Here's to opening and upward

Today, I am perfectly renewed.

I slept for nine hours last night. 

(In two pairs of pants, 3 shirts, a pair of socks, a pair of slippers, and a pair of gloves)

Then I woke up and opened my curtains

and watched the sun rise up from behind the mountains

spilling its light on the all the grey, red-orange, and yellow hillside huts.

 I was fed fresh baked sweet bread (see picture above) with avocados and warm milk for breakfast.

Then I had a lovely conversation in Spanglish with Maria as we washed

our dishes from our meal.

(I like their dish washing soap.)

Then, I took a hot shower, put on my fur boots,

and we went walking through the city of Cusco.

I saw more stray dogs than I have ever seen.

(I would take each of them home if I could.)

Ryan and Maria, both ever so patient and good-natured,

kept pausing to wait for me to take pictures 

of obscure doorways, wild cacti, textured walls, stray dogs and small chubby-cheeked children.

(see example below)

Once again my belief in the fact our world is small

has been reaffirmed by the fact that we literally bumped into our friends from the airport yesterday

as we rounded a street corner this afternoon.

(They really are so very lovely.)

I bought a slice of fresh pineapple on the street for 60 Peruvian cents.

It lacked the sour tanginess of most pineapples I have ever eaten

but made up for it in sweet, juicy goodness.

Then, for another 60 cents, we caught a bus back across town.

Of course, when I say bus, what I really mean is more of a small van

that entirely too many people cram into

which is, of course, what makes it such a delightful experience.

(All the children stared at my hair.)

So I smiled back at them.

(Truly the universal language.)

 For dinner Maria prepared pollo, pasta, and fresh papaya juice.

Which put me into a semi-comatose like state

which I didn't fight. 

When I finally woke, the sun had already set

so I opened my eyes to the majestic sight of the hillside glowing with lighted windows.

So, naturally, I took some more pictures.

I walked down the hall to find

 cup of tea waiting for me on the dining room table.

Which I soon after chased with a cup of warm milk.

(My new favorite thing in the world.)

And now, after a perfectly blissful day,

I am preparing to depart for Puno.

7 hours away. Approximately 2,500 feet up.

Time to up and away!

-sarah

 (inspiration for the title of today's post: a poem by e.e. cummings)