, but she had said she´d be there at 8:30, not 6:30am! In addition, this morning, our neighbors decided to have a grand old time laughing beginning at 5:00am! Did I mention that our walls are not much better than paper thin? We didn´t have hot water for showering until just a few hours ago and, in our neighborhood, no one has running water after 10pm. Also, our stove, though I'm happy to have one, is too big for the itsy bitsy kitchen, so it sits out in the hall. The happy parts about our new apartment are that it is in a great (and safe) location, we have a television, and we're paying less than before. Here are some pictures of our new place! Note the height of the doorway to our entrance. It´s pretty typical in Peru. Jeremy's also proud to say that it's difficult to find shoes in his bigger-than-life size feet. (That's a direct quote from him.)



We have also starting talking about our next steps... Tomorrow, we're headed to the various villages in the Sacred Valley near Cusco. On Wednesday, we begin a 3 day, 2 night whitewater rafting tour on the Apurimac River (see the "Mayuc Rafting - Apurimac River" link on the right to see our itinerary). After that, we´re not sure what we'll do until early November. On November 2nd, we start our trek to MachuPicchu. The Inca Trail was booked and expensive, so we've decided to do an alternative trek called Salkantay. It's supposed to be just as beautiful as the Inca Trail. Then, November 9th, we head for an environmental research center in the jungle near Puerto Maldonado. They are looking for volunteers in exchange for a budget rate of accommodations in the jungle. We are happy to oblige. After that, we know where we want to go, but have no idea when things will happen... Suffice it to say (for now) that this trip is going to be the trip of a lifetime! We're super excited.

Anyway, we're hungry and about to try our first Indian food in Cusco. But first, let me leave you with a couple more photos. Some of you may remember that we had Peruvian Lilies at our wedding reception. We were excited to find that there are actually Peruvian Lilies here in Cusco (and at our favorite Italian restaurant, no less!)

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