Farting Horses

Hey everyone,

I don't have a ton of time so I'll just write a (relatively) quick update! I arrived in Cusco early yesterday afternoon and have been having a really good time so far. My first Cusco experience was pretty unique. I got picked up from the airport by someone at my hostel and had the window rolled down. Just as we were arriving at the hostel, a girl ran over to the car and threw a water balloon in my face! Apparently this is the usual pre-Carnaval ritiual (I don't know if they target tourists or not) and I completely loved it. In fact, it took a while for me to convince the driver that it wasn't a big deal - he had gotten out of the car and started yelling at the girl ("I have a tourist in here!"). I walked into the hostel, checked in and met my roommate - an Argentinian named Agustin - who I immediately went walking around with. It turns out he is here with a friend and I've become friendly with them both. They definitely have the Argentine player thing down to a tee, so hanging out has been interesting, but they're sweet guys underneath the machismo. We went out to town last night and had a decent time with a few other tourists we met. It would have been better if I actually enjoyed dancing!

Today we went on a tour of the ruins in the immediate surroundings of Cusco. For a bit of background, Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire back in the day, before the Spaniards came and laid waste to everything. There are tons of ruins in the area, most notably Machu Picchu, and we went around on horseback seeing some of them. My favorite of the day was Sacsayhuaman (AKA Sexy Woman) and the horse riding was pretty fun, if terrifying and smelly. Finally, we figured out the best way(or, at least, a way) to do Machu Picchu - we are planning to go on our own, without a tour, on our own schedule, in a way that was absolutely verified as safe...by the guy who works in our hostel. In a turn of events, we're going tomorrow. I should be back in town Friday morning and I'm hoping to find some Israelis to spend shabbat with!

I've already taken tons of photos, planning on an epic picture taking trip these next couple days and I will soon be able to tell you whether Machu Picchu lives up to the hype! Be in touch amigos.