AYER

Here's a play by play of yesterday.

I woke up at 8. Took a delightful shower in hot water and had a scrumptious breakfast in the hostel (plate of fruit, granola, and yogurt). It was the first time I have ever tried a prickly pear!! Quite exciting and yes, I did like it. From there, visited the Monastery of Santa Catalina - this gorgeous city within a city is over 400 years old and only opened to the public in 1978. The monastery is ENORMOUS and has streets inside it and orchards. 30 nuns still live there today. Small World note: I ran into Jonas (one of the German volunteers from Urubamba) there. What a crazy coincidence that we happened to be there at the same time. Next, I went over to the Museum that houses JUANITA! The mummy is absolutely incredible. She is in pristine condition and all of the garments that she was wrapped in are also on display in the Museum still retaining their original colors and patterns. We were lucky to see her because she is taken out of exhibition at the end of December and doesn't reappear until May every year so that she can be kept completely in the dark. Light deteriorates her appearance. Anyway, that was incredible.

After lunch, Elena and I went back to the shopping mall to look around (didn't find anything) and saw New Moon again. We then bought our tickets at the bus terminal for tonight and headed over to the Plaza de Armas to have a look inside the Cathedral. It is grand, stunning, and completely latin - filled with figures of Jesus and Mary with full heads of hair (which I find totally disturbing) and real clothes and make up. UGH. The organ at the back of the cathedral is UNBELIEVABLE and HUGE. I really wished it could have been playing so I could have heard what it sounded like, but, alas, this was not the case.

Anyhow, that's it for now!

ciao y besos.