Ollantaytambo!!

I'm here!! I've officially arrived in Paradise! I'm not kidding. I can't think of a more perfect place for me to spend some time than a beautiful town full of all kinds of animals roaming around and streets full of ADORABLE children.

I've never seen stars so vividly in my life and no picture I've taken thus far can do the scenery justice. I will do my best to download photos soon so that I can post at least a few that might give you an idea of the amazing surroundings, saturated with Incan history. Ruins are surrounding us on the mountains and the streets are lined with Sequia, an irrigation system that has been in place forever.

We are making friends with the other "gringos" just about everywhere we go. Met two girls from Oregon on the plane, a guy from Australia waiting in line to check-in and here in Ollanta, we Americans stick out like sore thumbs. The bus ride from Cuzco was beautiful as we made our way through the winding roads down and around the mountains. They packed us in that bus like sardines and we got comfy for our 2 hour ride. It was easy to be distracted from the lack of personal space by the incredible views of the mountains. I kept thinking about how much my mom would have enjoyed seeing the cows, sheep, donkeys and yes, a monkey! on the side of the road as we drove.

The volunteer house is perfectly comfortable with lots of incredibly friendly volunteers. They are some of the most relaxed people I've ever met. For the first couple of hours, we felt like we were moving in slow motion. I am sharing a room with Peaps and so far it seems very cozy. Mare checked into a hostel up the road that feels like you're walking into the Garden of Eden. It has a courtyard full of beautiful flowering trees and bushes.

That's enough gushing for now. I had only meant to write a paragraph to let folks know that I arrived safely...but I'm sure you can tell by the length of this post that I'm extremely enthusiastic about my time here so far. Buenos noches!