Catch up!

My sister came to visit and spent the first two weeks battling food, water, and altitude, but now she´s right as rain and its been damn nice to have her here. Despite her many stomach ailments, we managed to take her to Bolivia, La Paz for the shopping, and La Isla del Sol for the beauty and tranquility. My birthday was on the 19th and the day before, the two of us hiked up to Huchuy Cusco to see the ruins, the view and camp for the night. Out timing was perfect on all fronts, though at first we thought the opposite. The normally clear skies of the valley seemed to turn gray the second we stepped of the bus at the trailhead, and less than an hour up, it started to rain. But when the hail came, we happened upon a gazebo to wait it out. After an hour and a half, it let up, and we continued on, making to the top just in time for a beautiful sunset. We managed to make a fire though all of the wood was quite wet, but like newborn child, it required constant attention.

The next morning we woke up to sunshine, basked in its glory, reading, meditating, and writing in our journals, then went exploring. I can´t imagine a better place or way to wake up on your birthday. When the sky started to turn gray again, we decided to break camp and start the journey down. We entered the bus the second that rain started splashing down on the windshield and relished our wonderful luck. We went back to the house to meet up with Lebn and Nati, then went to Calca to live it up Calca-style. We had a great time, but something gave me food-poisoning and the next day I spent in pain.

But I´m better now and on my way to Ica, slowly but surely. After much internal debate, I decided not to accompany Jess and Lebn back to the States in October, but remain in South America and continue my trip North. Only my rational mind wanted me to return. All of my instincts are telling me to stay. I´m trusting my instincts.

First, I´m going to Ica to help build a house for the earthquake victims, and then I´m heading North to a community in the jungle in the Northern part of Peru, and then a slow boat down the Amazon and into Brazil. I´m very excited.

It will be weird travelling without Lebn. He´s been an incredible companion, and though we´ve certainly had our ups and downs, I can´t think of many other people on this planet with which I could have made such a trip. But it´s time to go our separate ways. For a while at least.

And speaking of Lebn, there´s some more pictures posted on his picture page. Here´s the link again: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lebnjay

I should be writing more now that I´m back on the road again, so if this little blog hasn´t lost all of its readership in my absence, you can expect to find more here to read in the coming weeks. Months? Years? Vamos a ver.