The city of cusco is alive tonight

It's possible the city has been alive every night I've been here but I wouldn't know because I was in bed.  But for sure today lots of metal poles went up and there are lights everywhere and people are waiting in line for bread. Like lots of people. Is this how winter solstice  is celebrated?

Last night my cold(I think?), came back full force. Tried to put myself to bed around 8pm. I don't think I fully fell asleep til past midnight. My head wss in so much pain and i could barely breathe and only had 2 ibeprofen left. Was not gonna waste them (apparently pharmacies carry this drug and I was able to buy some more)So I let myself sleep in.

I've never quite traveled to a place to then wait. It is a weird feeling. I don't have anything to do and the only real conversation I have had has been in Spanish to the taxi driver. Otherwise all my conversations have been purely practical and functional. And on top of it I'm sick in more ways than one (acid, elevation and a lingering cold), so for instance the coca tea I'm supposed to drink for the altitude is aggravating by esophagus and the tomatoes and chocolate that offer me so much comfort I cannot have either.

So I sit. And I lay. And I read. And I eat. And I say oy alot. Hopefully three days of inaction will get me ready for one of the two purposes of the trip; machu piccu tomorrow and then the jungle a few days after that. I'm worried I wil let my fellow companions down. I don't know how active they want to be in the jungle but I don't know how much I physically can do in my state.  To compromise a bit and perhaps push myself out of this physical funk I'm finally resorting to medicine. My cough I can handle and I can always breathe out of my mouth but the acute pain in my head allows nothing to be pleasant. And I'm not here to see cusco I'm here to have fun and see two things. Luckily my long history of traveling has taught me a few things. Particularly as a history teacher, if I haven't heard of it before (like this thing that's really long and starts with an s) or I've been to 473839 like it (cathedral) I'm not gonna stress myself over trying to see the top 20 of any city. So other then the maim square and the inside of many stores and restaurants I have seen little of cusco. And that's ok.

Hopefully that sacrifice will bode well to a wonderful day at machu piccu.