Same Difference (by Lawrence, with help from Isabel and Sophia)

Well I can't write in html yet, so here is a gang caption for all the photos you see in order from top to bottom:

The morning view from our dining area

Sophia investigating the veracity of the Coreolis effect in the Plaza de Armas

Ditto

Krista at work in the dining room

Flag of Cusco




Cuties at tea time



Panther lamp post and church



































Musicians

Sunday morning cartoons


Tea time.

Rainbow as seen from the girls' bedroom

Cusco ridgeline at sunset

The view from the long way home




















































































































I am going to take a break from waxing philosophic today. There are some basic differences in everyday life in Peru that I thought you all might find interesting. In no specific order, and accompanied by a few photos I took today, here are some aspects of life that are new to us.

1. There are lots of dogs on the streets, and some of them are vicious. The vicious ones usually respond favorably to rocks thrown at their head, however I have seen one dog catch the projectile, shake it violently until it was "dead," and then proceed with the attack.
2. It is impossible to walk through the city without being solicited to buy something, get your shoes shined, or eat at a restaurant.
3. There are llamas and alpacas roaming the streets led by campesinas in traditional dress.
4. Toilet paper does not go in the toilet! It goes in a trash can (ewwwww!) next to the toilet so the pipes don't get clogged.
5. It is cold here, but there is no central heat in any building.
   
6. Public transportation and taxis are everywhere. It costs between $1 and $2 to go almost anywhere in the city in a cab.
7. Houses here are not visible from the street. They are built behind the walls that are on the street and usually have their own courtyard inside. Our "yard" is a ten-foot square concrete pad. No lawns to mow!
8. Houses are made out of either adobe, concrete, or both.
   
9. All kids wear uniforms to school.
10. There is one large supermarket, but it's not the place to buy vegetables. The vegetables are much better at the outdoor market, and they're cheaper too!
11. The streets here are very narrow! They were built for horses, not cars.
12. There is no running water after 9pm. Luckily our house has a holding tank on the roof that covers the water blackout until 6am when the municipal supply comes back on.
13. You need to turn on the water heater a few hours before showering, and turn it off once you are done. No one leaves the water heater on all the time.
14. You can get a really good, three course meal at a restaurant for 15 soles, or $5.
15. 10 to 15 loud bottle rockets (think m-80s) are launched into the sky above the city every morning starting around 7am. Nobody seems to know why this happens...
16. Our part of the city is considered the "arts district," and has a disproportionate number of pierced, dreadlocked, inked, glassy-eyed street dwellers hawking free-form jewelry and alabaster pot pipes.
17. Furniture is cheap. We bought a big dining room table for 100 soles (around $30), and four matching chairs for 140 soles ($45).
18. Laundry service is AWESOME! We bring a bag of our clothing in to the laundry lady, and she washes/dries/folds it for $1 a kilo! That's about $6 a week. We will all miss this service once we get back...
    
19. Pressure cookers are a good idea at 11,500 feet.
20. The water from the tap is not potable. We have a 20 liter bottle in the kitchen that lasts around four days.
21. We wash all our produce in bleach water before eating it.

That's it for today! We had a lovely Sunday of doing pretty much nothing. Thank goodness. Tomorrow is the start of another busy week.