In Llama Land there's a One-Man Band

PERU.

Machu Picchu, 7,970 ft. above sea level. Officially "rarified."

The above picture is likely what will come to your mind first when you think about this seemingly laid-back country. We never hear much about Peru in the global stage---between China's race to enslave us all in Nike factories, the United States slowly drowning in debt and trans fat and the hot mess that is Iran/Iraq/Egypt/Libya/Saudi Arabia/etcetera, there is no room for little 'ol Peru. They just don't make much noise in the international ring.

Here's another brief image list that will likely sum up everything you know about Peru:

The llama. A Peruvian native.

The chullo hat. Made of alpaca or llama wool, hijacked in recent years
by trendy mall stores marketed toward hipsters who want to be
"irreverent" and people who wish they could snowboard.

No, this is not a photograph of a "real Inca."
They didn't have cameras back then, stupid.
This is a modern man in traditional Inca dress.

I'm on my way to dispel this national image, however.

In naught but fifty-six very short hours, I will be landing in the capital city of Peru---Lima.

Protip: The city of LIMA is not pronounced anything like
"lima bean." Though lima beans are, in fact, indigenous to
the region, you pronounce the city like "Leeeeemah" and
the bean like "Lye-mah."

So where the hell is Lima, anyway? Well that's a good question. Before I started planning this trip, I barely knew, myself. And even now, I get this odd feeling that my expectations of where Lima is, who its people are and what drives them to move forward is completely off---influenced by years of Hollywood misconception about South America and, specifically, Peru.

Geographically speaking, Peru as a whole is, of course, in South America. It is neatly situated in the Southern Hemisphere (so, if you're reading this in the oppressive June heat of Tennessee much the same as when I'm writing it, know that it is currently winter in Peru. Don't bother imagining a snow covered city, however. Lima ranges in the 65-75 degrees, Fahrenheit, region through its tropical-paradise-like winters.) If a map would aid you in your perceptions of where Peru is, I'm here to help:

Peru is the green-coloured blob on the middle
left, bordered by the South Pacific Ocean.

Who am I, anyway, and why am I going to Peru at all? Another excellent question, dear reader. For anyone outside of my monkeysphere (reference for those of you who just went "Huh?": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number), you might like to know that my name is Brittany. I'm 21 years close to death and currently wrapping up my sophomore year in college with Pellissippi State in scenic Knoxville, Tennessee. I'm a history major, a language nerd, a six-day-a-week runner, an avid designer purse enthusiast and pitiful human servant to three cats.

This is me:

Part Mexican, part superhero.

I'm on my way to Peru for a 28-day study abroad programme through an unholy alliance of scholarly travelers known as TnCIS (that's the Tennessee Consortium for International Studies), which will lead me and a group of other unwitting souls into the depths of South America to take a class in Prehistoric Archaeology (or, for the Spanish students, Advanced Spanish).

The trip is going to cover three cities in Peru---Lima, Cusco and Trujillo---as well as take us to some of the finest museums and archaeological sites (yes, that includes Machu Picchu) that the country has to offer.

My intention with this blog is to chronicle  every day of my epic journey into the land of the Inca so that I can not only share it with you, the reader, but also so that I can remember the details more clearly in the future. Posterity, basically. You see, I have a terrible memory. I always have. I need digital logs such as this of my life so that I can remember the things I've done! Plus, I figured this would be a wicked sweet way to show my monkeysphere what I've been doing on my trip. 

But the trip has not yet begun! I have 56 hours left, and I intend to spend some time with my super awesome boyfriend tonight before I abandon him like the internationally-traveling rat I am for four weeks, and tomorrow I will finish up the packing that I started three days ago.

My sad little pile of bags:
One (1) London Fog fifty pound (50lb) checked bag.
One (1) black carry-on bag of uncertain origin.
One (1) Proenza Schouler PS1 purse, tan suede, carry-on
and one (1) laundry bag, not traveling with me.

So until my next entry---au revoir!