hello all, hope this blog finds you well! Well, to catch you up on the past few days, my friend did get another passport, yesterday, but has to go back to Great Britain for her embassy interview to get her H2B again. Hopefully she´ll be able to get her appointment this Wednesday, otherwise she may be there for a month or so. We´re keeping our fingers and our toes crossed! She´s been a trooper, I have to say….

The last Road Show took place yesterday where almost 400 Peruvians were hired for our employers! Everyone was exhausted at the end of the day, but not too exhausted as Clare and I found time to hit the market again, where I loaded up on Alpaca scarves (can you guess what everyone is getting for Xmas?) You know me and my negotiating skills, I had to buy another bag to accommodate my bad habit! After we met up with the group for our final dinner together and also to celebrate one of the employer´s birthdays- A good time was had by all! At the end of our meal my friend Zoram noticed a famous singer Jerry Rivera sitting at the table behind us- he was suave! We took a picture with him before heading out to catch our cabs. Once we got outside and loaded up in the tiny BMW cabs, we realized that one of them did quite have the gusto to make it up the hill so a few of the boys helped push. We have this great footage of our agent, Percy, who is just wonderful, outside pushing the car and then once it gets going he´s running alongside the car to jump in. With the altitude so high walking is difficult, much less pushing a car and running alongside it! Poor guy was so winded. As soon as I can get the footage I´ll be sure to load it up- quite hilarious!!!

Saying goodbye to the group was sad, we really bonded and had a great time, but all good things must come to an end, I hope to see some of them again on future Road Shows! I took off this morning at 5;30am to catch a plane to Cusco, Peru. On the flight over, it was absolutely breathtaking, both figuratively and literally! You fly over the Andes mountains and at times through big, white, fluffy clouds- truly a sight that one should experience in their lives! After landing, I met my tour guide who took me to my hotel and checked me in after setting me down with a cup of hot mate de coca. The cocoa leaves here iare the pride of Peru, especially in Cusco, it´s also a homeopathic remedy for helping your body to adjust to the altitude. The tea (mate) is steeped with hot water and a few coca leaves and then honey or sugar is added and sometimes a lime. I went to sleep right after my cup of tea and awoke to catch my city tour.

The tour of Cusco was great! The sights are phenomenal, the Inca history is very interesting and the roots of the culture are deep. We went to a few churches and then off to places in the mountains where we saw alpaca (llamas) grazing about. There were people dressed up in historical garb and would often pose for 1 sol (equivalent to 30 cents American). And of cours there were vendors on the mountains selling their scarves, mittens, and hats. I was surprised that the prices in Cusco were more expensive than anywhere else. I still managed to get a few good deals! Now, I´m just catching up with work and my blog. Tomorrow I leave bright and early for a 4 hour train ride to Machu Picchu where I´ll walk around for 4-5 hours, then jump back on the train to return to Cusco, then on Sunday I´m off to Lima, Miami, and home to my Sam in Boston on Monday morning. Needless to say, it´s going to be one helluva couple of days, but I´m looking forward to it!

Also, Pops, you´ll be glad to know that my Spanish is improving and I spent about 90% of my day speaking Spanish and listening to to our tour guide who gave the tour in Spanish!

Can´t wait to share photos on my way back! Buenas noches! Toots!