departure - near, desitnation - far

I am leaving for Peru in two days, and I wanted to say to everyone how greatful I am for all of your help as well as moral support! I would not have been able to go at all if I did not recieve help from friends and family, so thank you! I hope to blog a few times every week about what all is going down with the project, happenings in Peru and at my homestay, as well as as Spanish blurbs and mess-ups; there will be plenty, I am sure! So far, I have pretty much finished packing, and I have learned two things from this: one is that you NEVER have enought space in your luggage for everything, and two is that the whole packing process really can take upwards of a week! Anyways, tomorrow I start on a medication that will help my body aclimatize to the high altituted of Cuzo, Peru. It helps the kidneys produce more bicarbonate (a part of Carbon dioxide) and this makes your blood more acitic, and this stimulates more ventilation - which is what I need in a place that's so high that the air is so thin that it can make your body freak out on you! I'm not so hot on the freak outs, so that's why I am so happy to have a medication available to me that will help my body cope! There is also a local remedy that also works very well - coca tea (and no, it's not Peruvian hot chocolate, as I originally thought!). So, I am gonna take good advantage of that as well. In fact, I am gonna make a point of learing how to ask for it before I leave, because I don't want soroche to bog me down! I think it's roughly darme tea de coca, por favor, me soroche is malo!