Cuzco! May 25

After a slight "nap" of sorts since I was too excited to sleep, we woke up (later than expected since the alarms didn't go off but luckily a leader happened to wake up on her own in time) and after mad dashing around the retreat center we all clambered into the bus and made our way to Lima Airport! We were all super tired but the wait for the plane went by quickly and soon we were off! With a flight less than an hour long it was the quickest plane ride I had ever been on. Unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the plane though and missed seeing the Andes Mountains :( but it was alright since I was able to see them on the way back! You could feel the change in temperature and air quality when we arrived in Cuzco. It was super cold even with my layers on and I had to walk really slowly so not to get out of breath and avoid altitude sickness! Luckily, as we were boarding our bus to take us to the boarding school we would be staying in, a local came around selling coca leaves and I bought a pack! It sure was helpful and I would highly recommend chewing on those, you feel better instantly! Cuzco is such a cute place! I couldn't stop looking around on our bus ride, so picturesque.
 When we arrived at the boarding school we ate breakfast and partnered up for our new rooms. The lovely Kelly and I shared a room during our stay! Since we had barely slept and because our bodies needed time to adjust to the change in altitude, all of us went to our rooms for a four hour nap! It is chilly in Cuzco and even with wool blankets I still slept in pants and a sweater and socks! Feeling refreshed (though I found it hard to fall
asleep at first), we all descended the stairs for lunch and boarded the bus which took us to our first excursion, horse back riding in the Andes! We had so much fun horse back riding up and down the mountain (except my horse, Hurricane, caused a bit of
mischief and only a few horses wanted him to ride beside them, otherwise, for the majority of the time I was having to dodge the numerous horses that wanted to bite mine!) The best part was galloping, it was exhilarating but afterward I realized how sore my butt was! During our little break while we were horse back riding, the guides took us up to the caves and we got to explore and walk through one, what an adventure that was squeezing through tight spaces in the dark and having to rock climb to exit the cave!

We came back to Cuzco and during a bit of free time some of us went out to check out the markets which were awesome I want to go back and get more souvenirs! I bought a pair of alpaca wool socks that night, love them. They were perfect for those cold nights in Peru. Afterward we met in the city square to attend mass. Unfortunately, I started feeling a little sick and experienced an hour of altitude sickness :S but after munching on coca leaves I was feeling better when we left mass and sat down for dinner (especially after I finished an excellent bowl of chicken noodle soup!). I slept well that night needless to say when we came back from dinner!