23!

In case you weren't sure... its my birthday. And its been quite the day.

Cat's out of the bag that my purse was stolen 2 weeks ago, so the camera situation isn't optimal. Today I used a film camera that my host dad lent me, so pictures will be a while.

Friday might have been my favorite part of the weekend. My teacher surprised me with the most beautiful cake and invited all the teachers I've gotten to know. And then they tried to sing to me in English. And they did pretty well, it was

definitely one of my best moments in Peru. Last night I explored Cusco a little more and did a tiny bit of birthday shopping. I also shopped a little because our laundry machine is broken and I haven't had the nerve to ask Chu Chu to wash my clothes yet. And its hard to pack a lot of clothes for 3 months... But Vivian's mom is washing my clothes on monday!

Weekends are hard because I'm with the family 24/7 and in reality, a family is a family and they're going to have issues... especially when they're mid divorce like Aida and Edgar. But last night we went to a parade for the anniversary of the girls' school. All of the students and families had lit laterns and walked through the center of Cusco. It was definitely the first time I didn't feel like a tourist... this is because tourists were taking pictures of the parade, and I was walking in it.

Today, I woke up to Happy Birthday in English again sung by Aida, the girls and their friends at 7:30am. They brought a cake in covered in candy, which was fun. We ate it for breakfast :)

Later today, Edgard took me on a hike in the Andes through the Sacred Valley, which was incredible. (Found out today that he is the #1 ranked tour guide by Forbes... killer.) The hike was indescribable. We went through salt plains where Inca people were harvesting salt, and I got to try it straight from the source. Incredible. We ended in Urubamba and ate a fantastic lunch of chicken that tasted incredibly like Chick-fil-A and fried bananas prepared by one of the best chefs in the Cusco district.

Tonight, I'm in my new home... a bar/lounge/ restaurant drinking with Wi Fi, bean bag chairs and stella artois. A waiter overheard me skyping with Erin about being solo in Cusco for my birthday and everyone here brought me a flaming shot and part of a funnel cake... definitely my new home. Especially because a lot of the people speak English as well.

I really do love and miss you all!

These pics are from my school birthday.

Also, Fernanda is dancing to "They Don't Really Care About Us" by "My-Cheel Yackson" October 4th for school. Get ready for the video of the year.