Hola a todos!
My second week in Cusco was definitely a success. I can feel my Spanish improving each and every day and although the progress is not as quick as I had anticipated and hoped, I can definitely feel a difference in my confidence and accuracy while speaking.
Although the six hours of class each day is still incredibly tiring, my teacher, Roy has been finding other ways to teach me that are a bit more exciting than sitting in a class all day. This week he took me around the city to explore some of the museums, markets, and even showed me his favorite bar (I will definitely be returning later).
Something else interesting happened this week. On Thursday there was a city-wide strike organized by transportation workers against the Peruvian government. The protest was against the rising price of gasoline. It was amazing to see the entire city come together to protest. From the morning until the afternoon, all the roads around the city were filled with people protesting and it was impossible for cars to drive around. It felt very different from the protests and strikes that I have witnessed in the US. The people of Cusco stood together against their government and it was remarkable to witness how much strength the city had when they stood united.
In the two weeks that I have been here I have had the chance to meet so many amazing people from Peru as well as other travelers from around the world. I have become friends with people from Canada, Brazil, China, India, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the problem with making friends abroad is that eventually you have to say goodbye. I was very sad this week to have to say farewell to some of my friends. Even though I only knew them for two weeks, exploring an unfamiliar city together definitely accelerated our friendships. I’ll be sad to see them go but many of them are off on another adventure and I’m excited to see where they all go next and happy to have had the privilege to meet them.
But I still have a lot to look forward to and my trip is less than halfway over. This weekend I’m going to Machu Picchu!