From the city that never sleeps to "La Ciudad Imperial"

Welcome to my blog everyone! First of all, I MADE IT TO PERU! Second, this is my first blogging experience bear with me. And third, the altitude sickness is slowly getting to me, as is the sleepiness, so I apologize in advance for not making sense.

 After spending a much needed 10 days with Jerry and my friends and family, I finally boarded my flight at 11:00pm last night. Why they tell you to arrive 3 hours prior to an international flight is beyond me. I sat at my gate for 2 hours! I did befriend an awesome older woman from Lima who gave me all sorts of advice and reassurance (I think she could sense my mixed emotions on leaving). As for the flight, I officially never want to fly domestic again. The airplane was beautiful and clean and spacious. Each seat had a pillow and blanket. The flight attendants handed out eye masks and ear buds. I'm also pretty sure they provided a meal because about 5 hours into the flight (and after my Ambien) I woke up for a second and I remember seeing the man next to me with a fruit cup and some sort of breakfast pastry. So, we landed around 7am, I got through customs and immigration pretty quick, and had just enough time to grab a banana and a water bottle before I was on my next flight to Cusco. A short hour later, I was greeted by several Maximo Nivel employees who helped me with my bags and brought me to a car. After a quick stop at MN's training center, they brought me to the Arcopata Family House which is where I'll be staying for the next 5 weeks. In case you didn't see them on Facebook, I'll add a few pictures here too (mostly because I want to figure out how to add pictures!)

This is the family room. Comfy couches, TV, DVD player, even a fireplace.

This is the patio. 65-75 degrees everyday. I'll be out here a lot!

My room! It's small, but a double bed and a private bathroom? I'll take it.

Awesome little nook next to my room. The sun shines right in the window so it's nice & cozy.

I'm obviously loving it already. There's a full staff of what seems to be 2-3 housekeepers and 2-3 chefs (yes, chefs). A sweet little woman was cleaning my armoire when I walked in and told me lunch would be ready in 20 minutes! Can't beat that. I haven't met any other TEFL trainees (Teaching English as a Foreign Language--for those of you I haven't explained that to yet). Most of the people living here are volunteers, so I'm hoping a few more trainees will show up. I was told there were 14 last month so that gives me hope! Two girls were moving into their own apartment today...hopefully that will be me in 5 weeks!

Internet is working, Skype is working, pictures are uploaded. Time to start unpacking. Hopefully I can keep up with this blog thing! Thanks for reading :)

Side note: the pictures at the top of my page is the Plaza de Armas, the main plaza in the city and it's 3 blocks from where I'm staying!