morning hike

One of my favorite parts of living in the Sacred Valley is that in my free time there are some pretty awesome easy adventures. At the end of March I might be doing this hard hike to a snow-capped mountain called Salkantay. To get in shape, last week I wanted to hike up a little hill behind our office before work. We ended up going in a group and got up to a sweet view of Urubamba. We were kind of in the clouds. Doing stuff in the morning before work feels luxurious and that makes me feel more human than just waking up and going to work. Even just taking time to catch the news before work can do that, too. On Saturday I went on a fun bike ride and horseback ride, and now I really want to get my own bike. My first mountain bike ride here I thought I was going to die, but now that fear has been cancelled out after a few fun rides.

New Photos

Since I got to Urubamba, I've taken lots of pictures. I uploaded them on Facebook, but that's not very helpful or friendly to people who aren't on Facebook (aka Mom.) So I finally changed my photo sets on Flickr. Check them out! We've done a lot of health campaigns, but I only had a few pictures from them. Soon I'll get some from someone else.

Just got back from a week in Lima. Felt like a week in the U.S. Hot showers, wireless internet, cable TV, microwave. Holly and I went to the beach 3 days in a row, which felt very luxurious. Since she's just moving back to the cold winter in New York, she wanted to soak in as much of the Lima summer as she could. I think we did a good job.

my life in the valley

I moved to the Sacred Valley of the Incas (the formal name) on December 31st, and feel like I have been running around crazy ever since. I'm working for an NGO called ProPeru that's based in Urubamba, which is the biggest city in the Sacred Valley. Prior to living here, I would always just pass through Urubamba on my way to Ollantaytambo. I think I really kind of thought that Urubamba just had a bus station, a gas station, and a lot of volunteers living here. I've come to really love Urubamba, despite the fact that we are in the time of Carnaval which means all the little boys are throwing water balloons or buckets of water at me. It feels like a real town, whereas Cusco feels really touristy. It doesn't have the same magical mysteriousness that Ollanta has with its Inca wall super straight sidewalks. But it has a glacier named Chicon looking over us, a huge market every Wednesday and Friday, beautiful hikes or bike rides just from the town plaza, and awesome fried chicken. I'm going to try and start posting more. But that's the brief update. I have longer hair, more freckles, a new little backpack and vest that my mom gave me for Christmas that I wear everyday, and am happy with my mountains around me.