I am not going to be good at this now...

For those of you who would appreciate a shorter blog than what is typical, here it is. I (Correne) have been ill today....probably something I ate while in Aguas Calientes, but it has inhibited me to participate in volunteering today - I have slept and need to go to bed again soon.

Machu Picchu was spectacular. There are no words to describe something so beautiful. We took the train to the small town outside of Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes - meaning hot water because of the hot springs located there) on Saturday morning. We spent the day touring around the town, ate pizza again, and stayed in a very comfortable hostel that night. Sunday morning, we met our tour guide at 5:30 and headed to Machu Picchu on a 25 minute bus ride up the mountain. When we arrived, the mist covered the amazing work of the Incas and we were only able to see what was directly in front of us. As the morning progressed, however, the misty fog lifted and the sun came up. The views were more than we imagined. Our tour was very informative and interesting, and Todd was able to climb the large mountain you see in the above photo - Waynapicchu. I opted out due to my feet being exhausted after 4 hours of hiking around. We headed back to Aguas Calientes around 1PM, ate lunch, and relaxed until our train left at 5PM. It was a very fun adventure.

This morning we started our tandem language lessons with a native Peruvian learning English. Todd is meeting with a 16 year old who seems to speak English fairly well. I´m meeting with Miguel, who was more than patient with me this morning while I tried to navigate telling him about myself and my life in Español. We will be meeting with them every day at 8AM.

Todd went to work today and tilled the garden with the kids, the director, and the woman from Nicaragua who is there cooking for the summer. He found out the boys will be dancing at their school for a celebration of some sort tomorrow, so we will head to work at 11AM so we can watch their show. I´m hoping to feel better so I can attend as well. It will be fun to see. We plan to head to a market over the next few days to get some needed supplies for the boys - school supplies, games, etc. We think they will greatly appreciate the extra support as they have no funding other than what those who work there provide. Hopefully the next update comes when I´m feeling 100% again.

The pics above are Machu Picchu, as well as a view of the baby items we have picked up along the way. Our bebe will remember Peru after all!

As for the shorter blog....I guess I couldn´t do it after all.

Hasta luego. Buenos Noches.

-C & T