peru, peruuuu

hola de cusco, peru.
we arrived in the afternoon after several hours of traveling to what is one of my new favorite cities. peru is so much different than chile, in such a vibrant and interesting way. the altitude here is a lot-- 11000 feet maybe? sorry, but anything above sea level to me is high. we have been feeling the altitude for sure, yawning and breathing deeply and wanting to go to sleep. we toured the catedral in the plaza de armas, and learned so much cool stuff about how the incan slaves who built it slipped lots of little superfluous details into the arcitecture, a kind of eff you to the conquistadors. for instance, the carved mary in the shape of a trianle, like a mountain, which symbolized the god they worshipped--the earth. i also learned that the pelican is the symbol of christ because it is the only bird that will peck open its own stomach (thus killing itself) to feed its babies.
we ate dinner at an awesome cafe catering to tourists. i had a hommous appetizer, a ceasar dinner salad and and iced tea (my first one in south america!) for $8, including tip.

now we are off to bed, because we depart for machu picchu at 7 am tomorrow. but really, peru is awesome!