Wandering...

Waking up in a bed and not in an airport today was amazing. We lounged a bit and then decided to explore Cusco, but slowly because it still feels like I am gasping for air from doing things such as brushing my hair and taking a shower. It isn't really that bad (anymore), but it is still a bit of struggle. You have to really focus on taking deeper breaths than normal or you get winded. The city is beyond beautiful. We walked through the Plaza de Armas today to seek out our tour company and it was gorgeous and bustling! In the afternoon while eating lunch, a million Peruvian children were let out of school and wandered around in their little uniforms. Beyond adorable. We are still gaining our bearings, so there is still much to see.

What I have learned about Cusco so far:

1. The sidewalks and streets are very slippery. This is probably due to the fact that my shoes have no traction, but regardless...I am practically ice skating down side streets. Jack has humored me and let me cling to him for dear life to avoid losing some teeth or breaking an ankle.

2. There are tiny baby lambs with flower tiaras EVERYWHERE. You have to pay to take a picture, so I am posting one I found online to give you an idea. They are adorable and I want to take one home with me. It also reinforced my determination to be a vegetarian. Who could eat something that adorable??

3. There are dogs everywhere! And not smelly rabies dogs...well-behaved, mostly well-groomed, adorable dogs of all shapes and sizes. Many wear little coats. But the most amazing part is that they are incredibly smart. They wait at crosswalks until they get the walk signal. I am in no way kidding...we saw it happen multiple times! Maybe dogs in other parts of the world do this too, but I have never seen it. If Malaya was left to her own devices, she would be hit by a car in under 3 minutes. Oh wait, that already happened. I want to take one of these Peruvian dogs home and have them give Malaya a bootcamp. As Jack pointed out, they are all older dogs, so obviously their method is working. 

4. Vegetarian on the menu does not mean vegetarian. I know this has been the case for me in most countries, but a little piece of me hoped it would be different here. Bonus? I get to practice my meat/edible animal vocabulary! I told Jack we should do an over-under bet regarding how many times I will accidentally eat meat while I'm here. It also limits our choices as far as restaurants go, but I may just start getting creative with my ordering (once I am more confident with my speaking) What can you do, right?

We have set up a trip to do the Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu that starts day after tomorrow. I am hoping my lungs will stand up to the test...we hit pretty high altitude on the second day, but only for a short time. Hopefully I can drag myself up that mountain without whining....I mean struggling too much :) That's all for now!