Puno, Peru and Lake Titicaca

Hey guys!
So we finally made it west to Peru and have been here for about six days now. I´m currently living in a homestay in downtown Puno with two other girls from my team. Our mom runs a hostel while our dad works at a nearby hotel (He even speaks a little bit of english! But we don´t see him much; he works all the time.), and we also have a little sister who is 10 and has very little interest in the 3 older gringo girls who live upstairs... We eat rediculously often here - breakfast, lunch, another lunch around 4pm, and then dinner at 7ish. I am constantly uncomfortably full. It is rough. But I definitely can´t complain about the consistent supply of amazing fresh fruit!
During the week we have been volunteering at a orphanage about 15 minutes outside of downtown Puno. We are working on a plethora of murals, six altogether now, under the direction of an amazing local artist, Samuel. Samuel is a veteran of the Peruvian military and fought the Shining Light in the late 80´s and early 90´s and has an amazing story to tell. If anyone is interested, remind me about it when I get home! We also spend the afternoons hanging out with the kids and trying to practice our spanish with them. The kids are super friendly and interested in us, and love to help out with the painting whenever we give them jobs.
Last weekend we took a boat trip out on to Lake Titicaca to visit the floating islands of Uros and a couple other islands a couple hours away from Puno. Uros was really cool, but felt awkwardly touristy, as they dressed us up and then tried to sell us their crafts. I also managed to get super sick on Saturday and spent most of the 3 hour boat ride after Uros vomiting over the side of the boat. No joke. We stayed the night with a homestay that night, but I don´t really remember much of it due to the consistent vom'ing... But luckily I was feeling good enough the next morning to do a quick hike up a nearby island, as we try to prepare for our 4-day trek up to Maccu Picchu next week!
Overall, I am LOVING Peru. Puno is loud and bustleing, and everyone here is super friendly. We stay here until this Friday, when we move to Cuzco! Can´t wait.
Love and miss you all - keep those emails and facebook messages coming!
Burns