Visitors, Lost Card, and Machu Picchu...?

Yay, two posts in one day, thanks to Pantastico, a cute cafe in San Blas with wifi and a quick connection speed!

It's Saturday. The day is actually quite warm and sunny. Too bad I feel like crap with my allergies going haywire (at least I hope to God it's allergies and not something else), and my head pounding from a night of pisco tasting with my friend and former colleague and her boyfriend at el Museo de Pisco.

It was quite interesting how, in DC me and my friends and colleagues would go to nice restaurants and bars but, since coming to Peru, I've adapted to the college style of cheap, but great, eats and cheap drinks. Seeing Simmy again and going to the Museo de Pisco (which I thought was an actual museum at first and was not dressed appropriately as it was a fancy restaurant/bar/live music and dancing place), brought back memories of DC and opened my eyes to a new side of Cusco. While the Museo de Pisco was exquisite,  I have to admit that it just made me feel like I was back in DC at a nice restaurant.

At the restaurant we met an awesome Moldovan guy name Sergio who spoke Russian. Guess who got the hook up at a fancy and expensive restaurant in Cusco because of her Russian skills - THIS GIRL!!! :D After the Pisco tasting, Sergio used my remaining unfinished pisco drinks to make me a totally new drink from scratch. That ish was strong as heck, but really good. I hope I took a pic of it as it really got our "salsa" skills going.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Machu Picchu. I keep taking awesome videos, but my Mac is being a poo and not letting me upload them from my Samsung Galaxy S4. I have a few more methods of uploading them though before I give up. The first problem is getting the videos on my computer. The second is finding a quick internet speed to upload them in less than 5 hours. hahaha. I'll manage though.

Today, although I did learn and experience a lot, I think I'll skip my lessons learned and experiences gained.

If there's something you'd like to me write about, ask the people of Cusco, or try while I"m here in Peru, just let me know so I can cover it. :)


OH!!! So I lost my debit card! Yup, that happened. I don't really think I lost it though, if you know what I mean. My account balance is accurate, as of now, and I did email my credit union to let them know, so I hope everything will be alright.  Oh well.

Until next time...

PICTURE TIME!

The drink with the circle of ice is the one Sergio made for me. :) It was citrusy and super delicious. Oh, did I mention that I had already tried 4 different Piscos and had a Pisco sour before he gave it to me? :D

Me and friends. :)

 This is the view from the store I work at in San Blas.

This was in the workbook of my boss's daughter. It says: "Tell me, Toreador, will my bull die?" No, little girl, your bull is not going to die." First thoughts: that guy is a liar!!!

Coca Coca everywhere!

Today was my orientation at the place I will be volunteering. Before I came to Peru I was told I would be helping women with their business development goals within the textile industry. Yesterday I was informed that I would instead be working with a woman and her family on their coca museum business. The woman and her family hope to put to rest the negativity behind the coca leaf and promote education behind the medicinal effects of the coca leaf through their museums and various programs. After taking a quick tour of the museum, I realize I have my work cut out for me. That doesn't mean I'm not super excited to start though. :)

Lessons learned and experiences gained today:

1. You can make beer using coca leaves, but you get drunk MUCH quicker in Cusco due to the high altitude. Pace yo' self (Jade, that was for you)!

2. Altitude sickness doesn't go away just after one day.

3. Just because you see another gringo doesn't mean they speak english. I really should have learned this lesson back in the hostels of Morocco.

4. McFlurries in Cusco come with hot fudge and oreos! Also, make sure the chicken McBites are cooked all the way - mine weren't. By the way, I know someone is probably saying, "why did she eat McDonalds while in Peru?" I have this thing where whenever I travel somewhere I try an American chain restaurant for comparison. Considering this McDonalds sells buckets of chicken (actual chicken pieces and not nuggets), I think it was worth the experience. :) Not that I tried the bucket of chicken though.

5. Mannequins here are super scary. Why do the guy mannequins wear makeup and have such bright eyes?!

6. There's an otaku festival on the 26th!

7. Sex is heavily ingrained in the Incan culture. Sex and having a good sex life seems to be very important.

8. There's a shop here called Topitop which has awesome clothes. :) I'm not a huge shopper but I was finally able to buy a coat - a nice one at that! No more frozen tooshie for me.



9. San Pedro market has literally everything!

 Cuy (Guinea Pigs)! :D

 I love how you can see the view of the mountains in between the stalls

Tomorrow is my first day at the Museo de Coca.  Wish me luck!

Picture Time!

I can't stop taking pictures of the view from where I live. 

 This is the view from my bedroom

Museo de Coca!

...yup...

 Seems like every country I visit I find my name :)