June 11, 2008
After getting up early and packing, we headed down to breakfast. Being the
Sheraton, the buffet was very fancy, schmanzy. They even had miso soup for the
Japanese tourists!
The fruit was the interesting part, though. There a good 4-5
fruits that I had never seen before. Being the first real day in Peru, I was not anxious to dive into the weird stuff. I thought I would do my best to keep my stomach on an even keel for now. Deb, however, had no such resrvations. She dug into each weird fruit with gusto! She finally cracked open something that looked like an orange on the outside, and….I am not kidding you…brains on the inside! Actually, remember the old movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers? And remember how when they cracked open the pod people, grey slime with chunky stuff came pouring out? THAT is what it looked like!! She finally convinced me to taste some, and she was right, it was very good. But I just couldn’t bring myself to eat anymore!!! 
After checking out of the hotel, we took a cab ride through some very interesting
parts of town before getting back on a plane to our final destination, Cuzco. The short flight took us over the Andes. Let me tell you, those are some big, big mountains!
I can’t believe I am actually planning on climbing some! I have obviously lost
my mind!!
More airport stuff, more luggage, another taxi, yada,yada,yada. We finally arrived
at our wonderful hotel. If any of you come to Cuzco, you MUST stay at the Hotel
Ninos!!! Some 15 years ago, a Dutch woman visited here and was moved by the plight of the street children. She began by adopting two of them and kept adopting til she had twelve. She started a hotel in which all of the proceeds go towards feeding, clothing and educating 500 street children a day. She opened four children-only
resturants so that the kids would have food six days a week. If I ever wondered
what kind of difference one person can make, i know now.
The hotel is beautiful…two stories with a wonderful courtyard in the middle.
Cheery lime green paint and big pots full of flowers make the Hotel Ninos so cozy.
The rooms are very simple…just beds and in our case, a bathroom, but with this
much peace surrounding you, you don’t miss the tv, computer, cell phones etc.
Each room is named after one of the children, and we are staying in the Amilcare
room.
We are going to take a tour of the childrens restaurant tomorrow and I am hoping
that they will let us do some volunteer work. I am here to acclimatize and I can do that just as easily while I am sweepng out the kitchen!
Well, it is nap time. My friend Julia, known to some of you as Hiker Biker
Babe, will be here soon and who knows what tomorrow will bring! I will definitely need my beauty sleep.
Love, Anna aka Mud Butt