Wow! What a week! Today has been a restful day for me. I was up rather early for having been up too late, but it was an exceptional morning. Tomas returned last night from his five day hike to Machu Picchu (a different route than Erik and I will take). He doesn’t speak much English, yet we had a very detailed description of his hike. Though German, he had the active hands of an Italian. The soles of his boots split. He was very cold, and one night it snowed. He didn’t sleep, but tried to keep moving. Locke said Tomas had gotten wet and couldn’t dry, but I missed that hand gesture. He wore everything he had in his sleeping bag in the tent and was still cold! Not encouraging words! It was also the last breakfast with Locke & Molly, as they moved out today. As soon as they settled into their new digs, we met up to take a taxi to El Molino, the famoso El Molino that Freddie has been talking up the last few days. Everything is cheap – muy barato! He kept telling us about the little DVD player you can buy for forty soles ($13) that will play all DVDs. (If you didn’t know, movies are heavily regulated, and most players have regional protection, so you cannot play a movie from Peru on a player in England. Movies are ultra cheap here, so it would do no good to buy them cheap and not be able to play them.) The three of us passed on the DVD player and the stalls and stalls of shoes, clothes, jackets, shoes, electronics, shoes, and jewelry. However, we were all taken by the racks of CDs. They are about $1.25 apiece, but are all copies. I guess there are no piracy laws down here. We haggled our prices down and walked away with about two dozen discs! I was thinking about Toddie P and how we’d never get him out of there. And much of the music reminded me of other people. I think I will go back with Erik in December and check out some more, but would you believe they have no Grateful Dead?!?!? The man asked me if they were a new band. A new band!?!? They had Milli Vanilli and New Kids on the Block, but no Garcia? Muy triste! I did see a Fray disc…how proud for Denver. There was more dancing and drumming in the plaza, so I took in what I could. I wrote in my journal – a few pages in English and a few pages in Spanish. Tomas passed by, so we talked and headed home for lunch. I crashed after lunch, but made it back out in the afternoon for some more music and writing. Gloria went out to see old friends from work, while Freddie kept a spot warm on the couch in front of the TV. I recognized Simpsons, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and some other programs. They get American channels, as well as a lot of channels of dumb stuff. Much of the programs are sexualized, and I wonder if Freddie is embarrassed to watch some of the programs with me sitting at the table working on the computer. I kept busy tonight working on my résumé, but there was no internet signal. It was just Freddie and I for dinner, and I was delighted to have a cheese tortilla (omelet) on some bread. He and I talked for an hour and a half. I asked lots of good questions, and I am happy to say I understood so much and could even contribute to the conversation. We talked about the culture of Peru that people spend money when they have it and ask mama for it when they don’t, no matter how old they are or mama is. People don’t generally travel or dream about going anywhere or doing anything big. There is always another fiesta or festividad. I am sure this is a gross generalization, but I can see what he is talking about. Freddie has lots of opinions, and I found out we share a few. He is a very worldy man, too, so the contrast of lifestyles here is very difficult for him. Well, tomorrow I will go to the Sacred Valley with Locke, Molly, and possibly some other students. I have to get up earlier than usual, so I better go to bed. Tomorrow morning two new students move in. They are from Ireland, and I am sure I will have more on them later. Saludes…tori