It´s been awhile...

Since I´ve updated anything, let me just say that things have been happening. I´ll start with a list then elaborate.

*I got sick (I think it was something I drank)
*It was my birthday (Ho-ray for 22)
*We took a 2 day tour of the Colca Canyon

Time to elaborate on all that.

After we got into Arequipa Emily and I decided to just take it easy for the first day. We got a fancy lunch that included the guina pig. It was weird, it tasted like fish and was really hard to get through. There was barly any meat and the skin was fairly tough. I don´t think it was that worth it, but at least I get bragging rights. Later that night we went to the Cusco Coffee Company (THE CULPRIT!) to get coffee. Feeling fancy drink deprived (I work in coffee shops, I´m allowed my fancy drinks) I got a mocha. About an hour later my stomach started to hurt. Not thinking much of it I went to bed, but was unable to sleep.

I woke up the next day feeling like a complete zombie with the Peruvian version of Delhi belly and feeling completly sick. Despite that, I toughed it out and didn´t say anything. (I can´t say anything when I´m sick, it just makes me feel worse, I just nod my head and say I´m fine, yes I know it´s bad but I´m trying to win the battle in my head) Emily took pity and so we took it easy again, we took a bus tour of Arequipa. The city is beautiful, the buildings are made of a white volcanic rock (because there are 3 volcanos within city/county boundaries) and built in an antique Spanish style. Which makes perfect sense when you think of the history. The tour took us to a look out point where we had perfect views of all 3 volcanos, everything was very picturesque (yes my spelling is terrible) and it was so very toursity but so very worth it. The rest of the day we took it easy, I tried to eat, it wasn´t happening, so we just spent time in the Plaza de Armas.

After that, the 6th, happy birthday to me. Too bad I was still not feeling well at all. But despite that, Emily and I embarked on one of my favorite things in Arequipa, the convent. The convent was originally built in the 1500´s and has just been added on slowly but surly since then. The colors are amazing and the art inside the churches and around the convent is amazing. There is a certin art style from Cuzco from the 1700´s (I think) that is very dramatic yet eerie at the same time; that style of art is all over the convent, in the churches, in the nun´s rooms. I have pictures, I will try to post them when I can, but probably won´t be able to until I get back. The whole place had a very serene feel, I truly felt at peace and at ease; along with everything else, it almost made me want to believe. But the best part of the convent, the walls. All over Peru we have been bombarded by smog, smoke, exhaust, cigarette smoke; enough emissions to last me for the rest of my life. In the convent, we couldn´t hear the cars, the honking, we couldn´t even smell the emissions. That among other things made the experience amazing. That night, Emily and I went to a peña. A peña is a place for traditional music and dance and we got just that. It was tiny and only 3 tables (including ours) were taken but the band was enthusitac. They danced, they sang, they played pipes, flutes, guitars and a very large drum. They drunkenly danced freely around the tiny stage, giving everything they had to our 3 tables. Under the influence of much vino they put on a great show. Quite possibly one of the best birthdays ever.

After my birthday (the 7th), we went to this strange little museum that featured an Incian mummy found on one of the volcanos. The museum was interesting enough, the mummy was fasinating but truly creepy at the same time. The more I learn about the Inca culture I am more and more fasinated by it. I really wish I had done more research before I went on this trip.

I´m going to end this post now, but don´t fear, I will write about our canyon tour probably tomorrow. For anyone who reads this, I´m finally not sick anymore and after 3 days of not being able to eat, I can finally eat full meals again, life is good.