Greetings from Ollantaytambo!!!

Thanks for all the sweet words, it was nice to read this morning. I journeyed from Lima yesterday... and it was a bit tough. My Spanish is decent, but in conversation, lacks a bit. I made it, but I had a few "heartattack" moments shall we say? LOL No worries, nothing of the safety sort, just craziness that always seems to happen in my life! hahaha

Well, Lima was simply amazing - the buildings are all so beautiful, the craftmanship and the Spanish style homes and buildings. It was great seeing the city and my friend, Orlando was such a gracious host. I seen so much of the city in one day, my head was spinning. Looks like I won´t be able to upload until maybe tomorrow, or Friday pics however, as internet has been pretty sporadic. Though amazingly I do have cell service here, but it costs me like $2.50 a min!!! So those calls have been reserved for my mom and dad.... Sorry Rhe! ;) I am in a lil internet cafe right now to check mail and obviously jot down some stuff before going to explore some ruins just out of the city.

I am in a town called Ollantaytambo, and it is considered a living city. The town still has all of it´s old world charm, small cobblestone streets and small building... all overshadowed by the beauty of the Andes. As I came in on the bus yesterday- which btw- my taxi driver put me on a locals only bus and part of my heartattack moment yesterday!! - to see countryside and then the mountains come into full view with their snow caps was not only breathtaking, it was moving. Seriously, it brought me to tears thinking of my grandfather and how he would have loved to known that I made it to my destination. I cannot explain how humbling it is to be before these grand features of this country... it truly makes you appreciate life and our Creator.

I have a new found appreciation for the difference b-w my culture and the Latin culture when it comes to personal space!!! I rode on the bus yesterday w- small children and farmers and women in traditional Peruvian dress and w- most of them right on top of me. lol Literally the bus packs in so tight, you feel and smell hehe everyone... the music blasts, the windows are open and the crowd on the bus ebbs and flows together and the crazy driver curves around corners so quickly you think you might just topple the rest of the way over. The children were the most fun to watch... as the bus would approach a stop in the country, the school children would come flying toward the bus laughing and smiling. I think some of my fondest memories of this beautiful country have come from observing people and especially the children... they are so happy and have this wide eye wonder look to them. Its beautiful.

So once I finally figured out that my last stop would not be in Ollantaytambo, but in Urambamba... the heartattack came a bit. I thought to myself, what I have gotten myself into!?? lol Then in all the confusion of realizing I was on a bus w- all locals and hardly anyone spoke Spanish... there is another lang. spoken here, primarily of rural areas... I couldn´t find my change purse w- my money!!! I almost started to cry, and as the bus unloaded I was the last one saying, no, no, no, no, no, no...!! The driver looked to his friend, ¿Ella loca?? I just kept saying necessito un momento, un momento! ahahahhaha I did find my money, I stashed it in another pocket of my back'pack, but waooooooooo! ahahha So I made a mental note to always put it in the same spot going forward!! ahahhah I found a combi (shared taxi) and myself and a young guy from Spain shared it on the way up to Olly.

I checked into my hostal and to my surprise the owner gave me an amazing room that sits up top of the B n B... the views, are amazing and I have a panoramic window. Needless to say, I star gazed while drifting off to sleep. :) The food is so incredibly good here and so friggin cheap, it´s nuts. I met a few people last night, two girls from Greece who had just come up from the Amazon by way of Ecuador and two guys, one from the US and the other from Toronto, they are doing the Inca Trail. We went to a small spot in town and hung out, sharing our journeys and digging the lil spot the two cousins had found before stopping into my hostal for dinner. So much fun- they had a wooden firemans pole that we all kept going down! ahhaha One of the girls tried to go upside down... lol... yah, we´re def having fun!! You´ll see all the pics soon.... it´s hard to describe, but it was like landing in someone´s really cool attic w- tons of stuff to look at and mess w-!! hahaha

Anyway, this is practically a book... is anyone still there??? ahahahahha love you guys and I´ll catch up w- you again soon! I leave tomorrow by train to Aguas Calientes.. a town at the base of Machu Picchu and known for their hot springs! :) Cannot wait to soak my body!! :) Then I´ll take another bus to Machu Picchu at 5:30 am to see the sunrise. Think of me when you wake... I´ll be sending good vibes your way. :) Till next time!

