Saturday, October 22, 2005

Free as a Bird

Yesterday was my last class in Castellano (spanish). I had to deliver a little ditty of gratitude (sort of a display of the talents I learned) at a gathering of the whole school after the final class. And I also received a "report card" of sorts. No grade, but favorable comments indeed. I guess they don´t notice me still struggling with el preterito. Que buena!

Anyway, now I am off to the second part of my journey: a pilgrimage of sorts to Peru and points between here and Lima. Freedom has its price though. I have to depend on my own sense of discipline to continue using and learning Spanish while I am there. I also have a few reservatiosn about travelling alone. I have done it MANY times before in Great Britain, Asia, and New Zealand. Folks here tell me the trip across the Andes is easy, and muy interesante, but I still hear horror stories about border crossings and vagabonds. So I am hedging my bets on my good ol´guardian angel. He and I should be able to handle anything that comes along.

Tuesday morning I travel by bus to La Paz (where I will get ... uh ... BE very high). After I see the Jesuits there, I will head to Copacabana for a nice lakeside view of Titicaca (tee hee). Then I am off to Puno, Peru to stay with the Maryknollers there for a day, then DOWN (to 11,000 feet above sea level) to visit Cusco and see Machu Picchu.

Stop by this spot to see what I mean ... http://www.sacredsites.com/americas/peru/machu_picchu.html

OK, I am off to La Cancha right now. Some of the Holy Cross volunteers want to see this remarkable Bolivian marketplace in the center of Cochabamba, and I will be their (ahem) tour guide! Ha. We´ll see how that goes. More later.

AMDG

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