Netherlands, simply because we have a few good friends from there and we had absolutely no reason to root for Spain. Unfortunately we were in the minority in the bar but at least we weren't in the Dutch bar just down the street. Walking by after the game and seeing all of the sad Dutchmen dressed in their orange jerseys after losing the world cup (which could mean a few drinks may have been passed around) was quite the sight. After the game we walked around a bit with some of our other friends who are here right now, saw the city a bit and then last night made it to mass at Cuzco's beautiful and ancient cathedral. After we met up with some of the people from our Michigan-Wisconsin program and went out to dinner at a cute little restaurant called Nuna Raymi Restaurante. We were seated and had our appetizer of cuy, which is guinea pig, at around 10:30 accompanied by authentic Peruvian pisco sours. I have been waiting to probar (try) these since the moment I had a sip of my first pisco sour and unfortunately it was not what I had hoped it to be. I am delighted to report that I enjoyed the Chilean pisco sours more which is a pretty good theme for all of my likes and dislikes in South America ("everything's better in Chile"). The guinea pig was interesting, but I can say that after seeing the little guy with
his eyes and claws still in tact it was a little difficult to want to take a bite. Don't worry, of course I tried it. My main course was aji de gallina which is a famous and traditional Peruvian chicken dish that I have been waiting to try and boy, it did not disappoint. I also tried a bite of Kevin's alpaca (similar to llama, which I tried in San Pedro) and I can say that it may have been one of the most delicious meats I have ever tried. I have a feeling that Peru's gastronomical selections are going to continue to impress me and I am A-OK with that.We had a great night's sleep, crude oil for coffee for breakfast (a.k.a. the world's blackest and strongest coffee) and then headed out for a full day of whitewater rafting! Laura and I have been dying to do this since our arrival in Chile so we were pretty thrilled when we signed up last night. After a long wait in the crowded and warm van this morning we finally took off around 9:30 and got to the river about 3 hours later to equip ourselves in our wetsuits, spray jackets, life jackets and helmets.
There were more than five guides with us, all under the age of 26, and on the way there my ears perked up when I heard someone say, "Sipo weon" and Laura and I instantly shrieked with excitement. Of course we asked him where he was from and he said Chile-my day had already been made. We were able to throw out a few chilenismos, have a few laughs and get even more excited to soak ourselves in the freezing cold river. We were in a group of five; Laura, Kate and I with two sweethearts from London who had whitewater rafted in Africa. That instantly took any worry of mine away. After thoroughly practicing all of the safety commands we were off. We did a great job until the first spill when Laura decided to leap overboard and then until the next one when three of the six of us had to exit the boat in order to get around a rock (luckily Kate and I were safe in the boat with the guide).
After about three hours on the river we were back at the original campsite, hopped into the well-deserved sauna followed up with warm showers, ate a delicious lunch and then headed back for Cuzco with all of our gear and limbs in tact. Kate and I enjoyed singing at the top of our lungs to Toto's made famous, "Africa", came back and have been all smiles ever since.
We were supposed to begin our jungle trail tomorrow but unfortunately we were misinformed and it seems as though we are actually beginning on Wednesday. But believe me, that does not change our excitement to see Machu Picchu! Plus, another day in Cuzco will be pretty sweet. Although this city revolves around tourism it sure is pretty and there's lots to see! And maybe, just maybe, we'll run into the sweet little 12- and 10-year-olds that we ran into yesterday and today, finally deciding to support their cause and buy some bracelets from them. They walked with us to our hostel, being adorable and asking us questions in English all the way. My heart both melts and breaks thinking about them and what they told us of their lives here in Cuzco but that does not change their cuteness. This city is small enough to see them again tomorrow, so maybe we'll get lucky!
Enough for tonight, besitos!
Kelsey Marie
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