Well, I don´t know. You don´t hear anything for over a week and now twice in two days. Jesus. Anyone would think I had time to kill or something… Basically I had to check out at 10am but my bus leaves at 7 tonight. So I´m feeling like a bit of a vagrant. And avoiding Paddy´s Irish Pub, for obvious reasons!
Indeed, today I have wandered around, become a coffee aficionado, posted some postcards, looked at some more church-like things, sat around for a bit more soaking up the first rays of sunshine since I got here, went for lunch, tried sitting in the main square and reading up on some Spanish, but may as well light a beacon above my head screaming Í´m a tourist who doesn´t really understand anything you´re saying! Please come annoy me/rip me off/try and sell me some Peruvian tat!´. So here I am again. In the internet cafe that doubles as a shrine to The Beatles.
Things I have noticed so far: some things are international. Namely, little kids trying their luck with their parents. Peruvian children and babies are cute, but also the most laid back kids in the world! From tiny babies to 4ish they are literally carried around at all angles by their parents like sacks, oblivious and fast asleep. It´s really quite amusing.
What else… oh, vanity permeates all cultures. When visiting this women´s co-op project the other day, seeing how they shear the sheep, llamas and alpacas, weave the wool, dye it with plant dyes and make all manner of clothing, bags, purses etc, I decided that while I could probably get similar on Camden Market, it felt good to support them. And, far more selfishly, it had been effing freezing the previous night, so I bought a beanie and a pair of hideous socks made from alpaca wool. (Joe, you´d not be happy with me. Not a sequin in sight…) Anyway, having bought these two things from a pretty shrewd Andean lady, I asked if she´d mind if I took a photo. Si Si, de acuerdo, she tells me. But wouldn´t let me go near her until she´d straightened her plaits out and buttoned up her cardigan properly. Very sweet…
Other things that have amused me today… Walked past a bookshop featuring a One Direction window display. Yep. Inside wasn´t much better, pride of place was a Stieg Larsson & Fifty Shades display. Seems awful ´mummy porn´ is as popular in Cusco as Stoke Newington.
Have eaten alpaca (imagine a cross between beef and pork), tried the tinest bit of guinea pig last night off my German neighbour´s plate – didn´t have the balls to order it myself. Arrived, full body, head, teeth, the works. Bit sweet though, which as we all know, sweetness does NOT belong in a meat dish.
Tried to ignore the fact that he looked rather a lot like Ashton Kutcher as a we went playing pool. Ahem.
So I´m still not able to upload photos, sadly, as would be here until Christmas. Now it´s off to Arequipa I go….
ToBeShaw 
OMG think I would’ve had to pass on the guinea pig too!! Don’t think we’d be any good in the jungle so it’s as well we’re not celebrities!! The Andean lady sounds really sweet. Nice to hear you’re taking in all the local sights and finding a source of amusement in them. I’m sure you’ll have tons of unusual pics to peruse when you return. Glad to hear you’re keeping your wits about you and really glad to hear you’ve got a bit of sunshine at last! Hope it stays a while. Take care chicken xxxxxxxxx