BESOS!
Shalen

CMH-MIA-LIM.... Barranco is where I be! ;)

Greetings everyone!!!! :))

I'll just start w/ saying if the beginning of this trip is any indication to the rest of my journey, it's going to be one heck of a ride!!! LOL I almost missed my flight from Columbus to Miami... thank GOD for those lil guys in luggage carts!!! I SO owe him... we were flying through the terminal and yes, obviously I made it! hahaha Nothing like an adrenaline rush in the morning... I think I thrive on stress?! ugh. Then in Miami, we had to sit on the runway for 3 hours.... and after massive texting love ones and friends.. my phone died. :( So no conversation w/ my closest, but I was so blessed to have Senora Vega next to me... the chattiest, most lovely creature I have ever met and while no kin to my dear friend Percy, I had to laugh how it feels God has touched this trip in so many ways... but more on that later. :) Then on to my immigration experience where a man from Columbia straight heckled the officer 'checking' us all in for 20 minutes b/c he was SO slow. Seriously, it did take forever, but the man was met w/ giggles, dirty looks and then a woman shouting at him, 'seeeeeeenor!!! por favor! silcencio!' ahhahaha The immigration officer just smirked at the guy and all went quiet again, but not before he had caused quite the clamor amongst my fellow weary travelers. ahahaha

For now, I am jotting whatever I can as quickly as possible as I need to gather my things from my current 'dormitory' style room and go to my personal bedroom in the B n B I am at. Yes, I arrived last night at 2am- Lima time (which btw is only 1hr difference from the States)- only to discover that my bed had been given away as my plane was very late indeed! ahahahha :( What can you do?? I am just rolling w/ it at this point on all fronts... slowly but surely, I have made it where I need to go and all I can say, life is just different here, as one prolly would imagine anyway, eh? :) First and foremost- LOVE LOVE LOVE the submersion experience of stepping into another world and it being so different from everything you know... not just a language, which is fun in of itself... as it really tests the brain and my Spanish (esp since my friend doesn't speak a whole lot of English- so we both work our broken verbal skills equally!! ahhaha) but the people, the culture. So warm, open, inviting and FUN! Strangers smile more than anywhere I've ever known... then again, maybe it's the fact that I am a gringa?? LOL Es possible. ;) Bars and restaraunts stay open waaaaaaaaaaaaaay late- 6am to be exact! I was in a bar at 4:30 am kids and walking down the road w/ a beer in hand to-boot! lol No worries... as this leg of my journey I am with my friend Orlando, so I am safe, and it will be my only moment of partying this week, but it WAS fun!

Lima, and more specifically where I was last night, Barranco is like NYC. Very busy, very loud, very crazy and people evvvvvvvvvvvvvvverywhere!!!! Streets flood w/ people- guys and girls curled up in an embrace; guys shouting at one another; girls pointing out this guy and that guy (and ladies!!! omg. they have every reason to--- ps. I may not come back!! ahahaha) ... and laughter fills the road- well that and about 20 cars packed into a "road" that looks like an alley!! lol BTW- there are NO ROAD RULES here, sure they prolly have 'laws' just like us, but they certainly are not very strict about how they are regulated. Ever seen that video from India where all the cars go and go and go and go and they look as if they will smash into each other by inches????? YUP> that's here too! aahahhaha They do have traffic signals, but when they are flashing- you don't stop- you GOOOOO! Cars switch lanes, mid lane and w/ no signal, just the constant sounding of their horns... beep, beep, beep..... switch!!! LOL Literally, cars drive so close to one another in the centro that you could reach out your window and tap the next car! seriously. lol Crazy how all I could was laugh when I probably should have been gasping for my life! It's just that crazy. :))

Anyway, just some moments I have experienced thus far in the beginning of my journey... I am off to explore Barranco- which is a Bohemian district in Lima- very old, very cool!!! Pics to come. and then Lima, where my friend guarantees me the view of Lima that is amazing! Cannot wait! :)

Awakening...

The sun shines upon me... feeling lifted, twisted;
Hair tousled, spirit soaring, quite giddy;
Floating off into a world of imagination....
Fueling the drive to progress forward,
Keeping one sane in the mid-point of contemplation;
Offering light and opening doors, if for only brief moments of bliss;
It allows opportunities unseen to be...
Setting the mind free.
The feeling of what it all would be like
If it came together as it could...
As it should, solely within the realm of imagination;
Anything is possible within the dream scape,
Anything dreamth can be...
When you're awakening!

To Live or Exist...

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

~Jack London

In the Journey...

In the midst of life being turned upside down
I know it makes you want to run
I know it makes you want to hide
When the darkness comes to settle in the night

But baby, hear me when I say-
ONLY the strongest survive
It's not so much what happens
But what you do with it in the mend...

Will this be your beginning or your end?

In the restoration of the perforation in your soul,
Don't let the ebb and flow of life take its toll...
You have to dig in deep, to see your Divinity
What gifts have been bestowed from Grace,
It is what flows in, when it all flows out.

Nothing in this life remains constant- even pain- don't doubt.

Life is no fantasy of being,
It is only of doing
What needs to be done to win
To LIVE the life you're given and
Struggle to get where you're going throughout.

The journey will not always be smooth,
Your eyes will not always remain dry,
But in the process you will ultimately find
Time heals and always prevails.

For in life, as you know, there are wins and losses
Yet it's not so much about how far you are at any one given point,
But how far you've come to get to where you are going.

Don't stop now, don't give up hope...
It's later than you think and you're farther than you could imagine.