Pitusary

The crew is growing, as Amelia´s sister and her boyfriend and Ben´s friend from Dartmouth are hanging out in our new house. Yesterday, we all went up to the picchus (mountains) above Calca for some well-needed backcountry time. Pitusary is the name of these Picchus, and they are spectacular. We have been looking at them in awe for weeks, and finally motivated to head up there. After about 6 hours of steep uphill hiking, we found a nice flat spot at the base of the high peaks. The view was unbelievable. We were easily 1500 meters above the valley floor, and enjoyed taking pictures in the evening light. We cooked up some ramen extreme, and watched the almost-full moon rise while warming by the campfire. It was really the first time I´ve felt "out there" in Perú. There really are people everywhere. We even slept in a field with cow-patties scattered about. But being away from the world of Calca felt just as good as getting away from the world I´m used to in the states.

We moved into our new place this week. It´s becoming rather comfortable, especially now that we have the ability to entertain guests and have dinner parties. There still are a few spiders around, and the bathroom is, well, a mess. The neighbors own a minimarket, and wash raw meat in the sink where we do our laundry. But other than that, it´s a sweet place. The house is right on the town square. And with Carnival coming up, we have the perfect roof from which to throw water ballons at kids. Ben and I are really looking forward to that...

I´ll put up some pics of Pitusiray soon, as well as some of the house and it´s view. Hope you´re well!
R