¡Hola!
We had a smooth night of travelling and arrived at our home stay in Cusco around noon on Sunday. It is a beautiful home with an energetic dog named, Kus, meaning kiss in Dutch. We were greeted with coca tea to help with the elevation (Cusco is at 11,200 ft of elevation!) and a delicious lunch made by our home stay mom, Rosana.
After meeting with Celeste, the co-founder and director of Manos Unidas, to discuss our itinerary, we visited the downtown area known as, Plaza de Armas. Plaza de Armas was built in the 1500s during the Spanish conquest and still has the original buildings from that time. On Sundays, they close down the streets to allow for vendors to sell artisan goods. We also walked through local cafes, “ferías” or flea markets, and sampled our way through the chocolate museum.
Tomorrow we will be at Manos Unidas and could not be more excited to see the school and meet the children!
~ Sam, Mica, Maddie & Nicole