I arrived in Cusco around 9am this morning and I couldn't be more relieved to finally be here. I started my journey the day before, leaving the Portland Jetport in Maine at 4:15pm. I landed in LaGuardia and after switching terminals to find American I was told the flight from LGA to Miami was cancelled, WHAT??? So I was re-booked on a flight leaving from JFK (in NY) directly to Lima at 11:15pm. I then had to find the shuttle service to JFK (which American conveniently doesn't cover the cost of). The shuttle dropped me at my terminal and I then had to check in. I found my gate and waited, this is where I swear I saw a contestant on Top Chef or another cooking show but I can't remember his name. He wasn't on the same plane as me so I boarded the plane and prepared for the 7 hr journey to Lima. Mind you I left JFK at 11:15pm so I was planning on sleeping for most of the flight, hopefully, but for some reason the flight attendants served us dinner at like 1am and then breakfast around 5am. Fortunately the flight went by quick and I was able to get some hours of shut eye. In Lima I had to go through immigration and customs which wasn't bad at all, then check in for the flight to Cusco. I went through security for the third time and went straight to my gate because it was almost time to board. This flight was amazing, it was only an hour long but I was lucky enough to have a window seat where I could stare at the amazing mountains all I wanted. When we landed and got off the plane I was scared I would fall ill to altitude sickness because I had heard horror stories but I seemed to be doing alright. Of course all the baggage was unloaded and mine was not there so I had to go to the check in area for LANPeru and file a claim. The man said that I should have my baggage tomorrow, which I'm praying for. The leader of my program was supposed to be at the airport but I couldn't find him so I ended up taking a taxi to my hotel.
After this long and stressful night of traveling I was hoping to have some relaxation but when I got to La Casa de Don Ignacio I was told I had around 40mins to get settled in my room before I had to head out for an orientation. My room which I share with a girl named Paula, who is from Peru, has 2 twin beds, a bedside table, a wardrobe and it's private bath. There's a common room with couches, a tv, dinning table, microwave, fridge and sink. This area I share with 2 other girls who have a room next to mine. It's not the Ritz but it's clean and comfy.
Included in my tour are 2 weekends trip, one to the Sacred Valley and the other to Machu Picchu. The other people in my tour and those living in the house are super friendly and we all want to do more weekend trips maybe to the jungle and/or Puno and Lake Titicaca. I'm excited and nervous but I start classes tomorrow so we'll see how it goes:)
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