We were up late Friday for our final OTR. I was still not feeling very well and was eager to sleep. There were lots of emotions running high with our trip coming to an end, saying good bye to half of our group and getting ready for the next piece of our adventure. I woke up at 2:30 am to get situated and pack my stuff up. We were to be downstairs on the bus at 3:30am. It was the first time I went sans-makeup on the trip. I felt exposed, but honestly I hadn't ...

After lunch, we boarded the van for the tour of Cuzco. We were all exhausted, adjusting to the elevation difference, and a bit delirious. We started off at a beautiful cathedral. It was tough going up the entrance stairs, and there were many tourists waiting in line to purchase tickets. Patricia gave us our pre-purchased tickets and we passed the line. The church was filled with shrines lining all of the walls. One of the shrines was to a black Saint - he was t...

Friday night was capped by a cultural dinner/dance show. It featured a buffet and several different cultural dances from different regions in Peru. They often pulled up audience members to try the dances. Donato got pulled up once and did a wonderful job. He already knew the dance! Tim got pulled up twice and also loved it. You can so tell he's a theatre guy. Anglea got pulled up and was so shy and reserved but she got into it after a little bit. It was fun to ...

Friday was jam packed. We drove almost an hour to reach "La Tarumba" - a circus of sorts founded by "Pa Amador" who is a famous Afro-Peruvian musician and who comes from a long line of musicians in Peru. It's gated, and we were met outside by a little lady who greeted us warmly and led us inside. She gave us a tour - it's a large converted house. They have space for tumbling, acrobatics, music, and other things you would see in something like cirque du soliel. ...

After Chinatown we went on a guided tour of the city. It was a double-decker bus just for us. It was brightly painted as well. We got lots of looks from people because we were in a huge bright bus, with an English speaking tour guide, all of us were sitting on the top level, and we were a large group of people color. Our tour guide was endearing. He tried so so hard and still got some of the colloquial translations incorrect. We saw many of the things Donato s...