GREAT DAY!

I toured the Sacred Valley of the Incas on for 10 hours! I can not even describe the beauty of the Andes... but the pictures posted above will be the best I can do! I am SO SO SO tired, and am going to bed... more to come tomorrow!

13 Degrees Below the Equator... 11,000ft Above the Sea!

First of all… I am having SO much fun! I got into Lima last night and rented a hostel… I did however get some bad news as I checked my email. Due to unforeseen circumstances Ryan will not be able to join me…

 

I will miss him, And it seems that I must now embark on this adventure alone. Bryan and Peru…. HERE WE GO!

 I awoke this morning and decided to book a one hour flight to Cusco vs. taking a 20 hour bus ride. Speaking Spanish gets you a long way down here. On the English version of the website the round trip cost was $400… so I checked out the Spanish version and booked the flight for a total of $165… haha everyone’s trying to take advantage of unsuspecting gringos!

 

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

I boarded the plane around 2:00pm and was in Cusco by 3:15. We took off from sea level and landed at 11,000ft!!! This rapid altitude change results in altitude sickness for just about everyone… A lot of people have to stay in bed for three days… I did get a very bad headache, especially when I climbed for 20mintes to get to my hostel… but I am doing better now!

But as soon as I disembarked from the plane... I knew I was home... Seriously, I love the ocean... but my heart is in the mountains...Anyway...

 Cusco is BEAutiful! It sits in the middle of the andes in the Sacred Valley of the Incas! It is very cold (right now it is about 30F outside) and very beautiful, being full of Spanish colonial churches and Museums (not to mention the AMAZING mountainous backdrop)!

 I got a room in a very nice hostel ($8/night) and set off to book my trek. Once again… the trek would have cost $485 if I had booked it online, but I snagged it for $175 in Cusco. So Thursday I will be setting of on a 5 day adventure to Machu Picchu at 16,000 feet!

 

Tomorrow I will be touring the Sacred Valley on bus (10 hour trip) where I will get to see many Incan Ruins!

 Oh PS! I bought an Alpaca (cousin of the Llama) hide hat today… SO Indiana Jones!!!

 Its only 8pm right now, but I’m going to sleep! I am SO tired from traveling and (I think) even more worn down because of the altitude!

Haha actually, my head is starting to hurt rather significantly now...better take some more of my altitude pills (thanks mom!)

 Love you all!

Farewell Nicaragua and A Nicaraguan Wedding!

Well, my time here in Nicaragua is at a close. It has been an honor and a privilege to be in the company of such fine people, and I am forever different for what I have seen here. 

The past two weeks have been very different than much of my time here, because there has been no American teams. I have spent every minute with Nicaraguans and it has been awesome! I taught English to Carlos, Samantha and Paulina - I made grilled cheese sandwiches and milkshakes (very foreign to them) for Carlos, and I spent a lot of time painting with Noah. It was a pleasure to get to know these staff members... and I must admit that I am extremely proud of my spanish, which is FAR from perfect, but allows me to form relationships with these people!

I also spent quite a bit of time teaching the orphans English, and that was fun as well! I have know these kids for a year now, and have spent a total of three months with them (including last summer). I am excited for their futures!

It feels different leaving this time, because I feel that the chances I return next summer are slim (hopefully I will have an internship). But I leave with the feeling that I have done a good thing and have truly experienced a different culture and people, and have done a lot of good along the way. Praise God for this opportunity!

La Boda! (The Wedding!)

As many of you know, I hung around for two more weeks to go to my friend Moises' wedding. The wedding was today and it was So much fun! He married an American gal named Sara and it was awesome to see two cultures coming together for such a splendid union (ya, I just said that)!

It was awesome to hang out with Moises and Sarah a few times and to meet and spend time with her family from the states!

Oh and thank you for everyone who prayed for my back pain. I had a lot of pain for about 6 days, and I am doing better now!

I LEAVE FOR PERU IN 10 HOURS!

Update...

It has been a pretty rad few days...

Well it started out rather sad... I had to say goodbye to Ashley, Courtney and Katie : (

So to alleviate my sadness on Monday I went and had dinner with my friend Moises and his Fiancee! It was a great time of reunion (we became great friends last year). And I am excited to go to their wedding  on the 11th.

What have I been up too? I have been rather busy teaching English for a few hours everyday to the children in the home, and for another hour or so to Carlos, Paulina and Samantha (all 20-somethings who work at New Hope). I have also been doing quite a bit of painting...

The children's home has a new addition! a Puppy named Bella! that has been fun!

In the evenings I have been making the children watch movies in English to improve their listening skills. Last night we watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2! They loved it!

On Wedneday I got THE BEST NEWS EVER! RYAN ADKINS will be going to Peru with me to complete the Santa Teresa Trek to Machu Picchu! Ryan is my most adventurous friend by far and this will be our fourth big adventure! Previous adventures include the summits of Humphrey's Peak and Mount Whitney.... backpacking in Nicaragua and Costa Rica.... and now this!!!!!!

On a slightly negative note... I really hurt my back today doing some work... Its been messed up since high school (thank you Pinnacle Basketball!)... so im not going to the Pastors conference tomorrow, because three hours in a car sounds like torture! But it will be nice to have some time to read and heal!

Other than that... I have had awesome time to work on my Spanish... since the Americans are gone....

Im going to go lay in my bed and read... I would love to hear from you on Skype though! Bbakerone

God bless!