Please Prepare for Landing

Brace for impact, because here is a long winded post about how my first day has been. 
So last I left you all I was in Miami and I was feeling really pumped after having downloaded some new music for the trip, and excited for my journey. I soon realized that would be short lived because true to my nature, change scares the eff out of me. I might be able to tell myself that what I'm doing is easy and great, but dealing with it is a whole other story. So I'm going to share them with you!

Let me start by describing my flights during the wee hours of the morning. I went from Tampa to Miami on a short flight with plenty of extra seats and then boarded a plane at 1 am in Miami (after a 6 hour layover) along with a ridiculous number of elderly white people who were traversing the Andean countries as part of their bucket list. Now I've been to Europe twice, the first time flying first class to Italy and the second flying coach to Germany. Most of you know I am 6 feet tall so airplanes are never comfortable for me anyways, but this flight surprised me because of its capacity for entertainment. I flew Tan into Lima and the inflight entertainment included a personal touch screen on the seat back in front of me, loaded with over 75 classic pop culture movies and the newer ones as well. I had 5 hours to watch Life of Pi, Oz the Great and Powerful, Les Mis, The Descendants, Taken 2 (NO), and my choice of the greatest Disney Pixar movies ever created. Long story short I fell asleep not even an hour into Oz and missed out on those great opportunities, but there is always the longer flight back! 

I was surprised by the entertainment available in coach because flying Luftansa to Germany I had a choice of five channels that had new-ish movies on repeat. And when I was flying first class to Italy I had the same entertainment experience as this time, which blew me away for some reason. What also blew me away was how delicious and common my inflight meal was. I have it labeled on my ticket that I requested a vegetarian/vegan meal and I got my food before everyone else, opening the hot meal to be surprised by perfectly cooked penne pasta covered in a sweet red sauce. This was accompanied by a small salad with Italian dressing, mixed fruits (YES), and a hot roll with vegetable oil butter and SALT. Normally a vegetarian meal is some random spicy rice and unidentifiable vegetable. I was so happy I took a picture of it for you all. 

Around 5 am Peru time (6 am FL) I disembarked in Lima, went through customs, had to claim my two fifty pound bags, and go outside to come back in and get my boarding pass and check my bags for my final connection to Cusco. At this point I really regretted not packing lighter. I made my way to security, threw away another full Fiji water bottle, took out my computer, and the security guys laughed at me because I didn't have to throw away my full water. That's how you know you are American. After the slight shame I made my way to the gate, flew for less than two hours, and made it to Cusco at 9 am. Sorry if you feel like I'm writing a novel here, I just want to be as detailed for you as my mind is when I'm going through these things. 

I was picked up by a fellow internship volunteer at the airport, took a taxi up the tiny streets of Cusco to our neighborhood of San Blas (just imagine that scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when everything starts tunneling smaller), dropped my bags off in my private room with a private bathroom that I will have for one night only, and then went into the main house where all of the classes and healings take place. If you don't know I'm staying at the Healing House which is a holistic healing center run by an American that has made close relationships with the people of Cusco. After acquainting myself a bit with the grounds I headed to Mercado San Pedro to get some fresh food, having to pass through the central attraction of la Plaza de Armas. I can compare the architecture and the roads to those of Venice and Florence. At the market I got some fresh kiwi, a mango, organic raisins, cashews, pears, and toilet paper because they don't provide it at the house. 

After bartering in Spanish with the help of the other students from FSU that is volunteering we headed back to the house. I have been drinking out of a giant water bottle because the tap water here isn't safe for me, but they have giant filters at the house that I can use later on. I washed one of my pears, went back to my room, ate the pear and some cashews, finally got some sleep, and woke up around 5:30 and it was already dark. I will no longer be able to count on an 8:11 pm sunset from the beach. But what is gorgeous about Cusco is that I can see all of the houses on the hill lit up from my room, reminding me of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. 

After I woke up I spent some time online, checking Facebook, Instagram, iMessaging my mother, etc. Then I went to the main house, sat in the kitchen and watched Anne (a German <3 30="" 40="" 5="" 60="" 70="" a="" about="" also="" altitude="" and="" are="" armas="" asked="" asparagus.="" at="" be="" because="" bundled="" but="" came="" chives="" city="" closer="" cook="" couldn="" cusco="" day="" de="" different="" dinner="" doesn="" down="" during="" eventually="" favorite="" find="" first="" flirtation="" font="" for="" from="" ft.="" garlic="" gave="" get="" gets="" give="" going="" had="" he="" her="" hot="" house.="" house="" i="" in="" into="" is="" it="" jacket="" just="" keep="" kitchen="" lack="" low="" man="" mashed="" mates="" me="" mind="" minute="" more="" multicolored="" my="" next="" night="" no="" normally="" northface="" of="" or="" our="" people="" plaza="" pompous="" potatoes="" real="" rest="" s="" said="" scarf="" seconds="" should="" showed="" so="" some="" sperry="" sun="" t="" talking="" tally="" tea="" than="" that="" the="" they="" time.="" to="" tonight.="" up="" upper="" us="" ve="" walk="" was="" we="" where="" which="" wool="" would="">

Then I came home having to walk quite a way up some steep stairs to get to the house, and I started to feel dizzy and my heart was working hard. So I went to my room around 9, bundled up into bed, and it hit me that I miss home A LOT. I messaged my mom saying I wish I could sleep at home and just spend the days here. The homesickness combined with slight altitude sickness really made me upset and I vented on Facebook. All of the people that reached out to me made me cry tears of happiness but it was so cold that I didn't want to get up and walk 5 feet to get toilet paper to wipe my face. I started writing this post wearing two North Face jackets, a scarf, fuzzy socks, and covered by 4 heavy blankets. After getting some love on Facebook, having a good cry, and watching The Shaytards on YouTube I fell asleep ignoring the nausea. 

I woke up this morning around 9:30 am, got used to the light and cold, looked at my notifications from Facebook, Instagram, CNN, and SnapChat then talked to my mom for a bit before heading to the main house for some fresh kiwi for breakfast! At this point my mood had improved a lot and I am getting more comfortable with my surroundings as well as with the people. I don't think tonight will be as bad at all because we are going out as a last hoorah for Anne, the German, because it is her last night with us in Cusco. Oh and the nightlife in Cusco is said to be great, I will update you all more as I experience it myself! Today we are also supposed to be hosting the Club Deportivo Cienciano of Cusco, which is Cusco's f utbol team, for a yoga session. I do love international athletes...

Here is to a new day in Cusco, a new mindset, and good intentions!