Cusco, Peru y la Sagrada Valle

Me and mom with an old Incan man.

Me overlooking Cusco, Peru.

Me and Michaela at the ruins

BEST. FACE. EVER. Tanner is devouring that corn.

Me and Charlsey being cute, Michaela creepin'.

Alpaca! they look so funny when they run.

Me and an ADORABLE incan child. 

After my family FINALLY made it to Buenos Aires saturday afternoon (after their flight was delayed 4+ hours), I took them to the Recoleta Feria on Sunday. We spent most of the afternoon browsing the booths and braving the cold. Luckily, I had already made reservations for all of us at La Cabrera, the go-to steak house BsAs. 2 bottles of wine + incredible steak + more food than we could finish (but we did) = one amazing Argentine dinner. Monday we checked out of our hotel at 3:30 a.m. (i was dyinggg) and after a 5 hour flight (and a small detour to Lima), finally made it to Cusco, Peru. Tuesday, we did a tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We got to see the nearby cities of Pisaq and Ollantaytambo, had a fun buffet lunch at a peruvian restaurant, and ended the day-long tour by climbing 200+ steps of an Incan ruin. The altitude here is so different, it's super easy to get light-headed and queasy. We were all so worn out by the end of the tour, we grabbed a quick dinner at a nearby pizzería and made our way back to our hotel. This morning, we took the tren from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. It was a beautiful, scenic train ride that lasted about 3 hours, and amazingly, our hotel is ride near the train stop. There are lots of cute little markets along hte street and small little restaurants, one of which we grabbed lunch in earlier. Tomorrow, we're going to hike up to Machu Picchu (POR FIN!) and then relax in the hot water springs (for which the city is named) for a nice end to the day. Can't wait!

REUNITEDDD...and it feels so GOOOOD!

Look who came ALL THE WAY to Buenos Aires to see me!! I literally started crying when I saw my mom, that's how long it's been. 

Me and the WHOLE family in the entrance of my homestay.

me and the old married folks :)

Butcher girls.

 

Mis padres queridos!

the kids :)

Fuerza Bruta

Last night was ¡¡INCREÍBLE!! There are literally no words to describe the madness that is Fuerza Bruta. It was liking walking into someone else's dream. Take a look for yourself: 

The musicians had these HUGE drums that I swear you could feel down to your bones.

they were attached to harnesses and RUNNING and JUMPING on this massive screen. wow.

CONFETTI SHOWER

Giant pool that was less than a foot over our heads. 

it felt like being inside a beehive, but even cooler. 

MORE CONFETTI

They would grab people from the crowd and bring them up to jump around on top. ¡qué loco!

Also, these pictures in NO WAY do Fuerza Bruta justice. Entonces, you can head on over to my youtube channel to check out some videos I took last night that capture all the raw emotion much better. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCb7XwIwYIA

A night at the Theatre

TEATRO COLON

Ary and I at the cafe

my delicious torta

Last night was amazing! I've been wanting to visit Teatro Colon since I first arrived in Buenos Aires, even just for a daytime tour. Luckily, Ary and I found last minute tickets online for a piano concert! It was a fabulous excuse to dress up in our lovely heels and wander around Avenida de Julio at night. To me, everything in the city is more beautiful at night. Something about all the lights. We stopped at a cafe across the street before the show (having arrived a good hour and a half early to pick up our tickets) and had café con leche and wonderful tortas as a pre-show treat. Nelson Goerner, as part of the Argentine Bicentenario, played compositions from Mozart, Schumann and Franz Lizst, as well as some of what I believe were his own compositions towards the end. The inside of the teatro was absolutely breathtaking. It's everything I imagine a theatre should be, domed ceiling, gold detailing and red velvety balcony seating. Our seats were about the 5th level up, and more towards the stage, so after intermission Ary and I snuck over to some empty seats more towards the middle. The music was enchanting, like a soft lullaby, lulling us into a peaceful tranquility. I love instrumental music and it was clear that Nelson loves his music. The audience was just as captivated as I was, applauding so enthusiastically Nelson came back out for 3 separate encores. It was a beautiful night in a beautiful city, and a perfect treat on one of my last days here. 

Countdown to my final week in BsAs...

5 days until my family arrives. 7 days til we're in Cusco, Peru and climbing the ruins of Machu Picchu. 12 days until I'm home sweet home in the beautiful, bluegrass state of Kentucky. I've come so far this semester; I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that it's almost over. But truth be told, I'm ready. Buenos Aires is an amazingly breathtaking city and I will carry pieces of it in my heart for the rest of my life, but there's something to be said about life in a southern town. Sitting on the front porch, swinging with the breeze. Sipping on a glass of ice cold sweet tea. Smiling at strangers and always being surrounded by family and best friends. God, how I've missed it. Just 12 short days til I'll be back in the homeland, but until then, I have plenty to keep me busy. I have yet to start repacking all my stuff (plus everything I've accumulated since I've been here), I'm trying to cram a show at Teatro Colon, going to Fuerza Bruta in Luna Park, and celebrating Kirsten's 21st birthday into one week, and to top it all off, it's FINALS WEEK at Belgrano. That means written exams, oral exams and presentations galore. But I just keep telling myself it's only 4 days. And on the other side of this short (yet crowded) week, are the open arms of my family, waiting for me. And that's all this I need. Wish me luck! Besos :)

the beginning of the end!

Play shodaka at Sira club 

The Ateneo

Street dancing (look at the little kid!)

Lauren and Jake at La Meridiano

wok de pollo

Lauren, me and Ary

my new mate :)

Sounds super ominous, right? Well, don't be alarmed, it's just a reference to the fact that I'm now in my LAST MONTH IN ARGENTINA! Isn't that just crazy!? I can't believe I've already been here for 4 months and in literally less than 1 month I will be packing up all my things (already dreading this, I've acquired quite a lot since I've been here), visiting Macchu Pichu (be jealous) and saying "adios y chau" to this beautiful city that has become my second home. That means I have one month to jam in everything I still want to do before I leave, and this weekend I finally got a start on that. Friday was the 2nd Play Shodaka show I've been to, this time right outside the capital federal, in Olivos. Me, Cara, her roomie Hayley, Callie, Bishop and David had a blast dancing to the band, at least until things were cut short by the arrival of about 10 police cars. Apparently the club was serving minors and we all had to leave before the 2nd band went on. Regardless, a good time. Earlier on friday, me, Lauren and Callie finally went to the Ateneo, this old theater-turned-bookstore. It's absolutely breathtaking inside, with the original balcony seating and the stage converted into a cafe. Afterwards, we made a detour back to MUMA's (naturally) for cupcakey deliciousness. Yesterday, Lauren, Jake and I met up to go to a tango show in Constitution (for our tango class) but we ended up wandering around in Constitution - never a good idea. So we kinda nixed the tango show, rode the subte back to Palermo Soho and grabbed dinner at La Meridiano. delishh. Today, me, Callie, Lauren and my new roomie, Ary (who just got here saturday and is here for the whole month of june!) went to la Feria de Mataderos. It was the best feria I've been to the entire time here! There was great live music and street dancing, amazing food everywhere you turned and just really great artisanal crafts. I still can't seem to get it through my mind that I will be leaving this amazing country in less than a month. But until then, I'm going to make the most of every second I have left :)