As I mentioned before, I needed to get more sweaters as it’s VERY chilly in the morning and at night, and I brought only one sweater.  I also forgot to bring my hair brush (but at least I have my comb!) and extra ponytail holders.  Since I hadn’t really explored the city center of Cusco, I took up the opportunity to explore while shopping.  As a typical traveler, I explore in the stores, look at the prices, and after I have explored several places, I decide which place is the best to buy the products.  I saw some beautiful Peruvian sweaters in a shop that I really liked for 60 sols each which is about US$ 20.  Of course, I decided to head off to other stores just to see what others had to offer.  After exploring more store, I found a store that had the EXACT same sweaters, but for only 35 soles!  Ha!  So, I got two for 70 sols which was about $24.  What a good buy!  I saw tons of other specialties like beautiful handmade purses, dolls, hats, blankets, and scarves; however, I’m going to wait to buy those things until toward the end of the month as I still have plenty of time to explore.  Plus, I’m heading to the Sacred Valley this Sunday, and according to the Eyewitness Travel Guide Book on Peru, there is a market on Tuesdays and Sundays!  So, I’m hoping to find lots of cool arts and crafts there!

Unfortunately, I could not find a brush or ponytail holders.  There were TONS of convenience stores that sold an abundant amount of shampoos, conditioners, and other toiletries, but NOOO hair brush or ponytail holders.  I’ll keep my eyes opened for them!  At least some stores had scrunchies, but they’re SOOO out of date!  But, it’ll be better than nothing if I can’t find ponytail holders.

I certainly did finally have the opportunity to photograph the city center!  It was such a beautiful clear sky day - perfect day for photographing!  I came across a very cute woman, and I couldn’t resist and had to ask her if I could take a picture of her!

Be aware!  If you read this further, you could end up puking…just kidding…

When I came to the table for lunch at my host family’s home, I looked at the dish with my eyes balling out and said to myself in my head, “What the fuck is that?!” (Please excuse me for my cussing).  It looked as if someone threw up on the bread as there was a green pudding-like substance on the bread.  I asked my host mother, “Qué es esto?” She responded, “espinaca.”  That word sounded familiar. There is a French word, “épinards” and it means spinach.  So, I figured that it was actually spinach sauce!  I took a bite.  No need to be scared of trying new strange food.  That’s what traveling is about.  Well, well… I puked!  Just kidding!  HaHa!  It was actually VERY tasty!  I could seriously eat the sauce on a regular basis to get GREEN nutrients in my body.  This food is a prime example of the fact that we should not judge a book by its cover.

As for my Spanish course, it has been going very well.  I have been learning it very quickly, and I’m already speaking in simple sentences.  Remember, before I came to Peru, I had ZERO knowledge of Spanish except for Hola, Adios, que pasa, si, and manaña, thanks to a good friend of mine who taught me those words for starters.  When I first came to my host family, I could only use hand gestures to communicate.  By the second day, I was able to spit out some simple Spanish phrases to communicate with the host mother and was able to fill in some gaps by looking up the words in the dictionary or asking the other student from my Spanish school who is also living with my host family.  By today, after having learned another huge chunk of words and phrases, the communication has become a little easier, but I am still speaking like a baby.  I’m also able to read simple phrases without translating it to English or French, and respond to the questions in Spanish.  It will get better as the days go by.  It’s amazing how much I can pick up the language by just living in another country.  I’m not talking about just taking the course in another country, but also listening to the Spanish speakers and communicating with them.  In fact, the teachers at the school hardly speak English!  The only hard part is speaking with the Spanish pronunciation, not French.  For example, in French, when there is an “S” at the end of the word, we don’t pronounce the “S” except when there is a liaison - for example …suis allé.”  However, in Spanish, we do, and I often forget to pronounce the “S” because my mind is set to French.  Another example is the word “en” which means “in” in both languages.  In French, we pronounce like “on.”  In Spanish, we pronounce like “end” without the “d.”  I often pronounce the French way because, as I said, my brain has been wired to French.  When I’m learning Spanish, I actually often think in French because they’re very similar languages.  Thinking in English is VERY difficult while learning Spanish because English is a completely DIFFERENT language in spite of the fact that English shares the same alphabet as French and Spanish.

