Home Improvements

Well, it's that time of year. Spring is here...FINALLY!! We are once again trying to improve the little shack we live in. It's hard to have such a big yard with so much potential, with out trying to make use of it. You see, when we moved in last August, our yard looked much like this, only the weeds/grass was about 3 feet tall and there were stumps everywhere! (This image courtesy of google images)Dan really surprised me when I came home from Peru. He had removed the 9 or more stumps in our yard, cleaned up a lot of dead trees AND...built us a garden. Not just any garden, but a big, wonderful garden. He wants to make our own salsa this year, and I just want fresh fruits and veggies. SO, here is the breakdown. We planted peas, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, tomatos, squash, cilantro, peppers, beans, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and golden raspberries. It's going to be amazing!

Dan built this drip system so that we don't have to worry about forgetting to water the garden. This little beauty will do it all for us. Isn't he handy?

This is our "fruit garden" The other is our "vegetable garden"

We also converted the pile of dirt and weeds in the front of our house into a flower garden. We got a smorgesboard of flowers. I don't remember many of the names of them, just ones I thought looked pretty.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

Chloe loved helping me plant the flowers. She also thouroughly enjoyed eating every single weed I pulled out!!

Our next project: removing the remaining stumps and getting real grass everywhere accross the yard. Wish us luck, it's a lot of ground to cover! Literally

The last 2 days...

The title of this post could be taken in two different ways. Way #1, I am posting pictures of the last two days, or way #2, I am very sad to be leaving such a beautiful place in just 2 more days. If you thought of way #1, your right, and if you thought of way #2, you are also right.

The last two days have been amazing. We have been touring around Cusco, seeing all that there is to see, with the exception of Machu Picchu. But with the photos you are about to encounter, you will understand my phrase..."WHO NEEDS MACHU PICCHU?" Although it would have been amazing to see, I am quite contented with the sights and ruins that we did see. Everything was beautiful, and the weather was unbeatable. Seriously. We couldn't have asked for better. We made quite a few stops. We visited Qorikancha, which is an ancient Inkan temple that the Spanish built over. It still has remnents of Inkan walls and rooms. It was very interesting, but our tour guide got a little long winded and I got distracted.Then we visited Saqsayhuaman, which is pronounced much like "sexy woman" The natives, and tourists all call it that because the rocks have many angles and curves. We smiled each time our guide said it, which was close to 1000.

These are sliding rocks. A few of us climbed to the top and then slid down.

Each stop had a bit of hiking to do. So we only did these two on the first day, but it was a lot to see. Saqsayhuaman had a couple parts to it so that took us a good 3 or 4 hours to see. When we arrived to our hotel, the power was out. They said it had been out since 6 am. We didn't know what to do as it was only 7 pm, and there was no power, no water, no anything. All we had was one tiny candle in our room. So we went and combined in Lynley and Kristi's rooms and partied it up until the power finally came back on about an hour later. Today we went to the Inkan ruins at Pisac, which was very cool. You can still see rooms and fountains that are original. It was quite a hike to get to, but well worth it. It was really cool to see. Then we made our way to Ollantaytambo. Here we saw the Inkan god, Wiraqocha, carved into the mountain side. The Inkans thought that if they carved his face into the wall he would watch over them and protect them.

Yes, we did climb all these stairs...and a whole lot more too!!

The sights we saw were amazing. I loved every minute of it. There are so many beautiful things to see and do. The hiking is incredible, once you learn how to breathe at 13,000 feet. Your heart starts beating quite fast, especially going up hill. But it is totally worth it. All I can think to say is Beautiful.And this kiss is for Dan, the best man in the world! Love you babe!

Conference

Today was the last day at the conference. We presented our material, and I think we did very well. It was a bit intimidating to present in English when the people only spoke Spanish. I was always wondering if the translation was coming across how I wanted it too. In the last 2 days we presented 3 times. Our topics were, Illiteracy, HIV/AIDS, and Social Change. I think they all really applied to what the people were going through, as they all seemed quite interested.After the conference, we hit up the market across the street for a little shopping. It was fun. Hard because I can only make out about 1/4 of what they are saying to me, but so far so good. We all went out tonight as a group to celebrate my birthday, and another girl's birthday. It was really fun. We went to this place called "The Inka Wall" it actually had part of the real Inkan wall from way back when. It was pretty cool. They had traditional music and dancing which was fun. They even sang to me!!
Then, they invited a few people from our group to go up and dance with them, and I naturally got chosen. It was fun, but I have to admit that I felt like a fool. I was just trying to mimik the one I was dancing with, but I am sure did not do a great job at it.Tomorrow we are going sight seeing. It should be very cool, and then the next day will be the Sacred Valley. I think it should be very neat. I am excited.