Today, it's a week since I left San Francisco. Hard to believe. On the one hand, it doesn't seem like I've been gone very long, but somehow I also feel like I've been here for a while. This trip hasn't been too difficult yet and is still shorter than other trips I've taken, so I think it hasn't quite sunk in yet. Hard to imagine what it will feel like to have been on the road for one month, two months, or more.

I've somehow managed to foil my own plans to go to a museum each of the last three days, but no matter, I'm having fun, and there's still time left for the "sights." Have been hanging out with some people from school, including a few people traveling in South America for up to six months. It's fun to share our plans, since we're all near the beginning of our trips. Last night we went out for dinner, organized through our school, then out to a discoteca. It was all Peruvians except for us, which was cool, but there seemed to be some sort of wedding or prom party there and for about an hour they turned down the music and had some sort of show going on on a little stage, where a few guys were wearing top hats, and one had on one of those masks from the movie Scream. We couldn't figure out what was going on so finished our drinks and headed home. Tonight we're going to one of these Cinebars that plays movies and serves drinks and food. Tomorrow I'm going on a hike organized through school to a place called Salineras, which I believe are Inca salt flats terraced on a hill. Sounds rather utilitarian, but I've been assured it's quite a sight to behold.

On Sunday I'm going with a few other people from school to an annual reenactment(?) of an ancient Inkan ritual that's taking place at some ruins on top of a hill (couldn't spell it right now if I tried) about half an hour walk from town.

Monday, the next adventure begins, as I've signed up for a 5-day, 4-night trip to the jungle, to Manu Biosphere Reserve. It was organized through school, and doesn't get us as far into the jungle as some of the longer trips, but I didn't want to miss too much of school or pay the extra money for a longer trip. There is an option to take the tour and continue classes at the same time, but I decided against that since other students told me it's just too hot and there's too much else to do to really want to spend too much time on serious class. So, the other student from my school, Lukas from Switzerland, and I have determined we'll try to only speak Spanish during the tour, and that'll be our class for the week! So I'll be out of touch from Sunday night until next Saturday.

It will be nice to get into a warmer, more humid climate for a while. It's nice here during the day, in the 60s, but at night and in the mornings it's quite cold, and there isn't heat in the house or at school so I'm often cold (not to mention the not-warm showers!). It's very dry here, too, and I am feeling the effects. I often have a sore throat, and my skin's really dry and my hair's flying all over the place. I bought some fancy face cream to help with the dryness. It was way too expensive by my standards, but it seems to be working and it feels nice to pamper myself a little bit since for the most part my beauty routine is pretty sparse these days!

The mom of my host family returned from her business trip today. She seems really warm and friendly, and I feel a little bad that I'm heading off to do all these other things right when she gets home. Oh well.