This morning...

Began like any other Monday morning. Woke up, got ready, rode the bus to work. Little did I know that this would be my last morning riding the bus, climbing the stairs to the second floor, clocking in, checking my email. Little did I know that I would be cleaning out my desk and leaving for the last time. This morning I had a plan that I was prepared for. But that all changed when I got a call from BYU offering me a opening in their full time MPA program. Oh and by the way it starts tomorrow. "OMG" (I'm not a big fan of that saying but it seemed to fit.) After a quick discussion with my parents and weighing the pros and cons in my head I decided to go for it. So I am now officially unemployed. (The loss of my regular paycheck was a little twinge in my stomach.) But I am officially a student at BYU in the MPA program. And I feel really good about that. More details to come later. I need to get to bed. This is going to be a big week.

Peru pictures are FINALLY HERE!!

Our adventure began in the Amazons. We flew from Lima to Puerto Maldonado. We were picked up at the airport, that had a total of 2 gates. We left our suitcases at the agency's offices are traveled by bus to a dock and then by boat on a river for an hour to our hotel. This was one sweet hotel. There was no electricity except for the lobby; at night they used kerosene lamps. And our rooms opened to the jungle and we watched monkeys from our rooms. At night we slept with nets over our beds like a canopy. We went on hikes through the rain forest, talked to a medicine man, and just relaxed.  Sleeping in the jungle when it was raining was so relaxing.





 
Cuzco was once the Inca capital of the world and it was fabulous. Shopping fantastic. People fun. A taxi ride across cost only a dollar. We visited the Inca ruins around the city and drove through the Sacred Valley.

After an hour and a half train ride from Cuzco we get to Aguas Calientes. The mountains around Machu Picchu were amazing.






From Aguas Calientes we hike up Putucusi (literally straight up) and got an awesome view of Machu Picchu.






Machu Picchu was fantastic. The only thing I would've changed about the whole trip is to have more time here.





































  These are the Floating of Islands in Lake Titicaca. They are literally man-made out of the reeds. Many generations ago when there were conflicts between Peru and Columbia there were people that didn't want to be associate with either and so they built their own islands in the middle of the lake. And people still build and continue to live on these islands.
I loved everything about this trip. The adventure was fabulous. Peru has so much to offer and it was so great being in South America again.
One more adventure checked off the list. On to the next!!