Destination: ____________?
 Enferma y cansada en Cusco Woke up at 9AM. Why? Only 6.5 hours of sleep. Ugh. I also felt a wee hungover since this was the first time I had pisco since being back in Peru. Denise and Johannes who had the room next to mine were up. Did I wake them up or did they wake me up? We had breakfast together. Check out was at 10. Denise and Johannes were not sure if they were going to stay another night or not. I was informed that I had to change room since someone had booked my private room. It ended up that I was booting Denise and Johannes out of their room. Last night, Denise lost her hat at the Loki. We went back to look for it with no success. Cusco has many different small pathways that weave through the city. We took another route back to the Plaza de Armas to meet up with Muriel, Tamara and Johannes. Along the pathway, I smelled a bit of San Francisco. Two Brasialian chicks were sparking up a joint. They offered me a toke but I declined. Back at the Plaza de Armas we found Muriel. She had made a Peruvian friend yesterday at the festival. When Johannes met us, he did not have his usual carefree demeanor. He had gone to confirm his LAN flight home to Germany to discover they had cancelled his ticket. Since he had not shown up for 2 legs. They cancelled his last but most important flight. He was going to have to go and straighten this whole mess out. Tamara and the other German chick were trying to sort out some stuff for their Machu Picchu trek. Apparently, they had to print off all sorts of documentation in order to get a student discount. We waited for about 30 minutes. I got a bit annoyed. They were not the only ones with shit to do. I was not pleased to be waiting when I could be getting some stuff accomplished as well. The plan was to meet up, wander the city and get lunch. I was worried about the lunch drama. It is so much easier for me to find cheap good Peruvian food myself without having to worry about pleasing everyone. I was sick and tired of waiting all the time and trying to make sure everyone was freaking happy. Finally, I bluntly asked Muriel, “What’s up? I am tired of waiting.” It was time to herd the cats or I was going to go off to do my own thing. Muriel went to check on Tamara. Denise went to check on Johannes to make sure he did not want to join us for lunch. While the girls were gone, I asked the guy if he knew of a good cheap place with Peruvian food that could cater to vegetarians and vegans. He said yes. I clarified he knew the vegan constraints. “Si!” Cool. I made the executive decision we would let our Peruvian friend pick the restaurant. If people didn’t like it, fuck it, they could go somewhere else. The place the guy picked was dirt cheap, only S.3.50. The menu was sopa de zapillo y quinoa and esalada con pollo (with the option of sin pollo). Denise clarified the broth. Yes, the broth was made from pollo. No sopa for her but she did get el segundo. Muriel, Tamara and I shrugged our shoulders no meat in the soup, fine we could deal. During lunch, I do not know how it started it may have been due to the broth but Denise got all judgmental on us. This started a heated debate in regard to lifestyle choices. I have respect vegans because I appreciate the discipline required to stick to their values. However, it is when they start speaking to me as though I am a complete asshole for wanting to exploit chickens for my eggs, goats for my cheese, how poor Nemo had to be murdered to end up on my plate or how I am overworking those poor bees for my honey is where I draw the line. Yes, I have strong reasons for my diet. Ask me and I will gladly share but be willing to listen to my 20 minute explanation (see 5/29). My diet is for me and I do not judge others (aloud) or chastise them for their choices as long as I receive the same courtesy in return. If you want to debate, fine bring it on but no mudslinging or name-calling. Denise was using the words “right and wrong”. Ugh, shoot me. I hate when people try to make an issue “black and white”. People there is grey and a whole spectrum of color in my world. Apparently Muriel felt the same way. We both got a little fiery, stood our ground and logically debated the issues. In the end, there is no way humans can roam the planet without posing some sort of negative impact on other living beings or the environment. What we can do is be informed and monitor our actions to minimize the negative externalities to the best of our abilities. Balance. After lunch, we went our separate ways to take care of business. To keep dinner simple, I suggested we all just meet at Pirwa and cook in the kitchen. I joined Denise on the trip to the market. Whew. I realized I was wiped out. The busy market was overwhelming me. We started to pass through the meat section. A pig head stared at me. There were piles of carcasses and innards. I felt dizzy and nauseous. ABORT MISSION. Based on our previous discussion of the previous 1/2 hour, I was surprised Denise was calmly walking through and I had such a visceral reaction. I felt sick and told Denise I had to leave right then. If not, I would not make it back. Focus, one step in front of the other. Breathe. My body’s homeostasis was out of whack. There were many factors in play. My mind ran through the possible culprits. Alcohol last night. Energy expended at high altitudes on a 5 day trek. Lack of sleep. Damn, Justin had been getting sick. Whatever it was, I knew I just needed to stop, sleep and let my immune system go to work. It was dark when I woke up. My whole day had been shot. Oops, I did not pick up supplies for dinner. I left a note for the girls that I was off to get provisions for me: just water and juice. On the way down the street, Muriel and Tamara were walking my way. They immediately looked worried. Did I really look like shit? Muriel wrapped her wrap around me. Tamara tried to get me to buy other things in addition to my liquids. They both escorted me back and stayed with me for a bit to make sure I was ok before leaving. As I was about to turn off my light, Denise knocked on my door. She also looked worried and ran to boil water. She returned to give me her hot water bottle to keep me warm. As I faded into sleep, I felt bad about being a bit annoyed with my friends today but realized I was only cranky due to feeling sick and tired. I was thankful for their kindness and concern. Again, I wondered how I was so lucky to be surrounded by good friends.
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