i'll take a splash of COLA with my BEER, thanks.

kelsi = burrrrrrnt.
you can't even really tell from this pic, but it's gnar gnar. i gotta remember that the sun here is 11,600 miles closer than i'm used to. dumb former-lifeguard! dumb dumb dumb!!!

went on an excruciatingly long hike yesterday! to celebrate centro tinku's 6th bday. the whole crew went and it was super fun until we approached hour FOUR and there were STILL menacing mountains in every direction. gulp.

it was actually quite the hiking weekend for me! did saksaywaman on saturday and a lot of trotting in chinchero on sunday. but let me tell ya, i felt FAR from sexy while doing sexy. i became sweaty mc sweat-a-ton. that climb is steep!!! but the view so purty once you get to the top. and then jesus (or rather, a jesus statue given as a gift to cusco from some palestinian chistians) opens his arms to you and says, "that'a'girl. you done well." or maybe it was the sunstroke getting to me.....

checked out sunday mass at the catedral in plaza de armes sunday morning. usually it costs something ridic like 25 soles to enter, but not if you're a pious church-goer! or someone who loves to sing hymns like meeeee!!! it was GORGEOUS. granted, i never made it to spain during my eruo-traveling... but wowsers! this put swedish, french, italian, and even german churches to shame! unfortunately, i felt too guilty to take photos (omg... am i catching catholic guilt?!?!) so i'll just have to write about the 12 alters of sparkling gold, the intricately carved podiums, and the ornate stonework. and my favorite part?? during the lord's prayer, you know the line "and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us"???? i LOVE how everyone hitting the Ss at different times causes the sound to bounce off all the walls and creates this blanket of voice, that wraps you up and leaves no holes to slip through. it's always been so comforting to me. and it TRANSLATED! in spanish the S effect still happened! and because the ceilings in the catedral are insanely tall and stone, it was even MORE intense. honestly made my day.

then i scurried off to chinchero to check out my competition... a diff museum/ demonstration/ store. then somehow... got talked into visiting the campo. a.k.a. countryside boonies! after a little journey, we came upon this adobe house, surrounded by cows, sheep, donkeys, chickens, dogs, and cats. i spent the afternoon plopped on a dirt floor (in my creme-colored church dress), inhaling smoke from the adobe fire pit, munching on maize and taters and cheese straight from the front yard, (i magically didn't hurl), learning how to weave (okay, a bracelet), while guinea pigs and baby roosters ran around me! heeeellooooo rural livin'!!! so great to get the authentic experience. =)

jeff and simone can't stop raving about their machu trek, so i gave a wad of cash today and DR and i are set to go! ELEVEN DAYS! why can't it be tomoooooorrow?!?!?! although with my hiking performance over the last few days, i'm thinking another week or so of training can only do me good. ;P

oh yeah... and 1/2 beer 1/2 coca cola? not too shabby....