Toto... we´re not in Kansas anymore

I am on a plane to Peru, by myself. Am I crazy? I think I am. I´ve never been outside of the country, let alone by myself. Someone should institutionalize me. I step off the plane and land in San Salvador. Then board another and arrive in Bogota. My ticket has no gate number, greeaat. Now I actually have to try and communicate with people. I ask one lady and she tells me to go to another gate. I wait in a line, to be told this is not the right gate. I wander the airport a little more and go back to the first gate I went to which apparantely is the correct one now. I board and finally arrive two hours later in Peru. ¡Por Ultimo! Worst part of the trip by far, Lima Airport. It´s really nice, but I have to wait around for ten hours in the middle of the night. Everyone is really nice, except I can´t understand them. I am lost in translation. I feel like that guy in Best Two Years when he says, I did not learn that language in the MTC. The plane trip to Cusco is beautiful. I will never forget the way the Andes mountains looked in the sun. I look over the city and just feel it. I know I will fall in love with this place. It was all worth it. I´m not crazy. I am greeted by two short ladies (naturally) that are literally jumping up and down to see me. It is my host mom and my program director. They are so sweet and kind to me. Luckily, I understand about 60% of what they say so I can communicate. They take me to the house and my room is about twice the size of my one at home and I have a queen sized bed all to myself. Ahhhh, a bed is the only thing I want at the moment. After sleeping for two hours, I´m still so tired, but so excited to be here. My host mom feeds me a delicious meal including everything made with lactose-free milk. he tells me over and over that it doesn´t have any lactose. We later go on an adventure to the supermercado down the street. It´s hard to explain the smells in cusco. I guess you´ll just have to come here yourself to experience it. The people are poor here, but they don´t realize it. They don´t think about what they don´t have. Yet as citizens of the United States, we think about what we don´t have all the time. I sleep for almost twelve hours that night and still feel like I´m about to fall over. The day is new and I have my first day of two weeks of language classes. My host mom takes me to Centro Tinko on a taxi-like bus. You should have seen me on that bus. 6´1 and almost bent half way when standing. It was great. I was laughing to myself the entire time. Sometimes I forget how tall and white I actually am, until I see someone staring at me for a good minute or so. Centro Tinko is a beautiful building. The people are so nice to me. I´m greeted as if I am a friend that they hve not seen in years. I feel as if all the people here are my best friends. Vivian, my program director, teaches me a little and then shows me around the city. The cathedrals are breath-taking. I forgot my camera t the house, but will bring it next time. The streets are filled with so many people and lots of stray dogs. I love it in el centro, I would spend all my time there if I could. After I finish my classes, I come home to lunch with my host family. The father is already home from work at one, but goes back at three. Why don´t we have siesta in the U.S.? They are the best. Astrid, the two-year old little girl, is my new best friend. She LOVES the Disney Princess stickers I gave her. She follows me around everywhere and gives me big kisses and hugs everytime she sees me. I miss some things from the U.S., mostly my family, but as of now my heart belongs to cusco.