Brittney's Loving Account

As one of the most devoted readers of Kate's blog, and as a person with a 12-hour layover at the airport in Lima, I have taken it upon myself to contribute a post. I promise every sentence is the truth--- there is not an ounce of exaggeration.

If you visit Kate in Peru, she won't let you sleep. No. She'll throw you on a 10-hour overnight bus ride along winding roads and call that bed time. Or she'll pull you out of bed at 3:30 in the morning and force you to hike a mountain--- slippery steps, wet and cold and dark in the rain. Or she'll take you out dancing all night, pump you up with tequila, and then pull back the covers so early that the morning sunlight burns your hungover eyes.

If you visit Kate in Peru, she'll make you try new food that gives you the runs, and then she'll give you a pill that won't let you have a BM no matter how much you want one. And then she'll keep feeding you. Avocados right off the tree, fresh fruit juice in the market, chicharron in Cuzco. Even this semi-vegetarian caved at the smell of hot chicharron.

If you visit Kate in Peru, you will see how brave she is. Running into the cold Pacific Ocean, eating cerviche and shrimp (in their entirety--- legs and head and all!), dangling off mountains, and bargaining with taxi drivers and street vendors in flawless Spanish. She will show you her city and you will fall in love with the beautiful parts. And when you encounter the not-so-beautiful parts, like long train delays during a cold night without any explanation or late night van rides so crowded and winding that you think you might puke, you will laugh and laugh and laugh. She will make you sit on top of the largest bull in Peru, and then she will feed llamas and alpacas with you.

In Peru, Kate is able to serve as a bridge between English-speaking me and all of her charming Spanish-speaking friends. It's incredible. Charlemagne said, "To have a second language is to possess a second soul." I see that in Kate. And when she steps back and lets me try Spanish and Luis try to speak English--- OMG I don't think I've ever laughed so hard,

Alright, alright. If this post seems more like an ode to Kate than a narration of my time in Peru, that's because it is. I figure Kate will fill you in on all the incredible details of our 10-day adventure, but she's too humble to talk about how incredible she is herself. A lovely host, an inspiring adventurer---- if you want to see a foreign country, please do it with this girl.

Love and besos,

Brittney

p.s. Machu Picchu is rainy! And cold! And SPECTACULAR.


***Let me just add that Brittney Smith is a wonderful travel companion and DID NOT complain! She sure is a trooper as she was thrown into the Krumrei Family's idea of "vaccation!"