This morning, as I was heading to school, I had to catch a taxi.  I called out on an “official” taxi which has a rectangle with black and yellow checkers on the vehicle.  I asked the guy if he had change for 20 by saying “Cambio para veinte sols.”  He said, “Si.”  Then I showed him the address to the school and he said in Spanish along with showing me three fingers saying that it’s 3 sols which is equivalent to 1 US dollar - A VERY CHEAP RIDE!  Anywhere in the world where the money is weaker than the US dollar and Euro is HEAVEN!  Anyways, I got in the taxi, and he got me to school.  I showed him the 20 sols and said, “Cambio.”  He said, “No.”  I looked at him and said “Cambio” again, and he said “No.”  Since I didn’t want to put my life in danger, I just gave it to him which is fine because I lost only 7 US dollars.  However, I lived and learned!  That’s part of the traveling experience.  I will make sure that I have change in hand!  So, after school today, I went into a shop and asked them if they had change for 20 sols, and the cashier was so nice and gave me change.  Then when I called on a taxi to head back to my host family’s home, I showed the driver my 10 sols by holding it and pointing to it, and I said, Cambio?”  He said, “Si and showed me the change that he had.  I like that - showing me the proof!  Then I showed him the address to the host family’s home, and he said that it costs 3 sols.  Oh, did I mention that there are NO meters in the taxis??  Welcome to Peruvian life!  Talk about lack of technology in this country!  Nope, you have to make an agreement with the driver on the cost before you get into the taxi!  According to my host mother, she said that 3 sols is the right price for going to and from her house and the school and to reject the drivers who want more than 3 sols. I did to the best of my ability to explain in Spanish what happened this morning to my host mother when I got home for lunch and the other student who is also living with my host family and going to the same school filled in the gaps for me.  The host mother was FURIOUS.  I explained that it’s part of the traveling experience.  It happens everywhere!  In fact, I’ve been fooled with taxi drivers when I was in Israel.  They would take a longer route or go in circles so that they could get more money! Anyways, the host mother was so upset that she gave me a beautiful banana!

Tonight, I had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant with the school where there was a band playing with instruments that appeared to be very Incas-ish as the instruments were made of wood with beads.  Check out this video of the Peruvians playing music!

As for food, it was very good.  I had chicken with cream sauce, french fries, and strawberry cheesecake!

Of course, some may wonder what I have been eating at my host family’s.  My host mother has been cooking wonderful food.  She’s practically a chef and a waitress! I’ve been eating Piata — a VERY traditional Spanish dish.  It consists of rice with cooked vegetables and meat.  I’ve also been eating very delicious soups.  Of course the food is nothing compared to France and Italy with all that wonderful cheese, cream, and butter, but I find what I’m eating here is much healthier!  HaHa!

WHAT THE HECK? I thought hot water exists in this house as the host mother showed me how to set the hot water which is different from the US. There is a switch that looks somewhat like a light switch to turn on the hot water. This morning, I waited for a few minutes for hot water, and there was none! UGH! My hair needed washing badly and so, I just stuck my head in the shower and washed it as quickly as I could. I applied body wash while I was out of the shower and just went in for a quick rinse. OH MYYYYYYYYYYY! I hope I can survive this for a month! This is a real test drive to see if I can handle “lower class” lifestyle as I will have to for the Peace Corps, if I get accepted. At least, I can use my hairdryer to warm up my body after the shower!

Breakfast was quite good. I had strawberry yogurt drink with eggs and bread. Good stuff!

Shortly after breakfast, I headed to the school. First I had to take an exam to determine my placement. While I could make educated guesses on the exam because Spanish looked very similar to French, I just wasn’t going to bother responding as I didn’t want to be put in the wrong class. Of course, I was placed in beginners. There are six students in my class - perfect size! We have two teachers. The first teacher teaches during the first hour and forty-five minutes, and then we have a half hour break. Then the second teacher teaches for the last hour and forty-five minutes. The reason that we have two teachers is so that we don’t get bored for the entire four hours! I like that! . Both are very nice. The second teacher questioned me if I already had experience in learning Spanish because I was picking up the Spanish very quickly and understanding the grammar structure right away. I told him that I had ZERO experience, and the reason that I was understanding Spanish was because I’m fluent in French, and I recognized that both languages are SOOOO similar! For example “You” in French and Spanish is “Tu.” “She” in French is “elle.” In Spanish, it’s “ella.” “We” in French is “Nous” and in Spanish, it’s “Nosostros.” “You all” in French is “Vous” and in Spanish, it’s “Vosotros.” The verb conjugation is EXTREMELY similar. Take a look at this:

English French Spanish
To learn apprendre aprender
I learn J’apprends Yo aprende
You learn Tu apprend Tu aprendes
He learns Il apprends Ellos aprende
We learn Nous apprenons Nosotros aprendos
You all learn Vous apprenez Vosotros aprendis
They learn Ils apprennent Ustedes aprenden

So, yup, I think I’ll be able to breeze through Spanish. I just need to pick up vocabulary! Although I hope that I don’t mix French in as I already have. I’ve accidentally thrown some French words out of my mouth…eeks! No wonder why my French friends say that learning Spanish is easier than English!

I think I’m suffering altitude sickness as I am sleepy as hell and so, I’m going to take a nap! Cusco is located 11,000 feet above sea level - holy cow!

Edited Note - June 30th: I learned that I was setting the hot water in the shower in the wrong way.  UGH!  At least now I know that I’m not stuck with cold water everyday for a month!