Oh I'm back in Cusco again

Well, I  have officially finished my overland tour around South America and have left all my wee pals and am now back in Cuzco on my tod.  Had a fun last few days with the overland group and will miss the craic and have planned to meet up with some of the Aussies in a few months time. Spent most of the last week camping. Sandboarded in the desert which was both fun and life endangering - flying down massive sanddunes on what can be described as a wooden board - lots of bruises to go with it.  We spent that night camping under the stars (no tents etc). I spent most of the night swearing at my 'junior' sleeping bag as you know from me whinging about it before, that it covers only up until my chest.  The desert was freezing cold and I (in my freezing state) gravitated towards anything that could keep me warm..slept under the trucks, put bags/mats together that were used for the food and then finally slept in a sand dune buggy - didn't do anything for me..near froze to death and got bitten by a spider on my arm (yeah, the one that was not covered due to my short sleeping bag), so I was glad to get away early in the morning.  Still finding sand in the most random of places also.

So now here I am back in Cusco after 22 long hours on a bus.  I spent at least 18 of the 22 hours sleeping.  Now I know how children zonk out when they're sitting in the back of a car. The bus was amazing - like business class seats in a plane. They even called the drivers 'pilots'! So it was nice to feel like a celebrity and live in comfort for a wee while, instead of living like a tramp for the last 7 weeks.  The toilets on these buses were only for urinating in and I nearly had heart failure when I heard that, as before I left Lima at least 5 of us had really dodgy stomachs with a dose of the aul runs going on too. But thank God for Immodium - it saved the day.

Arrived in Cuzco and got a taxi to my place of residence. Basically I'm staying with a host family. Well, I suppose you could say I'm in the poor area of Cusco - the places where the tourists don't usually go to or see, which is about 20 minutes walk from the main plaza (where all the tourists stay & is beautiful). So it's good to see the other side of Cusco as I'll be volunteering in these kinds of areas next week.

My host family is made up of a married couple, the wife being in her 40's and the husband I've yet to meet.  My room is a bed with space to swing a small cat and very basic.  Had a shower with a hose coming out of the wall and the toilet tends to block up.  It's a bit weird just living with these random people but like everything else I'll get used to it. Didn't stay too long to chat as I wanted to get out quickly and find my way into Cusco. There's a German guy staying with my host family also, but he wasn't there when I arrived, so at least that'll be slightly easier to talk my non Spanish to. Got my own key (I feel like I'm 16 again!) and can come and go as I please. 

I start my Spanish language course tomorrow morning and move out of my host family at the weekend into University accommodation, which I think I'll prefer.  I'm guessing that the next few weeks will be a lot quieter than what I've been used to (ie. constant partying/going on tours/trips etc)as I'll have a routine now, but I don't think my liver, body and bank balance will mind that in the slightest.