blanca

i woke up at 6am in the mountain town of ollantaytambo to the sound of latin music and pots and pans crashing together. the hostel was conveniently also a restaurant, that apparently opens early. i looked over at erin and she is the most dead sleeper i know. so i lay in bed, in and out of sleep for a few more hours until about 9.
the plan for the day was to hike around. hang out till our train ride to aguas calientes at one. we stop in at a little fair trade coffee shop. mmm. the menu says in english you can get your coffee with whip cream - so thats what i tried to order. erin also told him in spanish. he just gave us weird looks and said ok. the whip cream was more like a crisco (this was not my only ordering mistake, i had accidentally ordered lama intestines the day before).
the hike was b e a utiful. lots of inca ruins. hidden caves (which we were afraid to go in, and when we did we found someones dreadlocks...weird). from the mountain i spotted a white lama playing soccer with two little kids in their backyard. "i have to pet that lama," i told erin. she pointed out the 13 foot stone wall with cacti all around it. its fine.

i use my climbing skills to get to the top of the wall, peaking my head through the cactus. "hola!" the kids are so confused. but thankfully their mom was near by. "hola!" i keep saying. because thats really all the spanish i know. she tells me, in english to be careful of the cactus. its fine. im just glad she knows english. "can i come kiss your lama??!!" please. i ask excitedly. she says yes! and to come around to the blue door. perfect. we come in to the fun little back year. meet marta and her husband and his friends who are drinking some beers. we play soccer with the kids. and finally kiss the lama. her name was blanca and it was love at first sight. she was sooo soft and would rub up against me. giving me kisses. i told erin to take and picture of me kissing blanca, when i try to move blanca towards me, bam. blanca spits in my face. in my mouth really. i thought we were really getting along. marta and friends laughed at me. its fine.
i still really want a pet lama.