Planning trips for friends & family

I've finally settled down into a normal routine. Every day, I am coming to Hospital Dos de Mayo to work with tuberculosis patients. I have been working with two of the nurses here that don't speak ANY English, which has been a great opportunity for me to practice my Spanish! I usually stay here until around lunch time before heading back to my apartment. I ended up staying in the same apartment that I was originally living in, and will stay here for my entire time in Lima!

I am currently living with two friends, Beto (those of you who followed my sister's blog might recognize this name) and his girlfriend Beth. It has been working out well so far: I finally have internet in my apartment again (thanks Katie!), meaning that I don't need to go to the 4D to use their internet any more. I will still have to stop in to get some ice cream though. (Writing about ice cream while I'm hungry isn't the best idea. My stomach just started grumbling...)

My friend Robbie is coming in one week. I am very excited to see him! Robbie goes to the University of Nebraska, so I haven't gotten to see him very much over the past few years except when one of us has traveled to see the other. This summer was no exception, as he decided to come stay with me for a month! We are going to Cuzco for the 28 de Julio, Peru's independence day. I figured that since I didn't get a chance to celebrate the 4th with my family and friends, we'd go to the place in Peru that has the biggest independence day celebrations in here to make up for it! From Cuzco, we will set off on a 5 day trek to Machu Picchu called the Salkantay Trek. It goes all the way up to 4600 meters (>15,000 feet) above sea level, as well as down into the jungle to walk through bamboo forests and go to natural hot springs. You can read a brief bit about it from it's Wikipedia page here.

On the fifth day, we will arrive at Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. For those of you who don't know the history of Machu Picchu, here is a brief summary:
- Built around 1450, possibly as an estate for the Incan emperor
- Abandoned about 100 years later to try to flee from the Spaniards
- Spaniards never found Machu Picchu
- There were several native people living in the original houses when American Hiram Bingham was led to the city by an 11-year-old boy in 1911
- Machu Picchu is now considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World
- For a more detailed history, click here.

Robbie and I will also go to the city of Huacachina to go sandboarding in the desert on sand dunes. This is exactly what it sounds like. I did this when I came to visit my sister in January, and we all had a blast (except for Katie, who had trouble sitting down for the next month because she crashed so hard!). I'll write about our experience in a later blog, but you can read about our trip in January from my sister's blog if you want to find out more!

I've also been planning a trip for my dad to come down and visit. He is going to come during October and we are going to do the Inca Trail (similar to the Salcantay Trek, but a different route). This is the most famous trek in the Americas, and I'm very excited to get a chance to do it! This is going to be one of my most memorable birthdays ever, hiking in the Andes with my dad on the way to Machu Picchu!

If anyone else is looking to come down, let me know... I'd love to have more visitors! Send me an email if you want to know any information about cost, how long you would want to stay, etc.

Sorry I didn't have any pics for this update, I've been getting lazy and not taking my camera out with me. I'll try to do better for the next update!

That's all for now!