First few days in Peru

We arrived in Lima at 4am after flying all night and tried to nap on the floor of the airport. After finally finding plane tickets to Cusco for the next day, we set out for the center of the city. A taxi from the airport costs $20 but we rode the local minvan packed out buses with our big backpacks and got there for only 60 cents and some weird looks. This trip is already different than past visits to Latin America. After taking lots of history and poli classes on Latin America, I am able to understand this place on a deeper level. I have already talked for hours with different peruvians about politics and peruvian history. Chad and I saw the president at the main square, and yesterday Peru hosted a conference with leaders from all over Latin America and Europe...noticeably absent, the US. I feel content in Latin America, and even though this is my fourth trip in one year, I was already missing it. That is some assurance that even though my major doesnt have too many jobs, its right for me. After touring the catacombs at a 16th century church, we met Pedro who wanted to talk to us to practice his english. We spent the rest of the day with him and he was kind of nuts. At dinner, he kept ordering more and more 650 ml beers for us to split and told us about his casual use of cocaine. He asked us repeatedly to do lines with him, but finally gave up after mentioning it 10 times.