Heartbroken but okay....

First off I should really change that last entry...I have seen and done amazing things in Lima...its just that that was before seeing and doing stuff in Cuzco and MachuPicchu...poor Lima didnt stand a chance.

So my camera got stolen yesterday. Alot of hell insued and Ive told the story so many times now Id rather not repeat it. What is amazing is how God works everything out. I just happened to run into John and Dereck before it happened, they just happened to give me their cell phone number, and they were staying in Puno still. So just when I needed friends more than ever they came through like I never could have imagined. I am so amazed and grateful and humbled, even when I was crying and looked like a battered wife that had been on crack for three days straight!!!! I will miss you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And off we go again...

It´s been a slow first couple of weeks, just getting used to living day to day life in Lima. I found a gym to work out at so hopefully my Judo won´t be too terrible by the time I get back. Other than that nothing spectacular in Lima...however....I am not in Lima right now and it´s pretty amazing!!! After an early morning taxi ride and an hour in a plane followed by three hours of confusion I made it successfully to Cusco, the base point to go to Machu Picchu!! It is so beautiful up here it´s amazing! I was beginning to forget what the sun looked like. After sleeping all day Tuesday I went out dancing with one of the girls I´m staying with and her friends. The group makes up my own personal little guide group to the area and have just bent over backwards to help me get to all the places I want to go to. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful life is in all it´s intrinsic simplicity. Going on a bus tour of Valle Sagrado I met up with two brothers from Holland and a lady from New Jersey. They have become temporary companions on what would have been an independent journey. Carolyn bought three of us lunch and then dinner, making her my new favorite person in the world of people. She is also letting me stay with her in Aguas Calientes, where I am now. It´s the stopping point on the trip up to the hidden city. I am humbled by my total inability to return the favor and struck by my own needs met by a stranger. I never thought feeling full would feel so good. It had been awhile since I had actually been truly honestly full. The guys will be joining me in Machu Picchu tomorrow and we´ll return to Cusco in time for Inti Raymi, with inside connections to the city hopefully we can all enjoy the festival without the $80 ticket charge. Then Sunday we will say goodbye to Carolyn, hopefully not before, and as John and Dereck are going to Puno at the same time as I am we´ll probably stick together for a couple more days before parting ways. Such a cool example of the adventures and opportunities that travel has opened up for me. The ephemeral state of these friendships makes them that much more memorable, and I hope to keep contact. I have really had the most amazing time and I haven´t even been to Machu Picchu yet!!!! Times like this I want to live forever.

GONE!!!!

Well I´ve been in Surco, an district of Lima, for almost a week now. Everything has been just amazing!!!! I have had so many adventures so far I don´t even know where to begin. We didn¨t end up staying with the lady that we had first planned on, but it worked out for the best, as always. I have my own little private apartment above a house with a couple and their two sons. I I have acess to the house by one set of stairs and the outside by another. The family is just amazing and Bo settled in right away. He spends more time with the boys when they´re home than he does with me. I have been keeping a daily diary each night and as soon as I have time I´ll just start entering all that here. I describe everything much better as it happens and under the ambiance of a misty night overlooking a small park from my balcony. I still have yet to find a computer with a USB port to upload pictures to but I refuse to give up. Bo has torn a pad on his right front foot so I am off to get some stuff to take care of it according to the greyhound crossroads site. Poor baby, but he is thoroughly spoiled by everybody in the house. The father, Manolo, tells me how much he is going to miss Bo at the end of the summer, not me, Bo. Oh well, he always was more endearing than me. Well more detailed adventure stories later...now I´m in search of ¨new skin¨ and a clean sock for my baby. Chao!!!