up D8!

Heather says....HOLA! It´s been a while! I´m staying in Cusco for a while, perhaps a month, perhaps three, as I´ve found an English teaching gig and a phat-pad. I share a kitchen and a bathroom with 2 Peruvian guys and a Swedish chiquita. My room has lots of natural light and is quite spacious....heather is a happy camper! I start teaching on May 6th, and so I´m currently in Quillabamba, a pueblo about 7 hours by bus from Cusco (yesterday was a long, beautiful, treacherous ride). There are very few tourists here which means lots of staring. Having been in Cusco, aka Gringo-landia, for so many weeks now has made me forget that I stand out in the majority of Peru. It´s hot and humid and I love it. I only wish there was a large body of water close by for me to jump into. Unfortunately, the closest beach worth going to is north of Lima...very far away. No vale la pena! (It´s not worth it!) My spanish is coming along, and I have a book of grammar I´ve been studying, not diligently, but a little :) With the start of English classes I will have a regular daily schedule, which I , surprisingly, very much look forward to. Rise early for class at 8am until 9:30, then I have all day off. I will start again at 4pm and teach until 9pm. Leave home early and get home late! I look forward to being busy! This is why I decided to take my last few days of vacation-life-style in the jungle, with feet up, sipping juice and soaking up the sun.
Breakfast was awwwwesome this morning, two glasses of banana juice! About four bananas blended with a can of condensed milk and algorobina. The latter is a very popular ingredient, used in all freshly prepared juices and lots of other goods too. It is the concentrate of a fruit we are all unfamiliar with in the US but I´m thinking of carrying back, as it´s super good for your health. Every bottle I´ve seen for sale has pictures of muscle men on it. Freshly squeezed orange juice is still my favorite, of course, and so I had that with dinner last night. Que rrrrrrrico! The oranges in Quito are too sour and adding sugar doesn´t help much as it doesn´t dissolve and therefore adds a crunch to your juice, but the fruit here is perfect!
I have lots more photos and will post some soon. Hope all is well up there in the first world. I miss it terribly! Sending love and hugs and un beso de muchos colores! Chau chau