Cuzco

I have just left Cuzco after spending 10 days there. I quite enjoyed it when I first arrived, in spite of the touristy-ness of it all, but I'm glad to be on the road again.

I've been told a couple of times that I almost look like a Latina, but the folks who sell things to tourists can definitely pick me out so I'm not so sure. It kind of makes me uncomfortable being in a place where the main industry is tourism - you are constantly being asked to buy things that you don't want and it makes me sad. At one point I bought some cards from a little boy and then I realized, "Wait a minute. I just supported child exploitation! Shit!" After you've been here for a while, it almost seems normal to see kids working.

I spent a week studying Spanish at a pretty laid-back school and also staying with a family while I was doing that. It was a good experience and such a relief to be able to stay in one place for a somewhat extended period of time. I had some pretty cool conversations with my teachers, both young women, about the environment, gender, development, religion, politics...it was neat.

I also got pretty good at riding public transit, which basically consists of minibuses whose ceilings are so low that some unfortunate tall people have to double over if they're standing. As you approach each stop the ticket person calls out the name of the stop, and you have to yell "Baja!" if you want to get off. Then as the minibus arrives at the stop the ticket person yells "Bajabajabajabaja!" to encourage you to get the hell off the minibus as quickly as possible. I hit my head at last four times over the course of the week. Okay so maybe I wasn't so good at it after all.