June 11, 2008
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Subject: 6.11.08 Just a little more
Ok, so it is still Wednesday, but there is just so much to tell you! Julia showed us to the hotel and she brought a friend named Sharon, so now our little group is four! 
Julia and Sharon met while doing Habitat for Humanity work in New Orleans after Katrina and then later in Australia. Are these women cool, or what!!
We headed off for dinner through the winding streets of Cuzco. The streets and sidewalks are a mixture of cobblestones, bricks and paving slabs. Most of them either go steeply up or steeply down and there are holes scattered randomly, waiting to trip up unsuspecting tourists. Needless to say, I look down ALL of the time!
The streets are narrow, with a continuous line of shops, restaurants
and apartments. Everything is crowded and there is a constant stream of women, men and children approaching us with stuff for sale. A never-ending stream of, “Cigarettes?”, “Weaving?”, and “Candy?” pelt us from all sides. One woman asked me if I wanted to buy a scarf, and when I said “no thank you”, she replied in perfect English, “Maybe tomorrow.” I smiled and replied back, “Maybe tomorrow”. My traveling companions looked at me with exasperation and told me NOT to talk to the vendors. I didn’t understand why until she followed us to dinner, sat on the curb outside and waved her scarves at us each time we glanced out of the window. We immediately dubbed her the “stalker” and made a run for it after we paid our bill.
It turns out that if you buy one thing from a street vendor, then about two thousand of them descend on you wanting you to buy something. All in all, it is quite entertaining! I cannot tell you how hard it is for me not to be polite to these people! At least I should be able to nod and smile! But I quickly learned that eye contact was a big no-no.
Things got even funnier when a four year old little boy tried to sell Deb something. When she ignored him, he leaned his head against her rear end and just stood there. Every time she turned around, he just moved with her. Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up!
After walking back up through the city, we finally got back to Hotel Ninos. Home sweet home. As I lay here writing this, I am under a big pile of blankets, pausing from time to time to laugh long and hard. The jokes are flying as the three of us settle into bed and I am so, so happy. Sweet dreams….
Love, Anna