Seis cosas

Crystal tagged me for a short meme. The theme is to list six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself, but since I am still in Peru-recap mode, I'm highlighting six random things related to my trip. Here goes:

1. Halfway through our Cusco trip, I noticed what looked like a spider bite on the palm of my hand. "I think I got bit by something" I told Heather on the tour bus that day. The woman sitting in front of us, who had spent the week before on a medical mission in the countryside and hadn't talked to us the three days prior even though we had spent our whole tour together, turned around and offered, "I hope it's not scabies." Um, what? "I came down with scabies the last time I did a mission. Does the bump have a black dot in the center?" Um, no. "Then it's probably just a bite." Thanks. I spent that night in a fitful sleep dreaming about spiders, bedbugs, and scabies.

2. The next morning, we woke up to gunfire. It sounded like it was coming from right outside of our hotel; however the walls were pretty thin and a lot of things sounded like they came from right outside our hotel. The first time it happened, Heather and I woke up with a start, said, "What was that?!" and then kind of dismissed it because it stopped as quickly as it started. When it happened again 15 minutes later, we dismissed it again, for the same reason. But when rounds fired a third time, we started getting scared. "What should we do?" she asked. "We could call the front desk," I offered, though I'm pretty sure I said, "You could call the front desk" because it was cold and I really didn't want to get out of bed. "Well," she started, "it's not like anyone is screaming or anything, so I can't imagine we're in any real danger." Practical girl. My thoughts, exactly. We both fell back asleep, grateful it was our last day in Cusco.

3. Heather and I had our own private dance party in the Radisson one night. Rhianna played on my iPod, and we each shared an earbud.

4. The next morning, I was so hungover I made us miss the Historic Lima tour we had already paid for. I rallied that afternoon, though, and we went by ourselves, anyway.

5. I think the hardest part of being away was Life Without Starbucks. (Yes, they had a few, but never in my path at 7 AM when I needed it.) I did manage to get coffee almost every morning, but in some cases it was too weak, in others, it was like drinking ink, and the whole thing just stressed me out so much I eventually just stopped trying.

6. The other hard part was drinking water, not because it was in short supply, but because the public bathrooms were so hit-or-miss. Many did not have toilet paper, and some did not even have toilet seats! I came prepared with tissues and antibac wipes, but I consciously refrained from hydrating because I never knew what to expect. That, combined with the fact that my body physically shuts down when I go away, and it is virtually impossible for me to go to the bathroom anywhere but my own home, made for one uncomfortable trip. Fortunately, I am already feeling much better.

I am supposed to tag six people but instead, why don't you all tell me about your favorite (or worst) vacation. Link back and tell me if you do. More recaps to come.