The Longest Day of My Life

I don't know where to start. There are too many things to process and too many things I've seen lately. It has been nothing short of amazing. I wish most days of my life contained as much excitement. Being without a computer has put a strain on me and my thoughts. I can't seem to commit myself to paper.

The last 36 hours of my life has been one giant day. Yesterday morning's breakfast--which was early, I might add-- seemed too long ago. Honestly, I feel as though I've been here for a month. My days are so filled and appear longer. Seriously, Geo spilling Inca Kola on his pants in the airport at Lima feels like it was two months ago or something when, in fact, that was four days ago. Four.

We went to this little village nestled inside the mountains yesterday. On the way there, I was trying to get my thoughts together. I'm not very comfortable with not being able to record my thoughts in my head or having too many that it all seems to rushed. The mountains are... I'm not sure how to describe them. No one needs to say they're beautiful because it's a common fact. There were so many mountain sceneries that I found they became common after awhile. Still, I found myself pondering on how majestic they were. There is something so intangibly captivating about them. They were to be respected. My life seemed somewhat insignificant in comparison. If I had a lover or significant other, I probably would have compared or united the mountain's mesmerizing effect with it.

We ended up making a stop at a Pre-Incan tomb place. Of course, it was gorgeous. I wish I knew more about it. Google is God's gift to the uneducated traveler.

I noted how amazing it was that the mountains were hovering over the village. It commanded so much attention. Anyway, we saw the festival for La Virgin del Carmen. It was really wonderful. There were lot of dances with masks. I wish I knew what the dances meant. There was one about yellow fever and ... lawyer? AHHH. Sumra, Jess, and I danced with perverted, masked men. A little disturbing. Geo and I got hit with books. There were fireworks! There were also people with their merchandise on the street. Think of Aladdin and the marketplace when Princess Jasmine escaped. Ha. The hostel was pretty crappy, though, but not ridiculously terrible. Um. We also had to pay to use a public bathroom. I got to say, Sumra and I did not enjoy peeing in a hole in the ground. Gross.

Did I mention they also stuff us with a LOT of food? They make taking a shit hard for everyone!!

They woke us up around 1:20 AM so we could all watch the sunrise over a mountain called Tres Cruces. One problem. One of the buses got stuck so we had to walk the entire way up! They were pretty sneaky about it, too. They said it was only going to be a 10 minute hike to a good viewing point. HAA. Liesssssssss. I wore the wrong shoes and hiked up the mountain for an hour and a half. It was weird. I never thought I'd ever be so motivated so see a sunrise at the top of a mountain, especially not with the wrong shoes, but I was. My friend Zach could have gone much faster without me, but he kept me company. It was some pretty painful shit, man. But! We got there. We missed the sunrise, but we were higher than the clouds and had an awesome view of the newly risen sun and mountain terrain. We took a tiny nap on the Andes. Definitely something to brag about. Um. You guys should wait til I get home. Because that's what I'm gonna do =) YEAHHHH. =)

Pictures later. Go on facebook later.

It's really strange how simply the people live there. They raise their own animals. There were random sheep that are grazing in the mountains. They make their own clothes. I suppose, it's weird to think how pampered we really are. Toilets are a luxury. Yet, they're happy. There were so many little children and babies around. I found it so endearing. I guess, in any language and any culture, children don't really have any boundaries when it comes to touching hearts.

I suppose, everything's just been a different outlook. The more I see, the more I want to know. it really is true when they say each culture is an entirely different world. I think it's a beautiful thing. I keep thinking about how I am such a dreamer. I almost seem selfish. Seeing such a simple-living society makes me see that, although they enjoy their lives, they do things out of necessity. Well, I'm an art major. I make paintings. I want so much more. Sumra was telling me about her Operation Smile club where they raise money to do free surgery on people with lip or chin distortions in poor countries. I want to change myself, but I also want to change the world.

Anyway, I don't want to hog Zach's computer. Blaaah. Internet Cafe soon. Miss you, loves. <3