A great day!

Everything continues to be good. I'm having a great time and really starting to fall in love with Cusco and Peru in general.Cusco really is beautiful.  Spanish lessons are good, but very long. Four hours is just to long to be sitting in a class room learning Spanish. At least today, my teacher Walter took Marion and I to a little free art museum sponsored by Banco de la Nacion. It has local works of art such as prints, painting, and sculptures. It was really cool and I'm really glad he took us.  Otherwise we are just reviewing grammar. I think at this point I really just need to practice talking and expand my vocabulary.
Yesterday when I arrived at the orphanage the girls were playing jenga. They then did this coloring project for a while. They are all really good artists. After that I taught them how to play go-fish! It was hard to explain in Spanish, but I was able to and the girls loved it. I felt like I was really able to connect with them a lot more while we played. Today when I arrived at the orphanage they were playing go fish again. I guess they really enjoyed it! We played for a little, and then some of the girls asked if we could practice karate. I was so happy they wanted to! I took a few girls to the side and we reviewed some of the stuff we learned last time. We did front, side, and roundhouse kicks. And then all of the blocks and some punches. The girls practiced in the air and on the pad. They loved it!! It is challenging to teach them because I don't know how to say some of the stuff in Spanish. For instance I had trouble correcting their roundhouse kicks because I didn't know how to tell them to turn more. After that I showed them front-round. One of the girls is really getting the hang of karate-I think she will end up being really good.  All the girls seemed to really enjoy it and they want to practice more tomorrow. I got a video of them, and will try to post it on the Pinkarate facebook page later. After practicing karate I played volleyball with one of the girls. This was really fun and a great chance to practice volleyball while in Peru. The girls are decent at volleyball and we peppered for a while. After volunteering at the orphanage I met up with my friend Marion from Spanish class. We went to some of the places on the Boleto Turistico Del Cusco pass. We visited the Museo Municipal de Arte Contemporaneo which was actually very disappointing. There were a few galleries of paintings and then they had a furniture display.  The furniture was really nice, just not my thing. Then we took a nice long walk to the Monumento Pachacuteq which is a big statue. We climbed to the top and got a nice view of Cusco. After that we went to the Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo and saw a live performance of traditional Peruvian music and dancing. It was very interesting. I also finally got a chance to stop at a Peruvian supermarket where I picked up some snacks. I got these really good chips called Inca Chips that were basically like vegetable chips. Peru has so many interesting little snacks that I want to try! Tonight my host mother Maria Elena is having a  party. The food should be very good, but I feel like it will be awkward for me because I don't know anyone and my Spanish is not great. But we shall see. Overall today has probably been one of my favorite days. I felt like I really connected with the girls and am making a difference in their lives.  I also really had fun visiting the different site with Marion. And I had a good lunch-fried eggplant, rice, and beet salad!

So here are some more culture aspects of Peru that I noticed but forgot to mention earlier. There are dogs wondering all over Cusco. Tons of them. Everywhere you look. The other day one even wondered into a restaurant and no one cared. So different from the states. I think I mentioned about the cars- how they will run you over if your not careful. When your walking on a busy street, the air is a little polluted with the smell of gas. There are tons of street vendors. A lot of them sell Inca Kola, bottled water, coke, and lots of Peruvian snacks. Then there are people selling street food like baked goods, popcorn, and nuts. And  there are people selling fruit.
In Peru when you greet someone or say good bye you give them a little kiss on the cheek. This is how the girls greet me when I arrive at the orphanage.