CLEAN SHEETS!!

This is our living room/hallway entrance and that doorway is my bedroom.  It was the living room, so it's huge, but it comes with a dining room table and some cabinet with glassware that just adds to the swankiness of my style. It also gives me more space to unload my crap... wicked.
These are the money maker shots. This is the attempt at a panoramic view from our roof top, moving counter-clockwise if you are sitting in the blue chair as shown in the rooftop picture.  What I didn't capture on camera was the houses behind the chair, or the guy I've never seen who hammers erratically somewhere nearby.
This view in the picture above is my favorite. sooooooo purdy.


Here is the roof/patio we have which overlooks the city, it's pretty awesome. That sketch setup is the entrance/doorway to our patio.  Apparently in Cusco if you do not finish construction you don't have to pay property taxes.  That's only hearsay, but it makes sense with the plastic tarp and whatnot.  There is no door...

This is my room, the only picture of it clean that will be taken. I promise. I'm off to a better start on slob control than I was at my previous residence... Luckily I had this baller roommate who helped prepare me for being gracious and groomed me to be a presentable roommate.
THIS IS THE TOILET OF MY DREAMS!  Look at that color!!!! It's SICK! I love it.  The sink is the same color...LOVE IT! The shower situation is kinda sketch, but it's the typical set-up of a Cusqueno apartment. There isn't so much a shower stall/area as a a shower head right next to the sink, and the shower curtain divides the sink/shower head from the toilet. Really the curtain rod only goes far enough to block the door, but thanks to some ingenious rigging  MacGyver style with a paper clip and duct tape, the shower curtain extends to block out the toilet and keep the TP dry. There is only one knob to turn on the water, and if you turn it just a little the water is warmish, but you've gotta wait a second for it to warm up.  Turn the knob all the way and it's cold. My first shower was quite an experience.
I tried to save the best part for last: check out this kitchen! This is nicer than my apartment in Boone! The stove is real and it's gas. That oven is large, and... drum roll.... there is a microwave!!  The first thing I did after unpacking was go to the grocery store, La Mega. It was a beautiful moment, I do believe tears came to my eyes... The vegetables!!!  I have been eating beets for the past several days, so delicious.  I did have a great cooking moment though, with the beets. After boiling them I rinsed them off with the tap water and then I had to reboil them for another five minutes or so... Still not used to the parasite problem... But I did eat lettuce the other night at a nice tourist restaurant, another awesome find: I found a place with bacon that tastes like the way Patti cooked it on the stove. If it's not beets, I'm chowing down on BLTs at Jack's... yummy!  Anyway, this has taken a turn from the apartment... NO more tangent-ing. I'm off to the grocery store to try to make papas rellenos, stuffed fried potatoes! 

LOVE.

Don't get seasick...

This is the shot of us leaving Amantani
Here is what the edge of the floating islands looks like...
This is a port city close to Puno.
This is what Puno looks like when you're leaving.
We are waiting to set off into the Lake, and this man was just chilling at the port on a neighboring boat.

 

Uros Islands/Las Flotanas

Above is the view of us coming up to the island, and below is when we were shoving off.
This boy is sitting on the same reed that's carpeting the island, and that seat is the outside of the center/community circle.


Above I'm taking a picture of a tourist taking a picture, obviously, but this woman was one of a half dozen selling the same thing
Here is a model of how the island was constructed. The dirt is cubed and it has a root structure from some plant in it, and there are pegs stuck in the dirt and tied together with synthetic yarn, and then they pile on the reeds.  Pretty wicked for ancient architecture.

Isla Amantani on Lake Titicaca Pictures

Above this is the entrance arch to PachaTata at the top of the island. Below is the view of the other side of the mountain/island.
This is a view from PachaTata. I think one of those islands is Taquile, but I'm not sure.
That arch at the top is the PachaMama ruins site. We did not climb up there, it was so far and really high up...

All this terracing is the farmland for the island. They grow Quinoa and several awesome different varieties of corn, it all tastes delicious.

Isla Taquile from Lake Titicaca Pictures

Above is a picture of the cemetery from Taquile. Below, the sidewalks are for all walks of life.

Above is one of the arch entrances into the Plaza de Armas in Taquile. Below is a view of the Lake from the Plaza de Armas with yours truly to add to the landscape...
Here is the Lake and the port we docked at.  I had to climb up that crazy hill to get to the city...I heard it was 500 steps...Badass.

Nunnery Shenanigans

Above is a great example of the termite fantasticness I came across throughout the monastery, and below is an image from one of the many personal kitchens, they used to have access to the rooftops, but the staircases had been either paved over or gated like this one. I did climb up to the top at this barricade and looked over the other side of the roof, and it was a view of every other view from a normal rooftop in Arequipa: there were dogs sniffing around and the neighboring houses kitchen ventilation systems. It was a letdown, but fun to realize the timewarp we were in architecturally. Lovely.
This is the laundry center. Earthen pots! How wicked! I can imagine the gossip going down at this spot back in the day; scandalous...
Here is the second to longest and narrowest of streets within the walls of the monastery. 
This was the closest I could get to these images without being horrified by the attention to detail Catholics use when depicting Christ on a cross... But pretend it's a street fight, or an argument with a taxi driver. Awesome arm posturing is what I'm trying to get at.


This is the garden we snuck into, and below is the water purification method used by the nuns. 

Above is this fountain that I saw postcards for several places before we came to the monastery, so it must have been important.... The begonias were everywhere, and this blue was painted over so many of the walls, it was so beautiful! And be sure to note the termite issue with that shutter!  There were a lot of wooden doors and shutters that had been taken over by termites, but instead of being replaced, they were painted or just treated. It was eerie to stare into, but also beautiful.

This is an old pulpit from one of the chapels no longer in use. I was scared the floor was gonna open up and I'd fall into hell for taking this picture, but really.... Wouldn't you?

and more PICTURES!!!!

Here are some gems from Arequipa:

This is me rummaging through the trash. Here is were the real deals were! 

The picture of a fish tank reading Jugo de Rana means Frog Juice.  For real. They smash the frogs unconscious and then blend them without anything added. Apparently it's good for your brain and your lungs. Go figure... I did not see anyone try this juice, and my deepest apologies but I could not brave the taste, it looked so inhumane the way the poor froggies were being treated.  To make amends I did try the beef heart shish kebabs, and they were quite tasty, just a little chewy.  They were seasoned with some slightly spicy rub and intestinal juices. 

 This tiny picture is the fountain of the Plaza de Armas...For some reason it does not want to behave. 

PICTURES!!!!

Here is Mollendo: The sunset was amazing, and the beaches were so crowded.