hi everybody!

So I have been thinking about food lately. It´s hard not to obsess with food when it is so good and so cheap.

Vegetables taste like vegetables here. I am still surprised every single time I take a bite of a potato. Every single time it is like remembering what they taste like. Being transported back in time to my mom´s garden and the potatos and carrots being so fresh and tasting like the earth. Tomatoes taste like tomatoes. It is just so good every single time. And cheap. The fruit here is super cheap - three avacados for one sole (3.27 soles to the dollar), three mangos for a sole. Three glasses of fresh juice for 2 soles. Going to the market to get food almost every day is fantastic. There are a ton of set menu places for 2 or 3 soles. You get a first course of soup and can choose from a list for your second course. Sometimes rice and chicken, one of my favorite stands has a beef and lentils and rice and salad choice. And fruit juice of the day. It works out to be more expensive to cook than to eat out, even though buying food is really cheap.

Cusco is a very international city as well and has restaurants from all over the world that are really good and for the most part, pretty cheap. We go often to an Israeli restaurant that has a 9 sole (three dollar) meal where you can choose which courses you want. I always end up getting hummus and felafel and french fries and salad and bread and strawberry juice and a fruit salad. It is way to much food to eat and it always makes me sooo happy. There are pizza joints and Indian food and cafes and such. There is a place called Jack´s Cafe where the food is very Northwestern but it´s expensive (at 15 soles a meal!) so we don´t go there very often, but it is very good.

Living at Yuri´s house didn´t work out for whatever miscommunication, but I am still happy at the hostal. I will probably move before too long as there are some really great deals available. Some friends of mine just moved into a room with four beds that is 400 soles a month, so 100 soles each - about $32 per month. I will try to take photos of it soon. It is just a simple room with bunk beds and the bathroom is shared downstairs among all the renters and the water is luke-warm so no hot showers (but you are never guaranteed a hot shower anyway, you just might get lucky sometimes). But, $32 a month, you could live for a long time. What I am paying now at the hostal is $150 a month which is 486 soles so I am sure I can find something between 100 soles and 486 soles that will be great. I feel like I am starting to get the hang of this city and find the local stuff, you know?

I think I am headed to Machu Picchu on Monday, so will look forward to telling that story when I get back. We are not going on a guided tour, just putting our own together so we´ve been asking all around about the best way to do it which is fun. As of now, I am going with a girl from Spain, Raquel who has moved into the room with Laura and I and is super great. We will see if anyone else ends up joining us. For now I will not be doing the Inca trail as it is closed in February for cleaning which is why we´re going to Machu Picchu now, there are many many many less tourists than normal. There are plenty of hikes along the Inca trail from here so I will just do some of that later.

Jail is still good. I will admit to looking forward to next week off from volunteering but suspect that I will just go anyway after we get back from MP. We´ve been doing some English classes and today we did geography and such. It has to be pretty simplified, but I am amazed at the interest that they have and the questions that they ask. It´s been so long since anyone has tried to teach them anything or thought they were worthy or capable of learning, that they are hungry to learn stuff.

Thanks to everyone who has put packages in the mail, I can´t wait to see and share whatever the contents are.

alright, love you all!
em