I have been here for 5 weeks. My Spanish is progressively getting better and I am now able to hold a fairly good conversation without having to ask the meaning to very many words. The past two weeks I've had the opportunity to go and do so many different things.
Last week, I went with my class to visit a animal sanctuary and a llama farm. The pictures speak for themselves...
I'm not going to lie, they kind of scared me at first because I was afraid they were going to eat my hair or bite my fingers. Only one kid from our class got spit on, so it was a successful trip.
While we were there we were shown how they dye the alpaca and llama wool. They cut off part of a cactus and wait for it to start molding. They use the white mold as the base for all colors and add different kinds of dyes from naturally occurring dyes.
Lately in Cusco there have been a lot of protests for the rights and fair trade of Quechuan women's textiles. To protest this they take to the streets in their traditional dress and do traditional dances as they walk. It is so interesting to see the difference in cultures and the love they have for their culture.
This last week I was able to travel to P'sac with my friends. There we tried empanadas from many different places. I tried a platano con queso (banana and cheese) empanada. It was definitely different, but it wasn't bad at all! We also took a few scenic routes around the city, which was fun. We also visited the market there, which is amazing!
(P.S. the tan lines on my feet from those sandals are so bad)
You know how I said that I was able to hold a full normal conversation? Well just yesterday as I was sitting in the plaza on a bench with my friends, an older lady came and asked if she could sit by us. Of course we said yes, and it was silent for a while until after she heard me bartering in Spanish for some jewelry another lady was trying to sell to me. (I managed to talk her down from 30 soles for one piece to 2 for 25 soles...I was pretty proud of myself) She noticed that I was speaking Spanish and she asked me how I learned. We went on to have a really good conversation. Her name is Maria, she's from Lima, and she also has an 18 year old daughter living in Italy right now. It was a really cool experience to be able to talk to someone completely new.
Overall things are going good here! If you're reading this, chances are I probably miss you! Have a good week:)
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